1973 Iso Grifo Series II Coupé – For Sale
Make: Iso
Model: Grifo Series II
Year: 1973
Chassis number: GL 310395
Exterior: Red
Interior: Tan
Engine: Ford 351 cid (5.8-liter) Cleveland V8
Transmission: automatic
Factory Air Conditioning and Power Steering
Number made: 402 total Grifos and 34 Series II with the Ford engine
Odometer: approximately 43,500 kilometers (27,000 miles)
Displayed at The Quail, A Motor Sport Gathering in August 2012
The pinnacle of the Iso GT car is the beautiful Grifo. More and more car lovers have recognized the Iso Grifo in recent years as a great GT that compares very favorably to period GTs from Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and all other GT manufacturers.
The combination of the vision of Renzo Rivolta, the engineering expertise of several key Iso employees like Pierluigi Raggi, the technical contributions of Giotto Bizzarrini (the engineer in charge of the development of the Ferrari 250 GTO) and the brilliant styling of Giorgetto Giugiaro of Bertone resulted in one of the most admired sports cars of the past fifty years. Nuccio Bertone also played a critical role in the creation of the Iso Grifo.
Jerry Titus wrote in the “Sports Car Graphic” July 1966 issue, “There’s little doubt, once you’re seated behind the wheel, that the Grifo is a performance GT in every sense of the word. …we rate the Grifo as one of the top GTs in existence. It has some unique and practical features all its own, and the body styling gets our personal vote over all others that can be considered ‘production GTs’.”
“Autocar” on April 29, 1966 wrote, “ …it (the Grifo) is the ultimate in transport for the enthusiast, a kind of dream car come true. It brings back some of the lost pleasures of motoring and introduces many more new ones.”
John Bolster summed it up nicely in “Autosport” on August 12, 1966, “I have never driven a car of which the appearance attracted so much favorable comment…for the man who wants the ultimate in two-seaters, this is the best that money can buy.”
The Iso Grifo offered for sale here is rare among Grifos; powered by the Ford 351 Cleveland engine, with an automatic transmission, factory air conditioning and power steering.
The interior has new leather and carpet and is unused since this work was completed earlier this year. Included are copies of maintenance and restoration records issued by Brian Moore Restorations of Gold River, California during 2005-2007 while the car was owned by Iso collector Michael Clarke of California. It was sold to another Iso collector, Nelson Tang of Hong Kong, in 2013 and acquired by the current owner in 2016.
More photos are in the two slide shows below.
Perfect Mike. So many, especially the big auction houses and car dealers, get this wrong in the interest of increasing the pedigree. I read one recently that stated Bizzarrini designed the Grifo.
“The combination of the vision of Renzo Rivolta, the engineering expertise of several key Iso employees like Pierluigi Raggi, the technical contributions of Giotto Bizzarrini (the engineer in charge of the development of the Ferrari 250 GTO) and the brilliant styling of Giorgetto Giugiaro of Bertone resulted in one of the most admired sports cars of the past fifty years. Nuccio Bertone also played a critical role in the creation of the Iso Grifo.:
An awesome car! IMO I would prefer the ZF 5-speed, other than that nothing to complain about.
She still looks good and the interior looks very nice. I’m not a fan of the tan dash top , but that could easily be corrected. The deep red doesn’t wash out in the sun like a lot of Ferrari reds do, so she always shows well.
Hey Mike,
It sounds like you are missing her.
I love this red too.
Yes, sadly I can’t afford to buy her back, but I have good memories. On to the next project !
Mike, I think you would look good in this car. You have always wanted a series II, right 🙂
Nice looking car, I love the side profile shot!
Oh, yeah I would look good in this as would anyone!