Iso Rivolta A3/C – The Sanction II Continuation

by Mike Gulett –

A very rare Iso Rivolta A3/C Sanction II Continuation is now up for auction on Bring a Trailer. This is a high quality recreation of the Iso Rivolta A3/C or Bizzarrini GT 5300. It is made on a real Iso Rivolta GT chassis, this one from 1963. The body is hand crafted aluminum and all the parts are stated to be original Iso parts.

I have seen this car in person a couple of times including when I shot the photos below in Italy in 2013.

Giotto Bizzarrini was a dedicated race car designer and builder. Likely one of the sources of disagreement between Renzo Rivolta and Giotto Bizzarrini was Bizzarrini’s desire to build race cars and Renzo Rivolta’s desire to build high quality GT cars and family transportation cars. They decided to part ways in 1964.

Bizzarrini had mixed success in racing likely because of the limited funding available but also because of some bad luck. The lowlight for Bizzarrini racing must certainly have been the Sebring 12 Hours on March 27, 1965 where both Iso/Bizzarrini race cars were heavily crashed and totaled.

The highlight came later that same year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 19-20, 1965 where an Iso Grifo/Bizzarrini won the 5000 CC and over class and was ninth overall.

The Iso Rivolta A3/C was born in the early 1960s to be a race car. Giotto Bizzarrini has said that if he would have stayed at Ferrari the Iso Rivolta A3/C (later named the Bizzarrini GT 5300) would have been his next car after the famed Ferrari 250 GTO.

Two Iso Rivolta A3/Cs were built in 1962 and 1963 under the supervision of Giotto Bizzarrini and sponsored by Iso (Renzo Rivolta) – these two race cars are chassis numbers 201 and 202.

The proven idea of “race on Sunday and sell on Monday” was good for Iso and for Bizzarrini. Iso introduced the Iso Rivolta GT in 1962, a successful and well received 2+2 family car that handles like a sports car. The chassis design was much closer to a race car chassis than a family two door coupe chassis thanks to Giotto Bizzarrini.

The A3/C chassis was created by shortening the Rivolta GT chassis. The front and the rear cross members were used allowing the same suspension parts as the Rivolta GT to be used on the A3/C. The chassis was a welded sheet steel tub with a fully independent suspension using double wishbones in the front and a DeDion axle in the rear.

The Chevrolet Corvette 327 cid V8 engine and transmission were pushed far to the rear creating a front-mid-engine placement resulting is almost a perfect 50/50 front to rear weight distribution. The engine sits part way in the passenger compartment and access to the distributor is through a panel in the dashboard.

A beautiful aluminum alloy body styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Bertone was riveted on to the chassis. This body used a Kamm-tail for improved racing performance.

After Bizzarrini split with Iso, Bizzarrini took over the ownership of the A3/C design and during the transition period these cars were called by many names including: Iso A3, Iso Bizzarrini, Iso Grifo Stradale, Grifo 5300 and finally the name settled to Bizzarrini GT 5300 and for the street version Bizzarrini GT 5300 Strada. Later a fiberglass-bodied version was branded the Bizzarrini GT America.

In 1974 Roberto Negri became the sole proprietor of all the inventory of the Iso Rivolta Company. He is now the owner of Il Bottegone, Iso Restorations, located in Clusone, Italy.

The Iso Rivolta A3/C shown here is an original continuation of the legendary Iso Rivolta A3/C. These cars are 100% correct and authentic, and remanufactured according to original Iso factory construction drawings and specifications.

The body, an all-aluminum riveted masterpiece, and the entire chassis are hand crafted exactly the same way as the ones built in the early 1960s. All parts used are the original and absolutely period correct. The cars are hand assembled by a small crew of specialists who all worked at Iso.

When I visited Clusone, Italy in April 2013 I saw these cars in person and had an exciting ride in one. They are works of art and have been produced with perfection in mind. The thousands of rivets are beautiful as is the plush red leather interior. They are as fast as they look and corner like they are on rails, rails where the rear end can be used for steering.

Let us know what you think in the Comments.

Unless otherwise indicated all photos by Mike Gulett.