The Iso Grifo – Still Stylish and Elegant After 60 Years

by Mike Gulett – 

I would think that a car company that could imagine, design and build the beautiful Iso Grifo in the 1960s would be around today still delivering more wonderful cars. Unfortunately that is not the case with Iso for reasons that would take another long article to explore. This year is the 60th anniversary of the Grifo, which was celebrated during Monterey Car Week this year.

In the world of grand touring cars, few embody the perfect marriage of Italian style and American power like the Iso Grifo. Sleek, exotic, and surprisingly muscular, the Grifo was the product of brilliant minds and big ambition, a car that stood apart even among Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, Jaguar and Lamborghini.

Though its maker, Iso, is no longer in business, the Grifo’s legend is still alive and well. It represents a moment in time when engineering genius and design elegance aligned perfectly to create one of the most beautiful GT cars of the 20th century. The Grifo is also a lot of fun to own and drive (I have owned two over the years).

From Refrigerators to GT Cars

Iso wasn’t always in the car business. Founded by Renzo Rivolta in 1939, the company originally produced refrigerators and later motorcycles. After World War II, it shifted into building small cars like the iconic Iso Isetta, which BMW would later license and sell many thousands.

But Renzo Rivolta wanted more. By the early 1960s, he set his sights on the luxury performance market dominated by Ferrari and Aston Martin. His formula was smart: use a reliable American V8 engine in a bespoke Italian chassis, styled by the world’s top designers. This approach would avoid the mechanical fragility often associated with Italian exotics while delivering performance, beauty, and comfort all in one package.

The Dream Team Behind the Grifo

To build the ultimate GT car, Rivolta assembled a dream team:

• Giorgetto Giugiaro, then at Bertone, penned the sleek, muscular body—his design blending aggression with elegance in perfect proportion.

• Giotto Bizzarrini, the former Ferrari engineer who had helped develop the legendary Ferrari 250 GTO, created the chassis and drivetrain.

• Pierluigi Raggi, a talented Iso engineer, worked on the advanced platform that would underpin both the Iso Rivolta GT, the Iso Grifo and other Iso cars.

The first Iso Grifo was introduced in 1965 at the Turin Motor Show, and it made an instant impact.

Design and Performance

The Grifo’s shape was low, long, and purposeful, with razor-sharp lines and a cab-rearward stance that exuded performance. It was visually striking yet tasteful—a true grand tourer.

Powered by a Chevrolet Corvette 327 V8, producing up to 350 horsepower, delivering performance that rivaled or exceeded many Ferraris of the time. Later Grifos received the larger 427 (7.0-liter) big-block V8, designated the Grifo 7 Litri. They were fast and beautiful.

Inside, the cabin was tailored with leather and wood, balancing Italian luxury with American functionality. It was a car meant for high-speed cruising on the autostrada, the Riviera or Route 66.

Racing Roots and the A3/C

Parallel to the road-going Grifo, Bizzarrini developed a competition version called the Iso Grifo A3/C ( ‘C’ for Corsa, or “racing”). It featured an aluminum body (although some were made of fiberglass) and a front-mid-engine placement for ideal weight distribution. When Iso declined to continue with racing support, Bizzarrini went his own way and rebadged the car as the Bizzarrini GT 5300, itself now a legend.

Still, the A3/C remains one of the most desirable Grifos, with its Le Mans pedigree (class winner in ’65) and aggressive styling.

Decline and Legacy

Despite critical acclaim and modest commercial success, Iso remained a small-volume manufacturer. The Grifo was expensive to build and sell, and it lacked the dealer support of larger brands. After Renzo Rivolta’s death in 1966, his son Piero Rivolta took over the company.

By the mid-1970s, production slowed, and in 1974, Iso ceased automobile operations entirely. Only about 400 Iso Grifos were ever made, with fewer than 100 of the 7 Litri variants and just a handful of A3/Cs.

The Collector’s Perspective

Today, the Iso Grifo is a blue-chip collectible. Its unique blend of rarity, beauty, and performance has pushed values well into the mid to high six-figure for the GL models and even seven-figure range for the A3/C examples. It remains a favorite at concours events, Pebble Beach, and Villa d’Este, and it’s especially appreciated by collectors who value engineering excellence and a rebellion against the mainstream.

In an age when many GTs have blurred into sameness, the Iso Grifo stands out as a singular creation—distinctive, desirable, and definitively beautiful.

 

Let us know what you think in the Comments.

 

Research and some text by ChatGPT 5.