by Mike –
In a small town near Sacramento, California an on line auction for a rare Iso Grifo has just been completed. This was a bankruptcy sale so the owner will not get any money but his creditors will certainly benefit from this sale.
This must be a record price paid for an Iso Grifo at a bankruptcy sale.
Iso Grifo Can Am Series 2 with a 454 cid engine
Iso Grifo Can Am (photo compliments of West Auctions)
Nintey-seven bids over a three and a half day bidding process resulted in a final sale of $371,000. There is no buyers commission so the buyer only has to deal with appropriate taxes, transportation and some added complexity due to the court proceeding and the fact that there is no California title.
There were merely 24 Iso Grifo Can Am models made. Most had the 427 cid Chevy engine but this one had a 454 cid Chevy and it has a 5-speed transmission and factory air-conditioning. This makes this Grifo one of the most rare examples in a rare model range.
West Auctions conducted the sale of this Iso Grifo and they must be pleased with the results.
There were 33 bids in the last 15 minutes and the high bid went from $238,000 to $371,000 in those 15 minutes.
I received a call from a West Auctions representative before the auction and I chose not to write about this Iso Grifo for sale because I bid on it myself.
This is a rare model that seems to have spent much of its life in California although it was originally shipped to Italy. For some reason it is titled as a 1967 model when it was made in 1972. That is curious, I cannot think of a good reason why it would be titled as a model year earlier than the year it was made.
The auction company pointed this out in their description and they also mentioned the extra paper work and other matters related to dealing with the court and getting a clear California title.
Here is what West Auctions had to say,
Ordered sold by U.S. Bankruptcy Court / San Francisco
1967 Iso Rivolta Grifo Can Am Series II
Note: This vehicle is registered with California Department of Motor Vehicles as a 1967 Iso, however, research indicates that it may be a 1972 Iso.
VIN: 7L230382
License: 1FJE402 Expiration Date: 8/10/2007 Planned Non-Operation
Odometer reading: 50,306
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Leather interior
Cassette player
AM/FM radio
Engine: 69427 7.0 V8
Engine Numbers: 3963512 and 1625 T0303CZU (Original stock engine)
Four bolt main
Frame Serial No: 7L230382
Power windows
Front tire size: P235/60HR15
Rear tire size: P255/60HR15
Dual exhaust
Spare tire with original rim
Car is fully stock
Note: A California Application for Duplicate Title and certified court document required for registration purposes will be mailed out within 8-10 weeks following the close of auction. Buyer is responsible for registration and all fees due DMV.Note about Duplicate Title Paperwork for Out-of-State Buyers: Out-of-state buyers must submit Application for Duplicate title to California DMV and transfer ownership prior to registering vehicle in home state.
There is evidence of front end damage and the door panels are off the car probably because the electric windows did not work properly. There appeared to be nothing that could not be fixed with a reasonable investment.
Sell your classic car on My Car Quest – click here.
All photos except the first one are by Mike Clarke.
That little auction house did a good job. I saw the car last week in person and think the buyer got a good car. There were some things wrong , but this is about as rare as you can get in the Iso world. I would rather have a original car like this than a fully restored car with a grey history.
I agree, I think West Auctions did a great job.
The car had true patina but they made no mention. There was no hype and it found a buyer.
I’d feel a bit nervous about bidding on a car rumoured to have been stolen in Europe in about 1980. I would think there is at least another $70K to spend on restoration.
Seeing the Blue Ca. plates on the car made me less nervous about the stolen story. Those plates came out in late 69. I think by the 80’s they had switched over to white plates. Also the fact that it is a court ordered sale you probably have a clean trail to back up the deal if it turned out to be stolen.
Agreed bankruptcy backs it up
Ca blue plates started in 69 and ended in 82 I have history of at least two prior owners one being a member of IBOC. In addition Winston Goodfellow found/ saw this car wile looking for the last big block car. There were some inaccuracies about the cars build date and the VIN but I am guessing it shows as a 67 to deal with the OLD CA smog rules.
I bid on the car as well, the rumors of it being stolen were a bit of a concern but ultimately transfer of ownership and title would have been issued by authorization of the United States Government and the State of California. An officer of the The United States Government (Bankruptcy Court) under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice would have to transfer of title to the buyer. In addition, a Federal judge would have signed a court order confirming the sale to the buyer…all of that provided a fair degree of comfort.
Iso Grifo is a beautiful car! And at today’s prices when Ferrari 246 Dino worth $ 450,000 Iso is definitely a better investment!!
Mike did you see the car in person? I so were there any other cars for sale at this auction?
Since you have been the defacto site for Iso Grifo cars and info I’m a little surprised you didn’t share this with the
ISO group even though you did bid on this car. I’m sure the number would have gone a lot higher.
There were some other cars including a Pantera and the rest were a variety of American cars.
I did not see this Grifo in person but had a verbal report from Mike Clarke and saw his photos and I saw photos from one other person.
Maybe I should have written about this car before the auction but my thought was that it may have been a conflict of interest.
I agree with you Mike.
There were about 18 cars from the same guy. Some are still selling. Most were tired like the ISO and most brought more than I thought they were worth with the ISO being the exception. There was a really cool XKE roadster that has been in the building for storage for years. The guy keeps paying storage and won’t sell it.
A possible reason for the date of manufacture discrepancy is that many small manufacturers allegedly “stamped” multiple serial plates in 1967, prior to the draconian emissions regulations set to take effect in the U.S. in 1968. In this way the car’s construction technically began in that year, to be completed in subsequent years and could be legitimately called a 1967.
I know this was true for Maserati, but not sure it’s ever been documented for Iso’s.
I believe this car was originally sold to Italy.
The buyer should have this car just in time for Monterey!
A Series II sold at Monterey yesterday for 465k
It actually sold for $511,500
What are you talking about ?
A Series II Grifo sold at auction in Monterey this weekend at the Gooding auction. It only had around 24k for mileage. Possibly one of the lowest mileage Grifos in the world.
I wrote about it here – https://mycarquest.com/2016/08/european-style-american-muscle-auction-monterey.html
The Blue 7 liter at Gooding just sold for 620K plus commission.
682K including the fees.
Two of the higher prices fetched for these cars in recent memory!
http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1972-iso-grifo-series-ii-2/
http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1969-iso-grifo-7-litri-2/
Both awesome cars!
I drove this car car a few times in San Francisco. Such a beautiful original car.