1965 Iso Grifo A3/C

The Iso Grifo debuted in two contrasting packages, both revealed at the 1963 Turin Motor Show. The A3/L was positioned as the opulent GT form, while the A3/C was a finely tuned race car developed by Giotto Bizzarrini, who is notable as a leading engineer in the creation of Ferrari’s famous 250 GTO. The Iso Grifo A3/C was twice victorious in its class at Le Mans in 1964 and 1965, and both the race and roadgoing versions of the car soon earned a glowing reputation thanks to their attractive styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone and powerful V-8 powertrains, in this case derived from the Chevrolet Corvette.

This example is a rare and highly sought after ‘riveted’ A3/C, constructed by Piero Drogo’s Carrozzeria Sports Cars of Modena. Employing construction techniques that used ‘avional’ (duralumin)—a special alloy of aluminium, copper, and magnesium that is lightweight and flexible but very difficult to weld—the bodies had to be riveted, in a similar fashion to an airplane, while allowing the car to keep overall weight down and tip the scales at 969 kilograms. Once the chassis and body were completed, Bizzarrini completed the cars at his small Autostar facility in Livorno.

This example was the eighth of 10 riveted A3/Cs made for 1964 and was delivered new to the Jean-Philippe Smet of Paris, better known as Johnny Hallyday. Deemed ‘the Elvis Presley of France’ by The New York Times, Hallyday had 100-plus million record sales and appeared in more than 30 films. Hallyday is pictured in and around the car, with Parisian temporary registration 7381 WW 75, in Paris, France, shortly after its manufacture. The car was registered on 27 October 1965 as 4958 RZ 75, and this registration would stay with the car until 2009.

Monsieur Hallyday enjoyed the ownership of the Iso Grifo AC/3 for around a year, until it was sold to Jean Claude Guillaume in February 1966. It was acquired by the Grand Garage Moliere in November 1966, and it would spend over two decades of ownership by HSH Prince Pierre Sanguszko, starting on 19 August 1968. Historic photographs show the car refinished in white in this period, featuring a central blue stripe. After that owner passed away, Daniel Marin—President of Ferrari France Pozzi, and a very close friend of HSH Prince Pierre Sanguszko—sold the car to Michel Hommell on 13 April 1992. At this point, the car was re-sprayed in red and displayed the car in his museum, Manoir de l'Automobile in Lohéac, Brittany, France. The car was then displayed with the number plate 728 GFS 75, even though it has never been registered with this number.

In 2009, Hommell sold chassis number B 0209 to Yvan Mahé. Prior to the sale, as per French regulation, a Contrôle Technique (equivalent to the UK MoT, and German TÜV) was performed on 21 February 2009, and at that time the car displayed only 25,484 km. It was then registered 214 EYC 77. Thereafter, it was bought by Pascal Perrier in 2012 before its acquisition by Mr. Guikas in 2014. At the 2017 Chantilly Concours, it was exhibited in the Great Musicians’ Cars class, where it garnered the ‘Special Award’.

The car received over €14,000 of workshop services in 2021, carried out by Carrosserie Mignard of Roanne, France. The garage stripped, prepared, and painted the exterior of the car, finishing the Iso in the burgundy shade in which it is seen today, also taking care to disassemble and refinish the matching-colour dashboard panel in the same paint application. Continuing inside the car, the workshop tended to several areas around the cabin, trimming the headliner, overhauling some rubber seals, and deep-cleaning certain areas, such as the carpet and dashboard.

It is rare than any Iso should be offered for sale, and the added appeal of its ownership history makes this riveted example an even more attractive option for collectors.