1967 Iso Rivolta IR 300 Coupé

1967 Iso Rivolta IR 300 Coupé
Coachwork by Bertone
Chassis no. 410 389
Engine no. 772 F01075P

•One of 797 cars produced
•Rare Italian-US hybrid
•Restored two years ago
•Always resident in Italy
•Manual gearbox

Bubblecar manufacturer Iso joined the ranks of supercar constructors in 1962 with the launch of the Giotto Bizzarrini-designed Rivolta coupé at the Turin Motor Show. Renzo Rivolta's Isothermos company had begun life pre-war making refrigerators, turning to the manufacture of scooters, under the Iso name, after the war and thence to the highly successful Isetta bubblecar. Interviewed recently for Octane magazine (issue 151) Renzo's son Piero recalled that his father liked fast cars but could not find one that really suited him; one that was fast, comfortable and reliable. 'He decided that Iso should produce a fast car that was genuinely useable every day, and priced somewhere between a Jaguar and a Ferrari.' The result was the Rivolta.

Styled at Carrozzeria Bertone by Giorgetto Giugiaro and powered by a 327ci (5.4-litre) Chevrolet V8 engine, the four-seat Rivolta employed a steel platform chassis featuring independent front suspension, a De Dion rear axle and disc brakes all round. Iso's first supercar set the pattern for those that followed: Bizzarrini-designed chassis, Bertone coachwork and Chevrolet engines, its future developments including the long-wheelbase, Ghia-styled Fidia four-door saloon, the muscular, short-wheelbase Grifo and the Rivolta-replacement Lele. Iso's most successful model, the Rivolta was produced up to 1970, by which time a total of 797 cars had been built.

This beautifully presented IR 300 was delivered new in 1968 to a pharmaceutical company based in Milan, and they would keep the car until 1973 when it passed to its second owner, a resident of the nearby province of Bergamo. He sold the car in 1978 to its third custodian, resident in Presezzo in the same province, where it would remain until 2007. Some two years ago an enthusiast in southern Italy purchased the Iso and had it restored. This Grand Touring coupé now presents beautifully in light blue metallic with black vinyl interior, while the 327ci Chevrolet engine, coupled with the manual gearbox, provides effortless power. A rare Italian-US hybrid that has always stayed in Italy.