=
A Different Italian
1973 Iso Grifo GL Series II

Automotive wasn’t the first industry Italian entrepreneur Renzo Rivolta stepped into. Before World War II he was selling Isothermos refrigerators, but after the war, he saw a market for transportation in Italy and established Iso Autoveicoli. Other than building scooters in the early stage and the famous Isetta bubble car, Iso also brought us some performance cars. One of them was offered in RM Sotheby’s London sale this month.

Iso first released the four-seat coupe Rivolta in 1962 and later created the sportier two-seat Grifo. Iso Grifo was far from its Italian peers, it was low and sleek, and featured lightweight Corvette engine and drivetrain. A refined version dubbed Iso Grifo GL (Gran Lusso) was born in 1964, while the Series II was introduced in 1970. This particular example left the factory on 14 May 1973. By then the powerplant of choice changed to Ford 351 Cleveland V-8 engine paired with automatic transmission and the car was outfitted with a 3.31:1 rear axle ratio. The example was delivered new to Germany with a white exterior paired with the tan interior as seen today and has been kept in exceptional condition.

 

Up next /