01
Origins
When Renzo Rivolta decided to build proper cars, he hired precisely: Giotto Bizzarrini — fresh from the Ferrari 250 GTO — engineered the pressed-steel platform with De Dion rear axle and inboard discs, Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone drew the understated body, and Chevrolet's 5.4-litre Corvette V8 supplied power without temperament. The Rivolta IR 300 of 1962 was therefore that rare thing: an Italian GT with the reliability of Detroit and road manners to embarrass Maranello, offered at a knowing price. Around 800 were built through 1970, making it Iso's volume car and the foundation for the Grifo's glamour. Contemporaries who dismissed the hybrid formula gradually noticed the best engineers agreed with Rivolta — within years, half the exotic trade had adopted American V8s.
ISO Rivolta · Craig Howell from San Carlos, CA, USA · CC BY 2.0
