If you haven’t heard of @autosportdesigns, definitely check them out as they are home to some of the world’s rarest automobiles, such as this car, the 1972 Iso Grifo Series II. The Iso Grifo is a limited production grand tourer manufactured in multiple variants from 1965-1974 by Italian automobile manufacturer Iso Autoveicoli S.p.A., also simply known as Iso. Initially, Iso was initially named 'Isothermos' and manufactured refrigeration units before World War II. The company was founded in 1939 in Genoa, Italy, by Italian engineer Renzo Rivolta, but was later transferred to Bresso, Italy in 1942. In 1948 the company shifted from refrigerator production to manufacturing motorcycles, scooters and motocarries. After some success, they decided to take a shot at building a small city car in 1953 called the ‘Isetta Bubble Car’. Around 20,000 of these ‘bubble cars’ were produced. No one expected Iso to follow up their miniature bubble car with a series of V8 performance GT cars, but that’s exactly what they did starting in 1962 with the Iso Rivolta IR 300. One of Iso’s most popular vehicles was the Grifo (shown here). The car was first put into production in 1965, and sadly, only one year later, founder of Iso, Renzo Rivolta, suddenly passed away leaving the company to his 25 year old son, Piero. Under the direction of Piero Rivolta, Iso would go on to build around 400+ total Grifos across multiple different variations of the model. This specific example is finished in ‘Volte Argentata Metallizzato‘ over a Rosso Cartier red leather interior & it also just so happens to be the 1972 Torino Motor Show car. The beautiful design work from Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone was matched with a variety of American V8 engines which made the Grifo an almost perfect combination of power & beauty.
How many made? 1 of 78
Engine: 5.8-litre Ford 351 CID OHV 400+hp V-8 Engine (which only 34 Grifo’s had) paired to a 5-speed ZF manual of (which only 23 series II Grifo’s were built with) for the entire world.
Debut: N/A
Top Speed: around 171mph
0-60mph: around 7.4 seconds
Photo Credit: @am_media_ny
Research: @rarecarsonly