Chassis No. IA30248
Engine No. 1242V0418 HT
Earlier this year, in May, Bizzarrini unveiled the Centenario Edition of its 5300 GT Corsa Revival continuation car to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of its founder, Giotto Bizzarrini. The car was presented on the sidelines of the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este on Lake Como. Conceived both as a tribute to Bizzarrini's glorious past and with an eye toward contemporary tastes, it wore a striking, purposeful livery closely inspired by our 1966 example: an intense black finish, golden wheels, and competition number 100.
It all began in 1926, with the birth of Giotto Bizzarrini in the region that gave the world some of its greatest artists, among them Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and, more recently, modern painter Amedeo Modigliani. After earning his engineering degree from the University of Pisa and gaining his first experience at Alfa Romeo, he joined Ferrari, where he contributed to the development of the Testa Rossa, the 250 GT SWB, and the 250 GTO.
Leaving Ferrari in 1961, he went on to design new engines, including a 3,500 cc V12 whose rights he sold to Ferruccio Lamborghini. His meeting with Renzo Rivolta, together with a collaboration with Bertone, would lead to the Iso Grifo and its competition version, the Iso Grifo 3AC, unveiled at the 1963 Turin Motor Show. Featuring a fiberglass body and powered by a 5.4-liter Chevrolet Corvette V8 fed by four four-barrel Weber carburetors, it would line up for some of the greatest races and win its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 1964 and 1965.
A difference in vision-Rivolta did not wish to produce enough cars for it to compete in the GT category rather than as a prototype-combined with a clash of personalities, ultimately led Giotto Bizzarrini to set out on his own. He continued to produce his fully road-legal car under the Bizzarrini 5300 GT, or Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada, name, with approximately 133 examples built through the end of the 1960s, coinciding with the closure of the company.
Produced under Prototipi Bizzarrini Spa, the 5300 GT Strada - for 'Street'-retained the ultra-wide, low-slung design of the A3/C Grifo, originally penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone, and featured a front-mid-mounted, Corvette-sourced 327-cubic-inch (5.4-liter) engine producing 365 PS. Positioned as far back over the front axle as possible for ideal weight distribution, it was paired with a BorgWarner four-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip differential.
Among these approximately 133 examples, our car, chassis number IA30248, was built in 1966 with its aluminum body finished in black and complemented by black upholstery-a combination at once aggressive, elegant, and understated, which the car retains to this day.
The car is understood to have been delivered new in Italy before making its way to Italian-speaking Switzerland, in Ticino, where it was registered as TI 47829. In 1975, it belonged to Rob de la Rive Box, a Swiss automotive historian and writer. Then, it was imported in 1976 into Sweden by Ian Nilsson and Jan Svanbäck, who in June of the same year entered it in the Rallye de Cognac, carrying competition number 110. The event was organized by the Club Bugatti France and the enthusiasts of the Cavallino Rampante.
The Bizzarrini would then retreat from the road, spending more than three decades in storage under its Swedish registration, JHK 502. In 2007 and 2008, it passed from hand to hand as a restoration project, before ultimately finding its way to Johann Georg and Corinna Fendt, German enthusiasts with a deep appreciation for Italian automobiles.
The car was then entrusted to Hans Wittenzellner and Kupka Karosseriebau in Germany for the comprehensive restoration it deserved, carried out under the supervision of Jörg Elsenbach, Corinna's husband and technical manager of the Iso Rivolta Club Germany. The restoration was carried out as closely as possible to the original specifications, with comparable vehicles of similar delivery dates also inspected for reference.
The engine fitted at that time, which was not the original unit, was replaced with an original Iso Grifo engine of the correct type, bearing identification 1242 V0418HT, from the vehicle with chassis number 218. The original Holley carburetor was replaced with an Edelbrock 600 cfm unit to increase usability. Various components on the dashboard were retained in their original state, with a fine patina, including the rare leather steering wheel and an original horn button from the early series, which was replaced on the later series by a wooden one.
The current owner acquired the car more than a decade ago and, following its restoration, took the opportunity to present the Bizzarrini at some concours in Europe. Among its notable accolades was Best of Class at the Masterpieces & Style at Schloss Dyck on 15 June 2015, awarded in the class “Travelling the Continent – The Gentlemen's Car of the Sixties 1950–1968”.
Conceived and produced by one of the great automotive engineers of the 1960s, the exceedingly rare Bizzarrini 5300 GT combines equally aggressive styling with race-bred performance. A sporting grand tourer blending Italian design with American V8 power, it stands as a reminder to one of the great golden ages of the automobile and a car whose aesthetic character remains remarkably contemporary, with its design cues echoed in modern productions.
- Fuel
- Body Types
- Transmission
- Exterior Colour
- Number of doors
- Interior Colour
- VIN CodeIA30248
