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Iso Grifo A3/C - the high-flyer on the highway

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Created on January 13, 2016

Reading time 7min

Written by:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Bonhams

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Bonhams

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - mit diesem Auto konnte man nach Le Mans fahren und nach einem 24-Stunden-Rennlauf auch wieder nachhause

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - einer von wenigen gebauten Iso Grifo A3C

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - Aerodynamik war wichtig

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - Heckansicht

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - attraktive Formgebung

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - die Karosserie besteht aus Aluminiumblech

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - der Motor ist weit hinten eingebaut, zwecks besserer Gewichtsverteilung

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - die Strassen- und die Rennversion waren optisch nicht weit auseinander

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - zum Rennwagen geboren

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Iso Grifo A3 Competizione (1965) - als Lot 042 angeboten an der Bonhams Scottsdale Versteigerung am 28. Januar 2016

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - linksgelenkte Ausführung

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - der Drehzahlmesser ist nicht gerade gut einsehbar

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - der Chevrolet-Corvette-Motor ist hinter der Vorderachse eingebaut

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - Bizzarrinis Firma

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - Nieten und Grifo-Schriftzug

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Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale (1964) - … noch mehr Nieten

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Iso Grifo A3/C (1963) - Unlackierter Prototyp

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Bizzarrini Berlinetta Grifo Stradale (1965) - bereits nicht mehr als Iso verkauft

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Iso Grifo A3 Berlinetta Stradale (1964) - Strassenversion

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Iso Grifo A3 Berlinetta Stradale (1964) - die Strassenversion beschleunigte 1964 in weniger als 6 Sekunden auf 100 kmh

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Iso Grifo A3 Berlinetta Stradale (1964) - Interieur der Strassenversion

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Iso Grifo A3C 'Stradale' (1964) - für den Einsatz auf öffentlichen Strassen

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Iso Grifo A3/C (1965) - Bizzarrini-Emblem auf der Front

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Iso Grifo A3C (1965) - Bizzarrini 5300 am Autosalon

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Iso Grifo A3/C (1964) - als GT-Prototyp in Le Mans im Jahr 1964

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Iso Grifo (1965) - Rennvorbereitungen und Serienfertigung bei Bizzarrini

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Iso Grifo A3C (1964) - anlässlich der 24 Stunden von Le Mans

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Iso Grifo A3C (1964) - bei den 24 Stunden von Le Mans - gefahren von Pierre Noblet und dem Schweizer Edgar Berney - Platz 14

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Iso Grifo A3C (1965) - B 0222 an den Boxen von Le Mans, kurz vor dem Start

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Iso Grifo A3/C (1964) - bei den 12 Stunden von Sebring 1964, Team Hugus - McLauglin

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Iso Grifo A3C (1965) - das Bizzarrini-Coupé im Renneinsatz

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Iso Grifo A3 Berlinetta Stradale (1964) - wunderschöne Silhouette des Coupés

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Summary

In 1965, Paul Frère was given a Bizzarrini/Iso Grifo A3/C to test drive at the Geneva Motor Show. It was a good thing that there was already a short stretch of highway between Geneva and Lausanne at the time, because Frère took the car to almost 270 km/h, an almost unbelievable top speed for road vehicles at the time. However, the sports car also cost considerably more than any Ferrari or Porsche you could buy at the time. This report looks at some of the peculiarities of the Iso A3/C and describes the driving impressions of the time, illustrated with many current and historical pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

The racing car for the road
From the race track back to the road
Little comfort
Iso becomes Bizzarrini
The car that Paul Frère drove

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

In 1963, the first section of the A1 national road, a two-lane highway, was opened between Geneva and Lausanne. Two years later, a certain Paul Frère thundered over the concrete surface in an Iso Grifo A3/C Stradale, reaching a speed of almost 270 km/h. In the original text, published in the magazine "Auto Motor und Sport" 8/1965, it sounded like this: "In the city, the car is usually driven in II gear, but which gear is engaged is actually quite the same, because IV. The choice depends only on the desired acceleration, which is enormous in the appropriate gear. On the highway, we were a little disappointed at first, because although the speedometer read 200 very quickly, acceleration slowed noticeably beyond 210 to 215; when the pointer was at 230, the car felt like it had maybe another 5 to 7 km/h in it, but no more. But then we had to brake because of the (thankfully not too busy) traffic. The question now was: how honest is this speedometer? Out came the stopwatch, and then things looked completely different: with 200 displayed, we drove one kilometer in 15.6 seconds, which equals 230 km/h! Obviously, this speedometer matched a different rear axle reduction, and the 230 km/h shown before was 265 km/h! This also corresponds exactly with the 5800 rpm displayed by the trip meter. We also reached this value on the back straight before a Volkswagen overtook another in front of us and put our brakes to the test, which were less than convincing. Although they are large disc brakes, we would have expected a stronger deceleration, even from the high speed, and if you let go of the pedal after a sharp braking, the servo continues to work for a short time. We were told that this was a test servo and that the after-effect was not present in the normal braking device."

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