Iso Rivolta

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Iso Rivolta logo

Iso Rivolta was a manufacturer of sports cars, small cars and motorcycles based in Bresso , Italy . The company's best-known vehicles are the two-seater Iso Isetta scooter and the Iso Grifo high-performance sports car .

history

Vélam -Isetta (France)
Iso Grifo high-performance sports car (from 1964)

The beginnings of the company taken over by Renzo Rivolta in 1939 lie in the production of cooling systems. At that time the company was called Isothermos . After the Second World War, Isothermos started producing motorcycles and scooters (including Isomoto 125 and Isoscooter 125). Then Rivolta had the Isetta small car developed. Originally designed as a three-wheeler, the Isetta has two rear wheels standing close together, two seats and front entry. The Isetta was built from 1954 under license by various companies in several countries ( Vélam in France , Iso España in Spain , Isetta of Great Britain in Great Britain and Indústrias Romi in Brazil ). The most successful was the German BMW Isetta , which had been sold over 130,000 times by 1962.

Together with the designer Giotto Bizzarrini , the designer Giorgetto Giugiaro and the body manufacturer Bertone , Renzo Rivolta developed the Iso Rivolta 300 , an elegant Gran Turismo with well-balanced technology and outstanding performance: the 5.4-liter V8 engine came from Chevrolet , as did that Transmission; the axles and brakes were based on the technology of the great Jaguars of that time - a concept that Iso retained for all subsequent models (from 1972 with Ford 351 Cleveland engines). The Rivolta 300 was introduced in 1962. The Iso Grifo sports car , which offered better driving performance, was created with similar technology from 1964 .

After the unexpected death of his father Renzo, Piero Rivolta became head of the company in 1966 at the age of 25. Under him, the Iso Fidia limousine , the “fastest 4 seats on wheels” according to self-promotion, the Iso Grifo with 7 or 7.4 liter Corvette engine and the 2 + 2 Coupé Iso Lele , the successor to the ISO Rivolta 300 was launched. In total, only around 1700 GTS were built.

In 1972 the company ran into trouble. A thin capital cover, the breadth of the model range, which was unusual for a small series manufacturer, and the effects of the oil crisis from 1973 onwards caused economic difficulties from which Piero Rivolta was no longer able to free the company. Iso was sold in June 1973. The new owner was the Italian businessman Ivo Pera. He renamed the company "Iso Industries Corporation". In New York -based Pera announced to introduce American management methods and put forward a five-year plan, which provided for an increase in production to 1,000 vehicles in 1974 and 5000 Automobile 1979th The development of new models was also announced. Nothing came of it. In the summer of 1974, just a year after it was taken over by Pera, Iso became insolvent and liquidated.

Iso in motorsport

Iso-Marlboro IR1 (Gijs van Lennep at the Dutch Grand Prix 1974)

In order to increase interest in the Iso brand, the company participated in Formula 1 from 1973 to 1974 . However, it did not have its own racing team. Rather, the team and the infrastructure of Frank Williams Racing Cars from Great Britain were used. The Williams team constructed three of their own vehicles, which were registered as Iso-Marlboro IR1 and Iso-Marlboro IR2 in 1973 and as Iso-Marlboro FW01 , Iso-Marlboro FW02 and Iso-Marlboro FW03 in 1974 . Success was hardly to be achieved, not least in view of irregular and incomplete payments from Iso. The best results in world championship races were several sixth places. The most successful race was the Gran Premio Presidente Medici , which was held in Brasilia in February 1974. In this race, which had no world championship status, Arturo Merzario finished third in IR2. During 1974 the team renamed itself back to Williams .

Rivolta family

Piero Rivolta lives with his wife Lele (Rachele) in Sarasota , Florida , where he heads the Rivolta Group, which is mainly active as a real estate developer. His son Renzo makes luxury sailing ships (Rivolta Yachts). Piero Rivolta's daughter Marella and her husband Andrea Zagato run the renowned northern Italian coachbuilder Zagato Centrostile , which belongs to the Rivolta family.

Marion Rivolta, wife of Renzo Rivolta and mother of Piero Rivolta, died on September 21, 2007 at the age of 101.

Production models from Iso

construction time model power V max image
1962-1970 Iso Rivolta 300 300 hp 215 km / h Iso Rivolta 1969.JPG
1964 Grifo A3 L 350 hp 210-275 km / h Iso Grifo A3 L 1.JPG
1966-1973 Grifo Lusso GL 300 300 hp 190 km / h
1967-1974 Fidia 300 / S4 300 hp 220 km / h Isofidiafront.jpg
1969-1974 Iso Lele 300 hp 230 km / h IsoLele-ClassicRemiseBerlin-1.jpg
1970-1974 Grifo 7 litri 406 hp 300 km / h Iso Grifo a FrankfurtM.JPG
1970-1974 Grifo Can Am 395 hp 270 km / h Iso grifo can am.jpg

Prototypes

In addition to the series-produced vehicles, Iso presented individual prototypes:

The Iso Grifo Spyder

At the beginning of 1964, even before series production of the coupé began, Bertone presented an elegant Spyder version of the Iso Grifo that was not developed for series production.

The Iso Varedo

In 1972, when the plant was already struggling with considerable financial problems, the Iso Varedo was presented, a two-seater mid-engine sports car with a wedge-shaped body by Ercole Spada, the design of which was roughly reminiscent of the Lamborghini Countach that had just been presented . The chassis was designed by Giotto Bizzarrini again. The basis was a chassis for the AMC AMX / 3 that Bizzarrini had designed for the American AMC group in early 1970. The body was made of plastic. A 5.8-liter eight-cylinder from Ford was installed in the rear, which was coupled with a five-speed transmission from ZF Friedrichshafen . The name of the vehicle recalled the new location of Iso Rivolta's production facilities. The red and black painted prototype of the Varedo was presented at the Turin Motor Show in 1972. The car was ready to drive and was subjected to extensive tests on the Monza circuit, among other places . Contemporary reports praise, among other things, the driving behavior of the sports car.

The car did not get beyond the prototype stage; The development was not continued and no further copies were made. The reason for this is unclear. It is possible that Iso Rivolta no longer had sufficient financial resources to bring the car to series production and produce it. However, it is also conceivable that series production was never planned, so the Varedo was designed from the start as a one-off piece, which was only intended to strengthen the public's interest in the Iso Rivolta brand.

Attempts at resuscitation

Ennezeta

The former ISO employees Roberto Negri and Maurizio Zanisi founded the new company Ennezeta Srl in Paderno Dugnano in 1976 and produced some of the Grifo , Fidia and Lele models by 1979 .

The Iso Grifo 90

The Iso Grifo 90

In 1991 Piero Rivolta presented a new vehicle called Iso Grifo 90 , with which he wanted to test the public's interest in reviving the Iso brand. The car had been developed by Dallara . He used the drive technology of the Chevrolet Corvette and wore a plastic body designed by Marcello Gandini . Series production did not materialize; Dallara only made a prototype painted yellow.

literature

  • Since Iso a ISORIVOLTA (ital.)
  • Iso and Bizzarrini, Brooklands Gold Portfolio, 1994 (English).
  • Goodfellow, Winston Scott: Iso Rivolta, The Man, The Machines. Motorbooks International 2001. ISBN 88-7911-268-6 . (English)
  • Oldtimer Markt 11/1995: "Mythical Animal"; Development history of the Iso Grifo.
  • Auto Motor und Sport 10/1976: Ennezeta Lele. Report on the projects of the Ennezeta company.
  • Kevin Brazendale: Automobile Encyclopedia, 1st edition 2000 (Weltbild Augsburg); detailed documentation of the Iso Grifo 90.

Web links

Commons : Iso vehicles  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andrew Shanks: With Iso in Italy . Autocar, issue 4/1974.
  2. ↑ a b Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 .
  3. ^ A b c Nick Georgano: The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 (English)