MODEL HISTORY
When it was introduced in 1965, the Iso Grifo featured input from some of the most famous names in motoring. The stylish bodywork was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone, while the engineering side of things was entrusted to Giotto Bizzarrini - the man who had done much of the work developing the 250 GTO while he was at Ferrari.
The basic recipe was to blend Italian styling and engineering with a small-block Chevrolet V8 engine. This robust powerplant was offered in two states of tune, the hottest of which produced 365bhp - enough to make the Grifo a rival to the refined GTs being produced by Ferrari and Maserati. That was an impressive boast for a company that had started out in the 1950s making motorcycle-engined microcars.
The Series 2 model followed in 1970 and featured subtly revised styling, the most obvious change being to the front end, where the headlights were hidden under neat covers. The most extreme Grifo variants gained Chevrolet's 7-litre or 7.4-litre engines, which boosted power to well over 400bhp. In 1972, late in the model's production life, the IR-8 model was introduced with Ford V8 engines.
When Car and Driver tested an early Grifo, it recorded a 0-60mph time of seven seconds. 'As a comfortable Grand Touring machine,' it stated, 'the Iso is an unqualified success.' British magazine Autocar reached a maximum speed of 161mph, making the Grifo the fastest car it had tested to that point.
Only 413 Grifos of all types were built before Iso car production came to an end in December 1974, and of those only 31 were exported new to the UK.
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