Iso Rivolta IR 300
The Iso Rivolta is a grand tourer introduced in 1962 by Italian automobile manufacturer Iso Automotoveicoli S.p.A. Company chairman Renzo Rivolta and his colleague, former Ferrari engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, saw it as a gran turismo in the original sense of the term, designed for long and memorable journeys. It was the first luxury automobile introduced by the company which formerly specialised in affordable motor vehicles. For motor racing, an entirely different variant was made which bore a strong resemblance to the 1962 model Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan and was homologated as a touring car.
History
Iso, a well known manufacturer of motorcycles and micro cars, especially the Isetta bubble car, decided to enter the lucrative luxury car market in the early 60s. The idea behind this was a car that was usable every day while being priced between a Jaguar and a Ferrari. For the mechanical development of the car, the company founder and chairman entrusted Giotto Bizzarrini of Società Autostar. Bizzarrini developed a pressed steel and welded panel chassis which was designed to flex fore and aft and proved to be rigid along with cost effective to manufacture. The de Dion rear suspension and four-wheel disc brakes would be shared with contemporary luxury offerings at the time. While the front suspension would consist of unequal length wishbones. The elegant body style was the work of a young Giorgetto Giugiaro who was working at Bertone at the time.For the drivetrain, Iso would follow the same concept as adopted by De Tomaso and would choose an American built drivetrain. The car would be fitted with a Chevrolet 327 V8 engine mated initially to a 4-speed manual transmission from BorgWarner. It would be offered with a 5-speed manual transmission and a 3-speed automatic transmission as well later on in its production life cycle. The IR 300 would be joined by a high performance IR 340 variant in 1964.
The new car named the Rivolta IR 300 was presented to the public at the 1962 Torino Motor Show to a positive reception. 797 units of the IR 300 would be made before production would end in 1970 amid slow sales. 167 cars made were the IR 340 models.