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BattlePorQyaplakal.com · RM Sotheby's
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bizzarrini3 min read·14 Oct 2026

1968 Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada — Auto Friday No. 144

BattlePorQyaplakal.com · RM Sotheby's

Happy Friday, everyone!

Today's post is dedicated to an upcoming anniversary. Tomorrow, 6 June, marks one hundred years since the birth of Giotto Bizzarrini (1926–2023).

After graduating from the University of Pisa, Giotto first took a job at Alfa Romeo, and then a test-driver vacancy came up at Ferrari. Being both a gifted engineer and a racing driver, Bizzarrini created the famous Ferrari 250 GTO, although by the time it went into production in 1962 it was already being built without him. After the "palace coup" at Ferrari, he was one of the eight senior employees whom Enzo Ferrari personally, and very publicly, fired.

In 1962 Bizzarrini founded an engineering company, Società Autostar. It was this company, among other things, that Ferruccio Lamborghini commissioned to develop the V12 engine for his first car, an engine that ended up staying in production all the way until 2010. Renzo Rivolta, the owner of ISO, also turned to the same firm to design a Gran Turismo sports coupe.

The firstborn ISO Rivolta 300 was followed by the striking ISO Grifo, styled by Giugiaro and likewise engineered by Bizzarrini. Conceived from the outset in two versions, road and race, the Grifo ended up being the reason for the split with Renzo Rivolta: he insisted on building only the road-going, relatively comfortable model, while Bizzarrini was far more interested in the radical racing car. Only 22 racing Grifo A3/C (Competizione) were made under the ISO badge, after which Rivolta and Bizzarrini struck a deal. Rivolta, who held the rights to the Grifo name, would carry on building the road-going ISO Grifo, and Bizzarrini would build the A3/C under his own name.

And that is how Società Prototipi Bizzarrini (Bizzarrini S.p.A.) came to be, building roughly one hundred and forty cars between 1964 and 1969. Apart from a handful of prototypes, there was just one model, the 5300 Strada, essentially the very same ISO Grifo A3/C. One such car is what we have today, in 24 photos, with thanks to RM Sotheby's.

2. In 1965 a car just like this took first in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.1 / 35
3. Underneath is a box-section steel frame with aluminium body panels. 86 of these were built.2 / 35
4. A "budget" 5300 America with a fibreglass body was later produced for the US market.3 / 35
5. The car stands just 1,120 mm tall.4 / 35
6. Production cars were officially good for 280 km/h; prototypes hit 305+ in testing.5 / 35
7. The interior is decidedly spartan.6 / 35
8.7 / 35
9.8 / 35
10. A no-nonsense pedal box.9 / 35
11.10 / 35
12.11 / 35
13.12 / 35
14.13 / 35
15.14 / 35
16.15 / 35
17.16 / 35
18. A proven recipe: Italian design plus American muscle. Under the bonnet sits the 327 V8 from the Chevrolet Corvette.17 / 35
19. 5.4 litres, 365 hp and 385 Nm.18 / 35
20.19 / 35
21. I have no pricing data, except for the plastic-bodied America: it cost $10,500 in the US.20 / 35
22.21 / 35
23.22 / 35
24. And that's all for now.23 / 35
1968 Bizzarrini 1900 GT Europa. Roughly 12 were built with a 1.9-litre, 110 hp Opel engine.24 / 35
The progenitor: Iso Grifo A3/C25 / 35
1965 Iso Grifo A3/C26 / 35
And the aforementioned ISO Grifo,27 / 35
The legendary Ferrari 250 GTO,28 / 35
Giotto Bizzarrini29 / 35
Bizzarrini's first car, the "Macchinetta", based on the Fiat 500.30 / 35
Giotto Bizzarrini31 / 35
1966 Bizzarrini GT Strada 530032 / 35
1966 Bizzarrini GT Strada 530033 / 35
1966 Bizzarrini GT Strada 530034 / 35
Replying to a comment (paulick): "The last car under the Bizzarrini name was the Manta!" — Not the last. And the Manta was only a concept, built by Giugiaro on a Bizzarrini chassis. The marque has been revived more than once, but none of that had anything to do with Bizzarrini himself anymore. 2005 Bizzarrini GT 4.1 Strada on BMW running gear:35 / 35

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