1974 ISO RIVOLTA LELE

1974 ISO RIVOLTA LELE.
This stunning example of the 70's styled Lele finished in blu metalizato with Apricot/ light tan leather upholstery, is a rare car in the UK and possibly worldwide.
This is the first one I have seen on the road.
The interior is a really luxurious place to be, featuring unusual and quirky designs.
Meant as a Christmas present for Piere Rivolta's wife Rachelle (LeLe) Rivolta, it was decided to put the car into production to succeed the IR 300. It was first presented to the public at the 1969 New York International Auto Show and was made to compete against the Lamborghini Espada. The car was initially powered by a 350 hp General Motors V8 and was available with a 4-speed manual (later a 5-speed unit from ZF gearboxes) and a 4-speed automatic transmission sourced from General Motors. In 1972, after about 125 cars had been produced, General Motors demanded that Iso pay in advance for the engines. Iso chose to replace the Chevrolet engine with Ford's Cleveland V8 rated at 325 hp . The automatic transmission was also sourced from Ford, while the manual transmission remained unchanged.

The chassis was the same Bizzarrini designed unit which had found use in Iso automobiles since the IR 300. It had an unequal-length double-wishbones front suspension with coil springs while the rear suspension consisted of a de Dion layout with a Salisbury axle unit. Disc brakes were used on all four wheels and were mounted inboard on the chassis.
The de Dion unit worked with radius rods, which moved the de Dion tube forward. A Panhard rod ensured forward and backward movement of the de Doin tube. Telescopic shock absorbers and coil springs completed the unit. The Lele came with a ZF power steering which was the same unit used by Maserati and 215/70 VP15 Michelin XWX tyres, wrapped in Campagnolo alloy wheels.

The interior was upholstered in leather and came with creature comforts like air conditioning and electric windows along with plush carpeting. The speedometer and tachometer were placed behind the steering column while an additional four gauges were present on the centre console which consisted of an ammeter, fuel gauge and water and oil temperature gauges. The car came with a hidden headlamp styling with popup covers partially covering the quad headlamp units when not in use.

The angular Gandini styled body and the comfortable nature of the car did little to help sales and only 285 cars were made. About 160 Ford engined Leles had been built by the time production wound up in 1974, due to Iso's bankruptcy.