Assetto Corsa: 1964 Iso Grifo A3/C at Pescara 57

In 1962 Giotto Bizzarrini, already knee deep working on the new ATS project with Carlo Chiti, was hired by Renzo Rivolta to turn his Iso company into a manufacturer of sports cars.

Bizzarrini's first design with the company was the Iso Rivolta 300, a luxury GT coupe. A year later was the Iso Grifo A3, a two-seater GT with all of his hallmarks, including a long aerodynamic body (designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro) and a front engine placed so far back that the dashboard had to be removed to service it. Thanks to a newly won contract with General Motors, this engine was the exceptional 327ci small block, famously used in the Corvette. Conceived and built in his own shop, the Grifo was an Iso in name only.

Two Grifos were displayed at the 1963 Turin Auto Show (one Lusso, one Corsa). The design was so popular the Corsa prototype was sold during the show. Bizzarrini also received an order from American Ed Hugus, who wanted to race a Grifo A3/C in the upcoming Sebring 12 Hour race.

The A3/Lusso (roadcar version) was produced at the Iso factory in Bresso, while the A3/Corsa was built at Piero Drogo's factory in Modena under the direct supervision of Bizzarrini.

In Hugus' hands, the A3/C made its racing debut at Sebring 1964, where it was plagued with transmission problems. The Borg Warner gearbox had to be swapped twice and the car eventually finished in a lowly 39th position.

In Europe, the A3/C showed great potential and clocked the 9th fastest time during the Le Mans trials in April. A new car was readied for the Le Mans race and it qualified 16th on the grid, behind the dominant Shelby Daytonas but ahead of every Ferrari 250 GTO (Bizzarrini's previous design). Two hours were lost after a brake disc shattered, devastating everything around it. After repairs, the A3/C was brought home 14th. More unlucky results would follow throughout the year.

In the summer of 1965 the relationship between Rivolta and Bizzarrini deteriorated. The Iso owner wanted Bizzarrini to put his A3/C into full production to homologate it for GT racing, but Bizzarrini was far more interested in continuously improving the race car. After 22 copies of the A3/C were built, the two settled, with Bizzarrini able to continue building the car under his own moniker, while Iso continued on with the Grifo name.

The improvements made to the A3/C did pay off at Le Mans, where the team finished 9th overall, 1st in the Prototype 5+ category.

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