Iso Grifo A3/L

The Iso Grifo A3/L (Lusso / Luxury) was presented on the Bertone stand at the 1963 Turin Motor Show. Presented alongside it, on the Iso stand, was the ISO Grifo A3C (the C stands for competition). Although these two were twin designs, they featured some considerable differences: the former very luxurious, with refined detailing, and the latter spartan and without concessions to comfort. The A3 was mounted with an eight-cylinder 5.4 litre Chevrolet Corvette engine at the front but well back, for an optimum distribution of the weights (and on the “C” version the engine was 40 cm further back than the engine of the “L”), on a semi-monocoque chassis (in steel on the “L” and in aluminium, as the bodywork for the “C”, with a resulting difference in weight of 300 kg between the two versions). Bertone was given carte blanche for the design of the Iso Grifo. Iso managed to register one of its A3Cs for the 12 hour race at Sebring in 1964, but in the end had to pull out due to mechanical problems. At the Nurburgring 1000 km the following May, driven by Noblet and Berney it finished in 19th place, and it came in 14th at the Le Mans 24 Hours, first in its category. In 1965 at Sebring two Grifos were in the line-up: the first was written off in an accident, and the second came in 39th. At Nurburgring the two cars on the starting line didn’t finish the race, and at Le Mans the Fraissinet-De Montemart team came in 9th overall: the best ever result for a Grifo. But it would not be correct to conclude that the Grifos were not competitive cars; quite the opposite. The press of the day called them “serious competitors”, and the drivers who drove them rated their mechanics and handling very highly. The only thing missing from their attempt at glory was money, and this was the reason why some of the A3Cs were later converted into ‘road’ versions at the request of a number of clients. Two years later, in 1964, limited production of the Iso Grifo A3L began, resulting in 411 units.