This will be the start of a web series of short documentaries on Italian Classic Car brands, where every season has a single topic. The production is independent and is intended to be transformed into an yearly production.
In the late 1940s Renzo Rivolta decided to transform his firm from producing fridges to motorcycles, and soon Italy was mad for motorcycles and scooters; Piaggio's Vespa, Innocenti's Lambretta, Ducati Cucciola and Iso Moto.
He then changed his business to automobiles. From city cars, like the "Bubble Car" Isetta, to luxury sport cars with American V8 engines. The most famous model is the Iso Grifo, a gorgeous turing car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Giotto Bizzarrini at Bertone. When Renzo died, the company went to his son, Piero Rivolta.
Iso Rivolta closed in 1974, due to the oil crisis, on one side, and its artisanal approach to production, on the other; the cars were too expensive and the production model was not sustainable anymore against the streamlined productions.
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What a great idea!!! Since many Italian end up getting Chevy V8's transplanted into them after they are more than several years old because the Chevy swap is cheaper than a tune up on the original engine (and not to mention that the Chevy engines are simply better- I could write an entire article on that fact alone.), why not just put a Chevy motor in them in the first place?
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this! I (and I'm sure many other people) now instantly have a new favorite Italian car brand!
Side note: What's the best British car brand? Answer: Jensen - and we all know why!!
that's a fact
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