If you ask boaters what were the two happiest days in their lives, you’re likely to hear: The day I bought my boat and the day I sold it!
Martyn Schorr and Iso Grifo No. 047
That’s usually not the case with car guys, however. When we fall in love with a specialty car, it’s often a long-term relationship. The more special the car, the more passion, and sometimes the relationship can last for decades.
That best describes my relationship with a 1967 Iso Grifo (#047) that I purchased new as a leftover in 1969. And, after 42 years, sold last week.
I knew little about the car, even less about Iso in Bresso (Milano) Italy when I test-drove a 427/435 tri-power Corvette-engined Grifo for CARS Magazine in 1968. It was love at first power shift and all I knew was that I wanted one.
It was as powerful as a big-block Corvette, but that was where the similarities ended. Its mag wheels were really magnesium and the stunning body was hand fashioned of steel and aluminum. It was a real European GT sports car and it felt, handled and stopped like nothing else I had ever driven.
The owner turned me on to a leftover Grifo that I bought.
Over 42 years of ownership it has never disappointed. Because of it my wife and I have met interesting people here and abroad through IBOC (Iso Bizzarrini Owners Club), including Piero Rivolta and his family who also live in Sarasota, FL.
The Grifo is a very special car and I always felt special driving it. That included commuting from Long Island to my office in Manhattan when I was Editor of CARS. I learned later that the Grifo was a handbuilt car with hand-formed body panels. There was no tooling as there was for other Iso models.
Unlike boaters who celebrate when they “dump” their boat, there was no celebrating when Exotic Car Transporters came to my garage yesterday and scooped up my Grifo. I had it show-prepped by Sharbel Murrilo and his team at Prestige Auto Specialists in Miami for a show in Sarasota last month and it looked and smelled new. It looked so good I was afraid to drive it!
Now I almost cried as the driver eased my Grifo into the transporter. It’s now on its way to its second owner, a collector/dealer in the UK.
Bon Voyage!
Martyn L. Schorr wrote the book on Baldwin-Motion, Motion Performance: Tales of a Muscle Car Builder
(Motorbooks). This Grifo is featured is this book. He is the editor of Car Guy Chronicles and is the Chief Communications Officer of Sarasota Cafe Racers.The original article in My Car Quest about this one of a kind Iso Grifo is here.
This special Grifo is featured in the July 2011 issue of Octane Magazine.
Click on the images for a larger view.
Jack and tools.
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