The Bizzarrini Manta is a one off design exercise by the famous Giorgetto Giugiaro. It was the very first design for his new company ItalDesign which was later renamed Italdesign Giugiaro and was acquired by Volkswagen last year.
The Manta was created in 1968 and has an unusual center driver seating position with a passenger on each side of the driver. An arrangement that was used by the McLaren F1 more than 20 years later.
The Manta uses a Bizzarrini P538 chassis and it was a rolling chassis for many years.
Over its lifetime it has been painted silver, red, green and is now back to its original color of “blue green aqua”, a turquoise color.
This beautiful car has been restored to its original condition and has a Corvette 327 cid engine in place behind the driver and passengers.
The Manta was shown at the Turin Auto Show in 1968 and was on the cover of the March 1969 issue of Road & Track.
This car has won many awards and was shown at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2008.
It is now on display at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California as part of their Supercars Exhibit through February 5, 2012.
Like many works of art, pictures cannot accurately communicate what this car is like in person.
The Bizzarrini Manta is owned by Ron and Diane Spindler.
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