The World's Four Fastest Seats Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

by Mike -

Initially it was called the Iso Rivolta S4 when introduced in 1969 but the name was changed to Iso Rivolta Fidia after some initial design and quality problems.

"The World's Four Fastest Seats" was the Iso marketing slogan. This may have been true but the S4 was not well received by the automotive press and some customers.

However, John Lennon liked the Fidia very much. The second Fidia made, and the first with right hand drive, was purchased by John Lennon. It is believed that Apple Corp (the Beatles record company) also owned two Fidias.

John Lennon and his wife meet Piero Rivolta and his wife above. Below John Lennon checks out an Iso Grifo and Fidia respectively.

In January 1969 Road & Track said "brilliant conception with much lost in the execution" and "exotic looking, high performance sedan that misses the mark because of poor details & clumsy low speed handling". 

They complained about the mohair in the interior, the steering, the air conditioning plus a few other items. 

Road & Track wrote another article on the renamed Fidia in May 1969 where the report was much better after Piero Rivolta made a few changes. 

It is surprising that there were any complaints at all after the excellent reviews for the Iso Rivolta GT and the Iso Grifo.

Piero Rivolta discusses the Fidia with Piero Taruffi, a famous and successful race car driver.

The Fidia body style is by Giorgetto Giugiaro when he was with Ghia. The engine is the Corvette 327 cid V8 producing 300 hp with either an automatic or manual transmission.

A total of 192 Fidias and S4s were built between 1969 and 1973. See pictures of other Isos here.

Click on the images for a larger view.