In an era when American boys and girls gazed longingly at posters of Ferraris and other Pininfarina-inspired designs, young Italians were doing something similar. But they were entranced by big bore V8 engines and gaping four-barrel carburetors sourced from the U.S. of A.
In a perfect illustration of the grass always being greener on the other side of the Atlantic, this cultural cross-pollination lead to the production of some of the most unique muscle cars of the classic era—including the Iso Grifo.
Bertone was responsible for Iso’s styling during its 1960s performance car period.
Iso was always an outlier in the automotive world. It’s the Italian shop that came up with the original Isetta bubble car, eventually licensed to, and popularized by, BMW. So when it came time to shift gears to building high performance metal, it was only natural that the company walk its own path. Teaming up with Bertone, Iso built on the success of its Rivolta touring car by producing the Iso Grifo: a two-door coupe with the sleek lines of a European thoroughbred that concealed a mammoth secret under its hood.
The special sauce that made the Iso Grifo so exciting to drive was its small block Chevrolet V8. When the Grifo first hit the scene in 1965, it was motivated by a 327 cubic-inch Chevy engine good for 400 horsepower. By the time the Grifo Series II hit the scene, it sported a monstrous Bowtie 454. Turning its back on the General for 1972, the Grifo would swap in a 325-horse 351 cubic-inch Ford engine as its power plant of choice through 1974 when production ceased altogether.
The switch to 454 power meant punching out the hood to accommodate the mammoth motor on Series II cars.
Lest you get the impression that the Iso Grifo was merely a more gorgeous take on the muscle car concept, it’s important to note that the company focused just as much on the car’s handling as it did its forward thrust. Weighing roughly 2,200 pounds, the first generation Grifos were exceptionally nimble, especially considering the fact that Iso pushed the original V8 engine as far back behind the front axle as possible to create a near 50/50 weight balance in the coupe. A four-speed manual transmission handled the gear shifting duties for most Grifos—with an exceedingly low number of five speeds joining the Series II family. A simple and elegant dashboard and interior look perfectly matched its cool exterior cues.
About 400 Iso Grifos left the factory during its nine-year production run, and the vast majority—all but 78—are Series I cars. Although not as celebrated as other Italian etceterini of the era, the Grifo represents a rare successful marriage between two vastly different automotive cultures.
