VIN: the works Iso Grifo A3/C Corsa chassis B-0222
History of chassis B-0222
Chassis B-0222 was the first A3/C built with independent as opposed to de Dion rear suspension and a fibreglass instead of aluminium body. The new car was much-needed after two freshly completed A3/Cs had been destroyed at the Sebring 12 Hours back in March of 1965.
On its debut event at the Nurbrurgring 1000km in May of 1965, B-0222 failed to set a time in practice which meant drivers Mario Cabral and Teodoro Zeccoli were forced to start from the back of the 63 car grid. The race subsequently proved a disappointment as Cabral came in after just two laps with iffy brakes and three laps later B-0222’s maiden appearance ended with broken suspension.
The car’s next outing came four weeks later at the Le Mans 24 Hours. B-0222 was Iso’s solitary representative at la Sarthe; Jean de Mortemart and Regis Frassinet qualified 24th of the 51 starters but dropped back early on with brake problems.
Thereafter though they had a trouble-free run and, by 10am on Sunday morning (when just 18 runners remained), B-0222 had moved up to tenth. It gained another position during the final six hours and ultimately crossed the line ninth overall, winning the over five-litre Prototype class at an average speed of 169kmh.
Two weeks after its class win at Le Mans, B-0222 attended the Reims 12 Hour race where de Mortemart and Frassinet qualified 14th. Unfortunately though, both Grifos in attendance retired in quick succession: chassis B-0207 with a badly oiled clutch and B-0222 with a blown head gasket.
On August 15th, B-0222 was entered for Maurice Trintignant to drive at the Mont Dore Hillclimb in central France. The ex-Ferrari F1 driver and two-time Monaco Grand Prix winner had won the 5km Mont Dore event in 1964 with his BRM P57.
For the 1965 running (which was a round of the French Hillclimb Championship), Trintignant drove B-0222 to eighth fastest time overall and second in class.
Following another two-week gap, B-0222 was back in action at the Austrian Grand Prix which took place at the Zeltweg airfield in Styria (August 22nd).
B-0222 was entered for Chris Amon to drive in the 200 mile 100 lap race and qualified eighth.
A second fibreglass-bodied independent rear suspension A3/C was also on hand for its maiden event: chassis B-0226 was allocated to Bob Bondurant who qualified 13th. Amon went on to finish fourth overall (fourth in the over two-litre Sports class) while Bondurant came home in seventh (sixth in class).
Soon after the race at Zeltweg, Iso patron Renzo Rivolta and Giotto Bizzarrini who had designed, built and campaigned the A3/C terminated their cooperation agreement. Giotto Bizzarrini was ultimately granted production rights to the A3/C and enough component parts to build 50 cars in exchange for the Grifo trademark.
With the cost of an expensive racing programme now down entirely to him, Giotto Bizzarrini primarily switched focus to the production of road-going A3/Cs which would be marketed as the Bizzarrini 5300 GT.
Accordingly, chassis B-0222 was rebuilt as a Bizzarrini road car, re-numbered IA3-0222 and sold off to a Rome-domiciled American. In later years it was exported to the United States and subsequently returned to Corsa trim.
Notable History
Iso Rivolta
23/05/1965 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (M. Cabral / T. Zeccoli) DNF (#18)
20/06/1965 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (J. de Mortemart / R. Fraissinet) 9th oa, 1st P5.0+ class (#3)
04/07/1965 WSC Reims 12 Hours (J. de Mortemart / R. Fraissinet) DNF head gasket (#6)
15/08/1965 FMC Mont Dore Hillclimb (M. Trintignant) 8th oa, 2nd in class (#110)
22/08/1965 IND Austrian GP, Zeltweg (C. Amon) 4th oa, 4th S2.0+ class (#1)
Rebuilt as a road car and re-numbered IA3-0222
Sold
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed & Technisches Museum Wien - https://www.technischesmuseum.at/en
