One to Buy: 1 of 1 ex-Turin Motor Show 1968 Bizzarrini 5300 GT America 2+2 Prototype
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In addition to having been one of the most talented engineers of his generation, Giotto Bizzarrini was an extremely ambitious businessman who ultimately over-extended himself trying to compete with the Italian car building aristocracy on both road and track.
Undoubtedly the best known and most commercially successful model to have emerged wearing a Bizzarrini badge was the 5300 GT which actually evolved out of a commission from Iso boss, Renzo Rivolta. Rivolta had wanted to build a GT racing car that could complement his other offerings and contracted Giotto Bizzarrini to design, build and race what became known as the Iso Grifo A3/C.
Before long, however, Rivolta and Bizzarrini fell out. The separation agreement saw Bizzarrini handed production rights to the A3/C and enough parts to build 50 cars. Thus, the Bizzarrini 5300 GT was born.
Determined to expand his model line up, Bizzarrini went on to build a few open top iterations of the 5300 GT in addition to a prototype long wheelbase 2+2 version that was conceived to broaden the model’s appeal. There was also an entry level offering dubbed the 1900 GT and a top flight Sports Prototype, the P538, created to try and win Le Mans.
Somewhat inevitably, Giotto Bizzarrini’s haphazard management approach meant his firm soon slid into financial trouble. Bizzarrini SpA closed its doors for good in early 1969 and a bright, brief chapter of 20th century Italian automotive history came to an end.
On October 2nd, the one-off Bizzarrini 5300 GT America 2+2 prototype will be going under the hammer during Broad Arrow Auctions’ sale at the Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week in Rhode Island. Having appeared in non-running form at the Turin Motor Show in October 1968 (with Bizzarrini SpA in its death throes), the car was subsequently sold to existing Bizzarrini customer, Mauro Chigiotti, in 1970.
According to Broad Arrow Auctions: “A few months later, the car was moved to South Africa, where it passed into the ownership of Mr. and Mrs. Louw. In 1982, it was offered for sale through Road & Track, at which time it reportedly showed just 4500km. It was subsequently acquired by Ian R. Elliot of Johannesburg, before passing in 1984 to Gerhard Malherbe, remaining in South Africa throughout.
Over the following years, the car received successive registrations before undergoing a restoration in 2008 at Reali in Livorno, Italy. Still registered in South Africa, that year the car was assigned an administrative identity bearing the newly stamped chassis number IGM0593VT. In May 2017, this unique Bizzarrini 5300 GT America 2+2 Prototype crossed the Atlantic to the United States.”
