One to Buy: ex-works 1965 Iso Grifo A3/C Corsa
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Having lost the pair of brand new Grifo A3/C Corsas assembled for 1965 in a pair of horrifying crashes at the season-opening Sebring 12 Hours, the works Iso outfit run by Giotto Bizzarrini was forced to rely on a single well-used 1964 example until a brace of fresh chassis came on stream a few months later.
Those cars were chassis B-0222 and B-0226 which featured a number of technical updates to include wider, fibreglass instead of aluminium bodies and independent instead of de Dion rear suspension.
First of these second generation Grifo A3/C Corsas to arrive was B-0222 which, having retired on its debut at the Nurburgring 1000km in May, put in a storming performance to bag ninth overall and first in class at Le Mans a few weeks later. After posting another DNF at the Reims 12 Hours, B-0222 was joined by its sister car, chassis B-0226, for the Austrian GP at Zeltweg.
On this occasion, the two A3/Cs came home fourth (Chris Amon in B-0222) and seventh (Bob Bondurant in B-0226).
Unfortunately, the Austraian outing would be the last for the collaboration between Iso boss Renzo Rivolta and A3/C designer, builder and team boss, Giotto Bizzarrini, as the two men severed their business arrangement shortly afterwards.
As part of the deal, Bizzarrini got production rights to the A3/C and component parts for 50 cars while Rivolta came away with the Grifo naming rights. Without Rivolta’s largesse, the A3/C (which subsequently became the Bizzarrini 5300 GT) saw little competitive action thereafter.
Ultimately, the Bizzarrini-run concern soon found itself in financial difficulty and, by late 1968, had closed its doors. As for chassis B-0226, which is currently on offer at the Mitchell Curated showroom in the Cotswolds, this car found its way to Salvatore Diomante who acquired most of Bizzarrini’s equipment in a liquidation sale.
As can be seen from early photos from Diomante’s archive, an early effort to revive B-0226 had been started iduring the 1970s, but did not progress beyond some body work which involved removing the rear wheel arch covers and making repairs.
B-0226 would remain in this state with Diomante for around 40 years until the project was restarted, and the car was taken down to a bare chassis. Repairs were made to rectify the slight damage incurred at Zeltweg and great focus was put on preserving the original, battle damaged body.
Eventually, the restoration came to fruition in Diomante’s workshop and was completed with a 5.4-litre Mathwall Engineering-built Chevrolet V8 engine ahead of the 2016 Chantilly Concours d’ Elegance, where it was shown with the original paint preserved on its fibreglass wide body.
In 2019, B-0226 was bought by its current custodian and some light preparation was undertaken by the Jordan Racing Team. Since then, B-0226 has remained little seen while being within the current owner’s collection.
For more information visit the Mitchell Curated website at: https://www.mitchellcurated.com/
