American Muscle, Italian Style: Iso-Rivolta Grifo

Early Grifo at speed, pic from Wikimedia Commons

In the early 1960s, Iso-Rivolta SpA of Bresso, Italy was already famous for its sleek, Chevrolet Corvette-powered IR300 grand tourer, and company founder/president Renzo Rivolta wanted a followup to the IR300. The sleek fastback Grand Tourer that resulted was the work of famous automotive engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, late of Ferrari, and young hotshot designer Giorgetto Giugiaro at Carrozzeria Bertone. Also powered by a Chevrolet Corvette V8, and having a clean-sheet chassis design, this was an elegant yet potent exotic car that was mostly built by hand and received rave reviews. 17 targa-top versions were built, with the remainder of the 413 Grifos produced from 1963-74 being coupes.

The car developed 390 horsepower (290 kilowatts) in its stock form, and was not a small car at its length of 174.4 inches (4,430 millimeters). Transmission availability included 4-speed Muncie and 5-speed ZF manuals, or 3-speed automatic on special order. Over the years, engine availability included the Chevrolet Corvette 5.4-liter V8, Ford "Cleveland"5.7-liter V8, and 7-liter and 7.4-liter Chevrolet V8s, all sourced in the US but totally reworked and blueprinted at the factory.

The Grifo's interior featured incredible luxury and comfort along with style, and build quality was top-notch. Variations of the Grifo chassis were used under the Fidia sedan and Lele 2+2 coupe, offering spirited handling and a comfortable ride.

In 1970, the Grifo lost some of its elegant style and cachet with a then-stylish droop snoot nose and hideaway headlights, and got an execrable bonnet scoop, then went away in 1974 with the remainder of Iso-Rivolta's car range.

Lesney-Matchbox produced a UK-market Grifo in small-scale in the late 60s, which was a staple in toyboxes worldwide for years, and the one in the author's collection has some wear and tear plus some detailing.

Parking Lot Photo Shoot: 1969 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV

Forbidden Fruit: 1965 Piaggio Ape Project in Canada

The Piaggio Ape (pronounced ah-pay), made by the company most famous for the Vespa scooter, is not well-known in North America, but is ubiquitous in the Mediterranean and the Third World as an inexpensive working vehicle. This Ape has an unknown streamliner cargo bed and has been stored for many years, but is a great project, and can be imported to the US easily. Parts may be tricky (as with many other interesting vehicles), but eBay is a great source, and this enthusiast website is a great source of info on these interesting microtrucks. 

An advantage that the Ape has over a kei truck is that in places where all kei trucks regardless of model year are illegal, the Ape isn't, since it is legally considered a motorcycle. Most states also do not require a motorcycle endorsement for three-wheelers. 

Daihatsu Midget fans in states that say no to kei trucks, the Piaggio Ape (especially in closed-cab form) is for you!

Find it here for $1000 CDN in Coquitlam, British Columbia (or go here if ad disappears)

Diecast Review: 1/24 scale Welly Diecasting 1960 Alfa Romeo 2600 Spider

Beautiful lines that capture the 1/1 subject's elegant body style, more reminiscent of an Iso Rivolta or a Lancia than of an Alfa Romeo, befitting its role in the 1960s sports car market

Front-end details are spot-on, "googly eyes" produced by light mounting lugs are less present

Beautiful front-end design, slightly spoiled by bonnet (hood) and lower-body air intakes being tampos instead of cast-in details. Side lights are especially well-done.

Other than odd bumper angle, rear end is well-done.

Mouth-watering side elevation, hubcap, wheel, Carrozzeria Touring badge and trim are well-done, but bumper could stand a better placement.

Rear deck is beautiful and well-executed, down to the folded and booted convertible top, top boot snaps, twin petrol fillers and small mystery trim piece.

Altogether executed well, even the "two-crush-two" seating typical of Touring and Vignale sporty cars in the 60s is perfect.

Interior is outstanding, but came from the factory a bit dusty. Gauges, switchgear, steering wheel, seating and dashboard are well-executed, even an ashtray is included.

Industry-leading detail in the dash and center tunnel. Even the quirky grab handle & cantilevered rear-view mirror are well-done, and a legible gold Alfa logo is visible on the steering wheel.

This casting is not recommended in red, especially with the top up, white suits its luxo-sport genre nicely and the nonremovable up-top may obscure the wealth of interior detail. Build quality/fit & finish is a 6 out of 10 (bad door gaps on passenger door, came out of the box very dusty, bad rear-bumper fit, and I had to use Testor's model glue to permanently attach all 4 hubcaps, but solidly built otherwise), detail is an 8.5 out of 10 (chassis is minimalistic, engine is literally two colors with little color and part detail, and the boot does not open, but it is great for a $15-20 price range casting), visual impact is 10 out of 10 and subject matter is a 10 out of 10, since no scale subjects of the 2600 Spider beyond a Protar 1/24 model kit from 1993 or so and a handful of cottage-industry 1/43s existed until Welly cast this up in late 2012. A 1/18 version was planned, but cancelled in the end.

Conclusion: Highly recommended.

Buy your own here at Diecast Models Wholesale, you will not regret it.