The ultimate italian coachbuilder site
The ultimate italian coachbuilder site
In 1964 Giotto Bizzarrini was working at Iso Rivolta, for which he designed the Iso Grifo. He wanted to build a racing version of this model, but due to the company’s refusal he decided to go out on his own and build it himself. In order to obtain racing approval, however, several road-going examples needed to be produced, hence the 5300 GT was born in 1965. Production ended in 1969 after 133 examples were built.
The Bizzarrini 5300 GT was inspired in its design by that created by Giorgetto Giugiaro for the Iso Grifo A3C. In addition to the racing versions, there was a more spartan version and one more enriched in the interior with additional comforts such as radio and air conditioning. In the interior, the seating surface was level and the driving position semi-recumbent. The seat was not adjustable, but was custom built for the driver directly at the factory. In the center of the dashboard was a bulky transmission tunnel from which emerged a short gearshift lever. In the Spartan version, the main instruments, speedometer, tachometer and fuel level, were located in the center of the leather-covered dashboard at the tunnel while in front of the driver were the three secondary gauges: oil temperature, oil pressure and water temperature. In contrast, the comfort-equipped version had almost all the instrumentation grouped in front of the driver, behind the steering wheel in a massive wooden console. The radio was generally placed in front of the passenger or above the center tunnel. The Bizzarrini 5300 GT was powered by a 5,385cc Chevrolet-derived V8 with an 11:1 compression ratio, fed by a Holley four-barrel carburetor that developed the power of 365 hp. The transmission was a Borg-Warner 4-speed manual. The ratios were fitted at the precise request of the customers, who could choose between two transmissions. The 5300 GT accelerated from 0/100 Km/h in just under 6.5 seconds and the top speed was 250 Km/h with short transmission while 280 Km/h could be reached with long transmission. Later on, Bizzarrini marketed a modification for their cars and it had become the habit of customers to upgrade their bolides to make them even faster and better performing. This was a special manifold for the application of four Weber 45 DCOE double-body carburetors and cams with different profiles. The kit allowed the Bizzarrini 5300 GT to reach 400hp and travel at about 300 km/h. In fact, the kit can be found on both competition and road cars.
The famous Livorno-based brand Bizzarrini is back in the spotlight with the Giotto that evokes the myth of the 5300 GT. It will arrive no earlier than 2024, but it has already put the Pagani Utopia in its sights.
