Prototipi Bizzarrini Srl, Livorno, Italy.
In 1962, the former Alfa Romeo and Ferrari engineer, Giotto Bizzarrini, established a company to act as a subcontractor to the motor industry. Among his products was the Lamborghini V12 engine and chassis for Iso. In 1965 Bizzarrini was allowed to to make the Strada 5300, a 2-seat lightweight version of the Iso Grifo A3C with a 365bhp 5.4 litre Chevrolet engine.
It was intended to be a road/competition car, but fell between two stools. It was made in small numbers until 1969 and, in the USA, was sold as the Bizzarrini GT America.
Bizzarrini's second car, the Europa introduced in 1967, resembled a scaled-down Strada. It had a fibreglass body, a steel platform chassis with 4-wheel disc brakes, independent suspensio by coil springs and double wishbones, and an unmodified 110bhp 1.9 litre Opel engine. It was claimed to be capable of 127mph, but there were few takers and the Europas hastened the marques decline.
Before Bizzarrini closed his car operation in 1969, he built the P538 (aka Spyder), an unsuccessful mid-engined sports racer. A road version, the Varedo, was made for Iso in late 1972, but did not reach production.
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