Iso earned a reputation for producing exotic, V8-powered sedans favored by the rich and famous, but they are relatively scarce today due to limited production and high purchase prices when new. This tired example of a Rivolta is claimed to be number 31 of 45 made, and has been in Greece since new. The body is said to be free from significant rust and the interior is surprisingly intact. Equipped with a Chevrolet-sourced V8 and manual transmission, it offered impressive performance in its day. Find it here on eBay listed for approximately $115K U.S.
Based on the photos, it appears this Rivolta has been parked outside a shop for some time. The paint is faded but consistent; however, it is not original as the Iso was painted brown by the factory. The slim chrome bumpers and all glass appear sound. The mechanicals aren’t discussed, but the seller does offer that is has a limited slip rear end. This was supposedly a demonstrator car featured in all Iso brochures of the day, and given the press launch for the Rivolta occurred in Greece, it’s not surprising this particular car has made its home there.
This being an earlier car means it retains the wooden dash face. The wood was later replaced with a full leather dashboard, but some would say the earlier design is more desirable. The seats appear very sound despite their years of neglect; the backseat looks unused. The interior shows signs of wear with failing upholstery on the A- and B-pillars, but with cars like this, restoring the often-ornate interiors is to be expected. The Iso competed with the Maserati Quattroporte back in the day, but didn’t achieve the same level of sales success.
60 m.p.h. was achievable in about seven seconds, damn impressive performance for a big sedan in the 1960s-1970s. The Rivolta came with about 355 b.h.p. on board courtesy of the Chevrolet-supplied mill, a good deal more than the later Ford engines that replaced it. At the time of its launch, it was marketed as the fastest four seats in the world, notating its sports-car like performance in a big sedan body. Today, they are certainly rare and made even more desirable with a manual transmission like this car’s. Restoration won’t be cheap, but the exclusivity factor is high and provenance an added bonus given its role as the official brochure vehicle.
Rivolting.
Such a handsome car from some angles, and not so much from others.
That’s quite a find! Not bad for a company that made refrigerators, motor scooters and microcars.
I tend to prefer four doors, but the shape of the rear door glass and C-pillar look awkward at best.
Or you could find an old XJ6, stuff in a Chevy V8, and achieve the same effect.
Or an LSX these days…
An incorrect claim; the Australian built 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 3 has always been recognised as the fastest 4 door, with a top speed of 160mph, until the Lotus Carlton was produced
@John. You are making the claim for a 1971 car whereas the claim for the Rivolta was made in 1968.
It doesn’t say what the top speed was but I believe the Lamborghini Espada 4 seater which came out in 1968 with a double overhead cam V 12 was faster at better than 150 MPH.
This is how one of these CAN look when done right (when finished even better). Concorso Italiano 2017: Correct in-house restoration of a 350/350 Powered Fidia (the later S4) with Muncie 4-speed and Salisbury LSD (of AC Corba fame) inside a DeDion rear end system. Four wheel Girling disc brakes; lots of room and full power make this awesome driving / handling car.
This is one if those cars that does not show well in photos but in real life looks amazing. The E-Type has that same problem to some degree. I have seen two of them over the years and the tired one was so sad to see and the other was amazing in both looks and sound. I hope it finds a new owner who realized what he has and takes it back to as new.
The grill emblem looks like a Peugeot lion mated with a Trans-Am Screaming Chicken!
Butt ugly f**king car. Crush it now.
Looks like it was designed by five different groups who did not know they were working on the same car. At least Chevy air cleaners are cheap
This model should properly be called an S4 or Fidia depending on early or late production, as Rivolta (the founder’s surname) is now usually understood as the model name for Iso’s earlier GT coupe. There seems to have been some ambiguity at the time about whether the marque was Iso Rivolta or just Iso; perhaps when they added this sedan model, they flirted with making Rivolta part of the marque name to distinguish their GT models from their earlier motorcycles and the famous Isetta bubble car, but ultimately they settled on just Iso.
Amazingly enough, this was designed by Giugiaro, albeit early in his career at Ghia and not the maestro’s best work. IMO the weird shape of the rear quarter glass in the back doors was his main misstep here; if he’d figured some way to make that pane either uniform-width or wider at the bottom rather than the top, it might have looked better. Here’s one with blackout window trim which hides that awkwardness rather well and winds up looking quite handsome:
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/iso/fidia/1863714.html
I love that the asphalt has a matching patch of color on it…wonder where it fell off of.
Not just one patch but several lol well spotted!
Appropriate name, as it’s styling “Is So Revolting” !!
Around 1990, I was doing a roofing estimate in S. E. Orlando and the homeowner had a somewhat tatty Fidia in his garage. I think silver and not running. It may have been an automatic. He didn’t want to sell and I was buried in my ’72 cash-sucking Pantera anyway.
Let me know when that red Lancia Fulvia coupe in the first picture comes up for sale.
My favorite brand of throat lozenges has always been Rivolta.
They are strange and fast. Very exciting cars in their day. It’s obviously a major undertaking but worth it in the end the car has a strong upside in a narrow collector market. The asking price is too high.
It doesn’t say what the top speed was but I believe the Lamborghini Espada 4 seater which came out in 1968 with a double overhead cam V 12 was faster at better than 150 MPH.
But not with four doors unless it’s the one-off Frua Faena based on a lengthened Espada monocoque.
The back 1/2 of the car has some Avanti aspects to it’s design. IMO
It’s certainly 70s-ish
Wow and I thought Citroen’s were ugly…..apparently an ugly cousin exists
Had a 67 Iso Rivolta 2+2 Coupe in 74-76 when I was in Europe. Had a Special order 327 with Aluminum Heads and 12 quart Aluminum Finned Oil Pan with a wide ratio M-22 with a Jaguar rear end with the inboard Disc Four place Leather interior with Mahogany trim and Mahogony Steering wheel, AC power steering , brakes and windows. the engine was balanced and blueprinting and it would eat 340 dusters alive. when they hit about 110 it looked like it left them sitting still when they ran out of gearing. It had a 300 KPH (180mph) Speedometer and I have had it up to 165 MPH on the autobahn with 4 of us in the car. Traded it for a new Town Car……..Bad Mistake…….saw one like it restored 2 years ago in Sioux Falls $235,000.00. Saw a Lincoln like the one I traded for with 12000 miles for $13,500.00
Hi Mike, that is interesting to hear! Do you have the serial number of that car? If this was a special order it would be very unique! as it’s the first time I heard the factory put aluminum heads on a GT’s 327. The Elektron (not aluminum) oil pan came standard on a high horse (IR 340) Rivolta and fitting an M-22 is for sure not something I heard of before either. I’d be interested to hear what history you have of this special delivery, hopefully you have some pictures of that car. (Just contact me off-board if you like) I’m never too old to learn about Isos and look forward to hearing from you about this unique car!
Bought it in Karlsruhe Germany in 1974 from a LT that I worked with. the car had been customized some that I was aware of the wiper system in the car was from Mercedes and the two wiper post that came through the cowl vent were only 6 inches apart unlike any others I have seen, I had to replace the calipers on all corners and the mechanic told me they were Jaguar but it took calipers special ordered from Dunlop or Ate and cost me more than the car did. I had a friend that was into drag racing at the time and he could not believe the heads on the car the serial numbers as I remember had a series of asterisks or stars and only a couple of numbers in them I did not have any idea of what I really had. the wheel wells were all vented to relieve pressure at high speeds and the rear inboard calipers had scoops that started under the front seats about 12′ wide and a half inch thick and tapered down to put there output directly on the rear pads and rotors. the car would literally sit down closer the road when you went over a hundred and twenty. the balanced motor was so smooth I have balanced a nickel on the air cleaner with it idling. the car also had an Aluminum intake I think was Edelbrock and the Aluminum Finned Valve covers were Edelbrock as well. trying to upload a photo of one like it
ugly car in some ways the result of a cruel automotive experiment
obviously everyone in the design team were asked to pitch an idea into a hat and
the company used all of them to create this !!! Ala RX8 ,TR7 coupe
The serial number (VIN) on these GT’s always started with “IR” followed by 6 digits and indeed had 2 stars – I was hoping you’d remember it but who did in those days? Your description tells me it was an early car – especially the windshield wiper arrangement. The Dunlop brakes were (unfortunately for you that time) used on Ferrari and the like and the rotors are Iso only, so I understand why you had to pay through the nose for a brake job. But this assures me there was no Iso built with aluminum heads, the mods (including intake and valve covers) were done aftermarket. The 327s used in these were the fastest versions available so I’m sure your car went! That was the time when the German Autobahn was still the playground for (hopefully considerate) drivers of fast cars – thank you for the extra info.