This 1970 Iso Fidia offered elite buyers an impressive limousine-class sedan with luxury, style, and power, the epitome of limited-production rolling automotive sculpture. A good-old American V8 provided reliable thrust with a glorious tuned-exhaust soundtrack. When the Fidia first went on sale in 1967, Iso called it “the fastest four seats on wheels.” The spartan listing here on Miami, Florida craigslist includes about ten words. At the $45,000 asking price that’s $4500 per word! Thanks to reader Scott L. who spotted this rare Italian masterpiece.
The artist Fidia supervised creation of the friezes that originally decorated the ancient Greek Parthenon (thanks to Wikipedia for some details). How the name of an artist associated with ancient, immobile plaster art depicting horses and naked Greeks-in-repose became the perfect name for a 20th-century Italian sedan is anyone’s guess, but suffice to say “It’s art!” This one may have worn as many as three colors during it’s lifetime, perhaps originally blue.
The nifty wooden-clad dashboard vanished after this model year, replaced by a more conventional unit featuring mostly leather upholstery. Remember, folks; craigslist exists to facilitate local sales, so we can at least partially forgive the taciturn listing. Indeed, this low-production Italian sports sedan may simply “sell itself.”
The listing offers no pictures of the engine compartment. Iso produced the Fidia with two American-sourced V8 engines beginning with the legendary Chevrolet 327 “small block,” and later transitioning to the equally revered Ford 351 cid “Cleveland.” This 1970 model might have come with either (thanks to isorestorations.com for some details). Since Italian V8s have been known to average $5000 or more per year to keep running, the simple yet effective US-based powerplant removes some risk for anyone considering forking over $45,000 for this rare Italian super-sedan. It’s hard to put a price tag on art, but what do you think about $45,000?
never have seen or heard of one! pockets would need to be deep for this one !
Am I the only one that thinks this looks like an AMC Matador?
I see a bit of Lagonda in the profile. I’d rather have Perry Mason’s convertible in the background.
Imagine putting a Quad-Cam Ford Coyote Engine, in it !
Rich, You’re Right on The Money, Matador with out the Bumpers
Fugly on wheels! Send it to the crusher, regardless of how rare of a model.
Not at this price.
Parts would be a breeze to find. Nice patina but they were scared to open the hood. A snake pit of red hoses
The fact that this is an automatic might make the price a bit steep but yes, in the end these Fidias sell themselves to people “in the know”. I’m finishing the restoration of one and for the potential buyer I’d suggest to make sure the body is complete. If not, be prepared to have an uphill battle finding parts – like I had to (i.e.) produce windshields to finish this one:
Maurice – lovely car. Really lovely. Which powerplant does yours have ? I had the blessing of serving in Europe from ’67-’69 and going back and forth for years afterwards & got to see many Iso versions. They were all quite intersting to me. Sadly, never got to drive any. My 3 cars during my stint were a new Ford Fairlane GTA, a ’57 Fiat 500, and a ’68 Lotus Europa. Nice mix of Autobahn power, gas sipper, and handling “demon”. I tried selling my Fairlane there to get an even fancier ride, no takers. Germans wanted nothing to do with an automatic, no matter how fast. Nor did they want to pay huge ‘Marks” at the premium pump to quench it’s thirst. I did drive through much of Italy during one leave and seeing these and others “at home” during the Summer, well, unforgettable….
Wow that’s a beauty, not a Matador anymore. Nice work👍
Hahaha, indeed no Matador! I have owned and driven both but there is no comparison, really. One of the finest driving and handling 4-doors that I know of. Problematic (Italian) fiddling in some areas but that’s why they get restored. Thank you much.
Here is the previous owner of the Isorivolta Factory in Italy, Mr. Piero Rivolta inspecting it in Monterey. He said he liked to drive these the most of all Isos so that should tell us something.
A very cool looking, well dressed guy driving that blue/black Fidia from your photo (or one just like it) pulled up next to me at the light at the corner of Bay and Columbus in San Francisco in about 1998. I was driving my barely-running 79 Alfa Spyder and my jaw just about hit the (rusted out) floor. Never seen a Fidia in person before or since then but man does that car make an impression in person. Gorgeous and super rare. Thanks for posting. -J
@ Joe Stevens: It might have well been the one and only black Fidia (actually S4) on the West Coast at the time. Serial number 015, a very early car. It spent time in Hawaii and got very rusty there. I saw it in Los Angeles around the turn of the century and it’s now restored on the East Coast. Good memory!
John Lennon owned one.
Hmmm, let’s see: $66,500 for fair condition car. That presumes acceptable paint and interior and a running, driving example. He wants $45,000 for it, meaning you have $21,500 to bring this car up to a “Fair standard.”
Seriously? It would cost more than that just to do the paint!
Even at $126,650, at a $45,000 buy-in, that leaves $81,650 to do a concourse restoration on an obscure Italian exotic, for which no one makes parts that aren’t common with something else.
Whatever he’s smoking, keep it away from me.
45k no way 4500.00 is more like it
Isos like other Italian exotics are hard to restore and as the Restorer says himself, parts are an uphill battle. This is not a $45,000 buy in, I don’t care what market values are or anything else. Mr. Menten above will tell you it’s a big dollar restoration even with all parts present. If possible lower the acquisition cost and give it to Maurice; then enjoy it forever. They are fantastic cars.
About as ugly as an Aston-Martin Lagonda . . . but hopefully more reliable!
It has a certain Italian charm.
I would expect an Italian luxury car to have an impressive dashboard but this one is hideous. It looks like some guy made it with parts from 4 or 5 different cars
Awkward second door design. Right up there with the XKE 2+2.
Absolutely spot on, these C-pillars are not for everyone. Both despised and loved as it’s hard to argue about taste – John Lennon had three BTW. It’s also about what one is used to and there were literally not enough built to make them a common look on (US) roads. But these really grow on you; fantastic handling and quality build, fast and luxurious and never without material for conversation in meetings.
This one is priced for starting a negotiation based on what’s there. I noticed rust in doors in this car and guess an easy $25K in sheet metal work needs to be done unless you can do this yourself. Add at least $50K for body, paint and upholstery and things add up fast. But with two handfuls in the US you’re the only one on your block – probably in town 8-)
Front looks like the dog off the Simpsons
like the Griffo and Lussio 300 even better but this is quite the CAR, it U know them.