Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada | 2. Development
Due to the nature of its birth, the A3/C Grifo stradale was a vehicle with constant improvements. From the nearly racing interior of early units it went on towards a true Gran Turismo concept, not so close to the circuits and with a certain degree of comfort. Street homologation forced the introduction of chromed bumpers and the cabin was later redesigned as the one seen in our unit s/n 0314 (power windows or custom-fit seats are examples of standard equipment of high-number chassis). But life inside a 1,11 meter-high car is always complicated and one of the flaws that wasn't sorted out in the 4-year production was the huge amount of heat irradiated by the Chevy 327: set as close as possible to the car's center of gravity, you have it practically next to your ankle!. Maybe that was the reason why the last owner of s/n 0314 had the air conditioner system retrofitted when he bought it.
This 350 HP unit from the Corvette was the ideal kind of motor for a company that couldn't afford the engine development need for a car like this (also Alejando De Tomaso would walk in thit direction soon). Reliable and powerful, the engine reached Italy in parts and on home soil several custom components were fitted to improve its performance. The Campagnolo winged sump made of 'electron' alloy is one of them. With all these fittings Bizzarrini himself reported a very respectable 314 cv DIN horsepower.
Following to the crankshaft you find a 4-speed Chevrolet gearbox, which seems enough for the +50 kg.m below the throttle. At the end of the transmission shaft three different ratios could be chosen, the tallest with a theorical top speed of 272 km/h. Finally, brake system was entrusted to the number one at the time, Dunlop, with rear units located inboard. Front discs had to cope again with the Chevy heat, which still can cause problems when driving hard.
The trunk does its job, considering the characteristics of this Gran Turismo.
Motorgrafico #001
2. Development | Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada
There was no chance of little Bizzarrini fighting in equal terms against Ferrari but some faith remained inside these well designed cars. We must highlight that, although these machines were poorly backed in the circuits, they starred some notable performances, like their second Le Mans outing where a 9nd position (first in the Prototype +5.0 category) was achieved, and leaving in the ditch some broken GT40s. But at that moment, Bizzarrini was about to part ways with Rivolta and, without the economic help from Iso, all the efforts went to road cars and obtain liquidity.
When running the company on its own, Giotto searched for an alternative to the costly bodies being used until then and eventually managed to produce a handful of fibreglass GTs (he had already tried the material in the A3/C Corsa with good results). Also the chassis was being improved with a new full independent rear suspension on the way. But sadly this new features saw the light in very few cars prior to the closing of the factory in 1969. They were badged GT America, their target market, and are arguably the fastest Bizzarrinis of all.
In his best period Giotto managed to assemble two cars per week in his facilities at Livorno but a bad management from his associates led him to bankruptcy. Total production is a mistery as records were lost; experts estimate numbers in the region of 120 units, from which only around sixty are documented as stradale today.
