LIFTING THE LID ON A MYSTERY
I so Grifo convertible? No such thing? Wrong. Twice over, actually (at least). First, Bertone built a single Spider in period, but it never went any further. Second, there is this one. And it is stunning. That’s probably enough Hemingwayesque linguistic punchiness, but to be fair this is a car that warrants such a striking impact. It certainly made an enormous splash at Rétromobile in February, back in the olden days when thousands of people shared their passion by being in the same place at the same time, and when visiting car shows – indoors, what’s more – was still ‘a thing’.
was aware of the project before seeing it in the metal in Paris, but was still captivated by it on the stand it shared with a Fiat Shellette, Fiat Topolino Daddario and Prinoth Snowcat… as were the hundreds of others that crowded around the Iso for the duration of the event. Poring over every detail. It was spellbinding in its stance and proportions but, best of all, such is the quality of the build, the seductive intricacy of the engineering, and especially in the hood mechanism, you would never know that it wasn’t factory original. A deal was done there and then on 6 February 2020 for to drive this car a month or so later, as soon as it arrived
