Rare Rides: The 2021 ISO Rivolta GTZ, by Zagato

Corey Lewis
by Corey Lewis

Today’s Rare Ride marks the seventh Zagato design featured in this series, and the first ISO Rivolta. A very limited-production coupe, the lovely green GTZ seen here is available only by special order, and only 19 will ever exist.

This is one of the few times a Rare Ride subject is written about in present tense, as today’s coupe is still available for order from ISO Rivolta. As this is the brand’s debut in this series, time for a little history.

Founded in 1938 by Renzo Rivolta, Iso Rivolta was an Italian manufacturer of cars and motorcycles and changed its name several times over the years. It was renamed Iso Autoveicolo Spa in the Fifties, Iso Rivolta in the Sixties, Iso Motors in the Seventies, and finally in 2017 was renamed again, to ISO Rivolta (note capitalization). In that mix was a bankruptcy in 1974, though the company was kept alive in name.

The brand’s initial offerings were smaller motorcycles and budget cars that bridged the gap between car and motorcycle. After a while, Mr. Rivolta wanted to take the company upmarket, and circa 1957 at the brand’s renaming, it switched direction. From then onward, Iso Rivolta would build exciting and luxurious grand touring cars. In the Sixties, the company built the A3C, a racing version of their Grifo touring car. But its development led to a breakup of Rivolta and the company’s lead designer, Giotto Bizzarrini. Bizzarrini took the A3C and reworked it into his own version as he saw fit, which birthed the 1967 Bizzarrini Strada featured here previously. The AC3 was a notable car in its own right and went on to win its class at Le Mans in 1964 and 1965.

After the 1974 bankruptcy, Iso stopped manufacturing cars. Throughout the following decades, the Rivolta family kept hold of the Iso Rivolta name. In 2017, Zagato approached the Rivolta family with an idea for a new grand touring coupe. They liked the idea of making cars again, and thus ISO Rivolta was reborn. The project was underway.

The inspiration for Zagato’s GTZ design comes right from the contested 1970s AC3. Flowing lines are certainly retro, and the new car’s front looks very similar to both the AC3 and the Strada. Unlike its predecessor, the Zagato design is formed from carbon fiber, and so is its tub. Iso Rivolta cars of old almost always used American V8 power, and the new GTZ is no exception: There’s a supercharged Corvette LT4 under the sloping hood. Good for 660 horsepower and 649 lb-ft of torque, the GTZ’s time to 62 miles per hour is 3.7 seconds and the coupe will rocket on to a top speed of 195. That’s some serious performance. One might also notice the Corvette center console and stack.

There is still a handful available for special order per recent reports, but the price of the GTZ has never been disclosed. Count yourself very lucky if you ever see one in the flesh.

[Images: Zagato]

Corey Lewis
Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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 4 comments
  • Lightspeed Lightspeed on May 18, 2021

    Sorry Zagato, nothing much here makes me think Iso Rivolta. The front looks like a Tesla with a grille and those horrific fender vents look like the front lower facia nonsense cribbed from a BMW 4-Series. Wish this one had stayed on the drawing board.

    • Manic Manic on May 20, 2021

      Front and sides are actually very Bizzarrini Strada (5300)-like, modern take on its design. That car was basically Iso Grifo and uses Iso Rivolta 300 platform. So there's some connection. Zagato has just taken slightly leftfield idea idea and run with it.

  • RHD RHD on May 19, 2021

    If you buy one, you had better buy two. Parts are likely pretty hard to find, unless you have a spare Corvette around. It has some resemblance to other vehicles, but it's pretty darn spectacular. Would you kick it out of your garage? Hell, no!

    • SPPPP SPPPP on May 19, 2021

      Looks pretty cool! (And one of the perks of being in the US is there is always a spare Corvette around!)

  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
  • Dave Holzman A design award for the Prius?!!! Yes, the Prius is a great looking car, but the visibility is terrible from what I've read, notably Consumer Reports. Bad visibility is a dangerous, and very annoying design flaw.
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