Renzo Rivolta, the founder of Iso S.p.A. turned to the brilliant Italian engineer Giotto Bizzarrini when he was seeking to develop the successor to the Rivolta IR 300. In 1963, Bizzarrini designed the mechanicals for the Iso A3/L, with the body designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone. The prototype, called the Grifo A3/L was exhibited by Bertone at the Turin Motor Show that year. Production started in 1965, however, the split between Rivolta and Bizzarrini was ever growing and after just 22 Grifo A3/Ls were built, the duo parted ways. Iso continued to produce the car as the Iso Grifo GL, while Bizzarrini sold cars built by Piero Drogo under his own name as the A3/C.

Manufactured on 6 June 1966, this Iso Grifo GL was one of the first 50 cars that were hand-built at Bertone’s workshop in Turin—the remainder of production shifted later to Iso’s own factory in Bresso, Milan. The Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed body was coated in Rosso Monza and trimmed with a Nero leather interior. Under the bonnet, the factory installed a Chevrolet 340 cubic-inch (5.6-litre) V-8 engine—a special request on behalf of the supplying dealership, Malcolm Konner Chevrolet of Paramus, New Jersey. Mr Konner ordered this Iso specifically for his wife and when the vehicle arrived in 1967, Mrs Konner covered approximately 400 miles before deciding the Iso was not to her taste. The car was returned to the Konner Chevrolet showroom, where it would sit for the next 12 months.

Martin Schorr, the then editor of CARS magazine back in 1969, had recently test driven a friend’s Iso Grifo and was taken by the car’s sharp Bertone styling and Bizzarrini engineering prowess. To Schorr, it was a perfect union of what the Italian and American automotive industry had to offer.

Telephoning Malcolm Konner Chevrolet in the early spring of 1969, he was pleasantly surprised to hear that the dealership had one Iso Grifo in stock: an unregistered car that had been seldom driven by the owner’s wife. Taking a trip to Paramus in New Jersey, Schorr shook hands and agreed to pay $7,500 for chassis number GL 630047. The manufacturer’s statement of origin was issued on 28 March 1969, Schorr’s birthday.

Schorr used the Iso as his daily driver but felt that, in the chaos of New York City traffic, the Iso could benefit from improved low-end torque. Luckily, close friend and Corvette Chief Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov called Schorr in the autumn of 1969 to tell him that the new 370 horsepower LT1 V-8 was about to be released and offered to send Schorr a brand-new unit for “evaluation” purposes. Schorr swiftly dispatched his new LT1 and the Grifo down to Motion Performance. The outfit would not just swap the engines, but had Joel Rosen and Dennis Ferrara (then the NHRA champion) carry out the installation. Ferrara ported and polished the cylinder heads, installed competition valves, a mild hydraulic lifter cam, Iso-specific accessories, and a lower flow rate carburettor. This would be the only Iso to receive a Baldwin-Motion Performance conversion directly at its premises.

With the tuned LT1 now in place, over the next 40 years Schorr would sparingly use the Iso from his home in Sarasota, Florida. He decided to repaint the car in maroon pearl in 1972 and often exhibited the car at shows and was happy to have it featured in multiple magazine articles. After 43 years, Schorr decided to part ways with his beloved Iso. The car was sold and then exported to the United Kingdom in 2013, where it has remained with the consigning owner ever since.

Following its arrival in the UK, the vendor commissioned an 18-month mechanical and cosmetic restoration carried out by the experts at Barkaways of Kent. In a process lasting from June 2014 through to October 2016 and totalling more than £120,000, the car was returned to its factory-correct colour scheme of Rosso Monza over a Nero leather interior while the all-important Motion-Performance LT1 V-8 engine was retained. Testament to the quality of the work completed, the Iso was swiftly awarded “Most Sensitive Restoration” at the 2016 Salon Privé Concours.

Arguably one of the most significant early-production, hand-built Iso Grifo’s in existence, chassis number GL 630047 benefits from having just two owners since 1969, a fascinating backstory, and presents wonderfully today.