In 1991, Piero Rivolta was ready for a comeback with a new car: the Iso Grifo 90. Three elements were brought together: Marcello Gandini (designer of the Lamborgini Miura, among others), Gian-Paolo Dallara (Dallara formula cars) and Callaway (twin-turbocharged Corvette engines), with the prospect of 200 cars manufactured every year in the Apulia region. But the recession hit, the promises of government funding never materialized.
In 2002, Bonomelli Design located the Grifo 90 mock-up in a Tuscan car collection and set out to make it a reality. The Mako Shark (Italian car-styling company) team decided instead to build the machine on a Corvette Z06 (a 7 liter V8 LS7 engine delivering over 510 bhp) with a few modifications: uprated suspension, widened track, and a bespoke exhaust system. they manufactured a sleek and stylish body, including all the shell fittings, in carbon fiber. In the early months of 2010, the Grifo 90 finally arose from its 20-year slumber.
The Grifo 90 definitely sports a unique personality: a long sleek nose section, an immense tail end and sides wide out of all proportion. But above all else, it is stinking fast! Performance was estimated at 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds with a top speed of 186 mph. (petrolicious.com, carguychronicles.com & mako-shark.com)
The Grifo 90 definitely sports a unique personality: a long sleek nose section, an immense tail end and sides wide out of all proportion. But above all else, it is stinking fast! Performance was estimated at 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds with a top speed of 186 mph. (petrolicious.com, carguychronicles.com & mako-shark.com)
Grifo 90 styling buck. Modena, Italy, June 1991.
Below (Top) Iso Grifo Series 1 (Bottom) Iso Grifo 90 Concept
(Below L) Iso Grifo Series 1 (Below R) Iso Grifo 90 Concept
(Photos from flickr.com, carguychronicles.com,
commons.wikimedia.org, silodrome.com & petrolicious.com)