{"id":33694,"date":"2013-10-21T16:39:27","date_gmt":"2013-10-21T15:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.influx.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=33694"},"modified":"2022-06-21T13:17:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T12:17:00","slug":"brand-royalty-iso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/blog\/brand-royalty-iso\/","title":{"rendered":"Brand Royalty: Iso"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iso made its name in the pre-war years building refrigerators and other appliances<\/strong> – but phoenix like, after the great cataclysm, they were best known for producing the Isetta bubble car, which came with double-piston two-stroke engines of 236cc; it was also licence-built by BMW in Germany, VELAM in France and Isetta in Great Britain.<\/p>\n

\"espana_iso_emblem_lg_02\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

But it is Iso’s big, burly, luxurious cars that ignite our particular interest – and the florid, classy typography the brand adopted is some of the nicest handwrought ident-work in automotive history.<\/p>\n

\"acf7b9\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

Most big Isos combined Ghia and Bertone-built bodywork with big Chevrolet V8 engines – including within this formula the Rivolta coupes and limousines and the spectacularly brawny Grifo Lusso, a two-seater coupe. The Grifo IR 9 Can-Am, meanwhile (pictured here), came with a 7443cc Chevrolet V8 and a top speed of 182 mph.<\/p>\n

In 1966 Renzo Rivolta, the man behind the company, died and his son Piero took control. The company made an ill-judged move into Formula One with Frank Williams and at about the same time the oil crisis hit. The combination of these events saw the closure of Iso in 1975.<\/p>\n

Shame. They made cars with incredible panache.<\/p>\n

\"grifo_emblem\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\t\t