The sadly forgotten Bizzarrini Europa qualifies as an etceterini not just because of the suffix to engineer and builder Giotto Bizzarrini's name, but also because it combined parts from a variety of sources to form an appealing, high performance two-seater. In some cases, the engine was a 1.5 liter Fiat, a standby of the etceterini movement. For most of the Europas built, though, the engine was a 1.9 liter "cam in head" unit from GM's Opel subsidiary in Germany...thus the 1900GT designation.
The story behind the car is that Bizzarrini, who had designed Lamborghini's V12 engine and then the chassis for the Iso A3C before going off on his own, was seeking a more modestly-priced GT design to produce in larger numbers than the 5300GT Strada, his version of the Iso A3C. The Europa appeared in 1966 with fiberglass body designed by Pietro Vanni, and looked much like a scaled-down version of the Strada GT coupe, with added practical touches like the doors curving into the roof to allow easier access. Note the transparent plexiglass panels in those doors. The chassis design featured four-wheel independent suspension and four-wheel disc brakes, and persuaded GM, already supplying engines for the 5300GT, to provide the Opel 1.9 liter unit to Bizzarrini. By the time Opel engines began appearing in completed cars in 1968, Bizzarrini was in financial trouble, and GM was nearly ready to release its own 2 seater GT for Europe and America, the Opel GT with engines up to 1.9 liters.
With the clarity granted by hindsight, many car enthusiasts find the Bizzarrini Europa a more satisfying design than the miniature Corvette theme produced by GM Styling for Opel's GT. The bigger wheels and tires, as well as careful attention to details, complemented the sleek form and made a purposeful impression. As with many limited production etceterini, however, those details changed from car to car. Note the difference in front fender vents between the top two photos, the change from the curved door in the car above to the more conventional door with dark filler panel at the roof, shown in the red car below. The number and shape of tail lights also changed...
The car below, with doors curved into the roof, and fender vents like the big brother Strada 5300GT, makes a convincing argument that the Europa could've been a winner if produced in sufficient quantities to keep the costs down. Instead, only 17 Europas were built, 5 with FIat power and 12 with Opel engines, before Bizzarrini faced bankruptcy brought on by an expensive racing program including the ill-fated P538 mid-engined car.
According to Italian marque experts, as many as 20 additional cars were built after the bankruptcy and reorganization. As with other Italian specialist makers, Bizzarrini was more adept at crafting seductive machinery than he was at record-keeping. Still, the number of differently detailed survivors which have surfaced at car shows and auctions indicates that there may be as many as two dozen Europas left...
*Footnote: The efforts of another Italian performance specialist with Opel products is discussed in "The Etceterini Files Part 12" for November 28, 2017, entitled "Virgilio Conrero, Tuner or Hot Rod Maestro?" The Iso saga is reviewed in "Born From Refrigerators: Iso Rivolta", posted on September 20, 2018.
Photo Credits:
Top: Wikimedia
2nd: flickr.com
3rd: bringatrailer.com
4th: speed8classics.com
5th: routevecchie.org
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