The term etceterini usually calls to mind tiny, lightweight road racers from Italian specialists, often with Fiat-based drivetrains. Exceptions included a couple of Siatas powered by Ford and DeSoto V8s in the early 1950s, and these may have inspired Giotto Bizzarrini when he decided to design his front-engined chassis for the Iso concern around the small-block Chevy V8. By the time he had split from Iso to form his own car-building atelier, he had turned his eyes toward a mid-engined racer using the same engine. Inboard disc brakes, front and rear, provided stopping power...
The P538 (5.3 liters, 8 cylinders) contested the 1966 running of Le Mans with Chevy power, but retired after three hours with cooling problems. An American customer then ordered a P538 powered by a 3.5 liter Lamborghini V12; this made it, ironically, the first Bizzarrini to be powered by an engine of Bizzarrini's design. The car pictured above at the San Diego Automotive Museum is the most original P538 remaining, and is one of two extant V12 models and two V8s from the original production run. As with other Bizzarrini efforts, total production figures are a cloudy subject, made even more obscure by the engineer's subsequent production of "continuation" cars.
A P538 chassis formed the basis of the Bizzzarrini Manta show car from 1968. The first concept car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro for his fledgling Italdesign venture, it failed to have the impact of some of the maestro's subsequent efforts...
The steep windshield slope merges with the hood, echoing the unified form of contemporary show cars like Bertone's Alfa Romeo Carabo. Other details, such as the "drilled for lightness" rocker panels and the red deck vents contrasting with the medicinal green paint, undercut the overall simplicity of form.
The rear fenders and engine lid could be raised in one piece for easy access to the mid-mounted Chevy V8. At one point the car was repainted in silver, Giugiaro's favorite color for show cars, and this unified the form visually. The next Bizzarrini project was plagued by problems of a budgetary, rather than visual, nature...
Bizzarrini's P538 chassis design formed a rigid, sturdy basis for the American Motors AMX 3 shown above, which appeared in spring of 1970 with styling by Richard Teague on a wheelbase 6 inches longer than the 538's 99 inches. Powered by AMC's 390 V8, it would have provided a somewhat more practical, but also more expensive, alternative to the Ford-sponsored DeTomaso Pantera which appeared a day later. AMC management cancelled the project after something like half a dozen cars had been built. As with nearly all Bizzarrini projects, production figures are subject to debate, as record-keeping was sketchy at the Livorno firm. One fact that's not contested is that the 5300GT Strada coupe shown below, with "front mid-engine" placement and De Dion rear suspension, remains their most popular car, with over 130 examples produced.
*Footnotes: The AMX 3 saga is recounted our post "Italian Jobs from the Heartland, Part 2: AMX Vignale and AMX 3 Bizzarrini" from November 29, 2016. Bizzarrini-designed Iso cars are reviewed in "Born from Refrigerators: Iso Rivolta" from September 20, 2018.
Photo Credits:
Top: the author
2nd: imcdb.org
3rd: wikimedia
4th: en.wheelsage.org
5th & 6th: wikimedia
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