Being Jay Leno certainly has its quirks, but not even him has the ability to collect each and every car he dotes on. One such classic car is this red-painted Bizzarrini, the Bertone-styled monster than won its class at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans at the hands of French drivers Régis Fraissinet and Jean de Mortemart.
Based on the Iso Grifo and entered in the endurance race under the name of Iso Prototip Brizzarini, the bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful machine finished 9th overall, racking up 303 laps of the Circuit de la Sarthe. So how did the Grifo A3/C morph into the Bizzarrini 5300 GT? To make a long story short, Giotto Bizzarrini was fed up with Renzo Rivolta of Iso, who at the time was more focused on road-going cars than motorsport.
Giotto is the man behind the Lamborghini V12, an acclaimed engineer who also led the development of the Ferrari 250 GTO. He’s one of the few guys who stood his ground against the vulcanic temperament of Enzo Ferrari, adding fuel to the fire known as “The Great Walkout” of 1961.
Turning our focus back to the star of latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, the front-engined Bizzarrini hides a tuned 327-cu.in Chevrolet V8 under the hood. The Italian styling and American power was the recipe for success for the Le Mans-class winning prototype, especially because the small-block engine was more reliable than the higher-revving V12s on the grid.
The solid lifter and mechanical fuel injection allowed the 327 to develop close to 400 horsepower, and the reason the car was entered as a prototype is that Iso didn’t have the funds to homologate the Italo-American masterpiece. Capable of hitting 190 miles per hour thanks to pioneering aerodynamic trickery, the precursor of the 5300 GT (pictured in the gallery) was pretty damn capable for its time. And the sound it makes, well, it’s exhilarating.
These being said, grab the popcorn and press play to find out the backstory of the car that makes even Jay Leno droll with excitement.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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