Ride of a Lifetime: Peter’s 1968 Iso Rivolta

As of a week or so ago, uppermiddlepetrolhead looks like being on track to scoop British car magazine Octane by being first to publish a piece on this recently rebuilt Iso Rivolta.  Not bad for an obscure classic car ‘blog from Down Under, eh?

Mind you, I’d still be grabbing a copy of August’s edition of Octane if I were you, because I’m sure their piece will be slick.   I know that’s what I’ll be doing!

Football legend George Best owned a Rivolta and I can easily understand his choice!

So, how did this minor publishing coup come to pass?  My car-disinterested brother-in-law, Aussie Dave, has been living in Manchester, England, for the better part of two decades and, being the social sort of bloke that he is, has made a few mates along the way.  One of them is product designer and all-round accomodating chap Peter, owner of the Rivolta.  

Dave doesn’t really “get” the Giugiaro-designed Rivolta.  In fact, it’s hugely unlikely he’s heard of the man who penned the car’s svelte shape on behalf of Bertone, nor is he likely to care that it’s powered by a 327 cu small block V8 from a Corvette.  However, he does know that lesser-known Italian classics - Peter’s being one of only four Rivoltas in the entire UK - are first rate boat-floaters for the UMPH team and their readership.  So when he said that Peter was happy to take me for a spin during my forthcoming trip to the UK, I jumped at the chance!

Yes, these are refurbished genuine Borranis!

How Peter found the time to show me the car, let alone take me for a solid half hour’s spin - plus a photo-op - is beyond me.  He was simultaneously preparing for a six week European driving holiday with his very young family of five - departing early the next day - and sorting a glitch with his mother’s gas bill, all from a home that he and his wife had just put out on the market and were preparing for showings.  It was a superhuman effort and I thank him very much!

The rebuild was nothing less than a fully planned, deliberately executed exercise that’s totally met Peter’s exacting brief!  It’s more survivor car than restomod, with very few contemporary upgrades and a lot of effort to preserve the car’s originality, including painstakingly sealing the upward-facing panels’ patinated paint and surface rust, in keeping with the car’s state when it was recovered from San Francisco just before Covid struck the world.

Sadly, San Fran wasn’t kind to the Rivolta where it had been abandoned on a lawn since the late ‘80s, thereby destroying it “sill to sill, including the floors and every other bit of low metal,” says Peter.  This necessitated “lots of fabrication,” he adds - work that was performed  to a very high standard by Double H Restorations of Warwickshire, UK.

Double H (https://www.doublehrestorations.co.uk/) also manufactured a new bolt-in bracket to fit a Tremec TKX five speed gearbox to replace the original Muncie four-speed, doing so in a way that saw no original structure cut or damaged.  The new ‘box is one of those few modifications mentioned above and was fitted to improve both highway cruisability and economy, which, if the way the car ambled along the motorway is any guide, was a great success. 

That limited mods list also includes slightly lowered suspension all around, courtesy of adjustable shock absorbers, as the car was exceptionally high when it first arrived from the US.   It was actually sitting so tall that the check straps on the rear axle were stretched, although what constitutes a “factory” ride height is up for debate, photos of Rivoltas taken from the time of manufacture showing enormous variation between individual examples of the model.  

 o o o   O O O   o o  o

For those of you who might be wondering why Peter didn’t go further down the resto-modding line while he had the opportunity to do so, the answer is very simple:  introduced in 1962, the Iso Rivolta - initially known as the IR 300 - was light years ahead of its time!   As well as the all-American small-block V8 and at-the-time-advanced four speed transmission, the car also featured servo-assisted four wheel disc brakes - the rears being mounted inboard to reduce unsprung weight - a Salisbury limited slip diff and an independently sprung Di Dion rear axle.  It’d be difficult to usefully upgrade from that kind if spec!

 

Some Rivolta components were easy to source, Peter says, citing the shared use of several Jaguar parts, such as a Burman steering box from a Mk1.  However, other bits were close to being unobtanium, he tells UMPH, like the centre console-mounted ashtray that came after much googling and at not inconsequential cost from Sweden.  A replacement power window switch was similarly hard to find and wasn’t cheap, either.  

The interior is in remarkably good nick.   It might reasonably be described as a study in faded opulence, being at once gentlemen’s club-comfortable with plush leather seating, an elegant wood-rimmed steering wheel and a light, airy cabin, whilst also wearing its sixty one years’ of patina with grace.  It’s a lovely place to be! 

So how does a 61 year old American-powered, Bertone-styled Italian super coupe drive?   Magnificently!   The view from its glasshouse is lovely - a great vantage point from which to watch other motorists’ reactions to its beauty - the engine and gearbox work seamlessly, feeling powerful and smooth, while the suspension is surprisingly taut for what’s essentially a big cruiser.  It feels very, very special and for this Aussie blogger, it was one best car experiences of my life!     

Original paint, sealed and preserved. 

Here's a video showing some of the Rivolta's history, just in case I've piqued your interest in the marque:  https://youtu.be/EJki7y3dWhQ?si=TNruiWFAJD0WAPyd.  Please enjoy!

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

iPhone images.