Bizzarrini GT 5300 - Front (2008-06-28) ret

The Bizzarrini Strada (also 5300 GT Strada and 5300 GT), is a

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

produced by

Bizzarrini Bizzarrini S.p.A. is an Italian automotive manufacturer: in 1964 it was founded by former Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Iso engineer Giotto Bizzarrini. The company built a small number of highly developed and advanced sport and racing automobiles before ...

from 1964 to 1968.Road & Track, August 19, 2013
/ref> Sold as an exceptionally low slung 2-seat

coupe A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

, roadster, and track-tuned "Corsa" racer, it proved to be Bizzarrini's most successful model.

History

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

chief engineer

Giotto Bizzarrini Giotto Bizzarrini (born 6 June 1926 in Quercianella, Livorno Province, Italy) is an Italian automobile engineer who was active from the 1950s through the 1970s. After graduating in 1953, Bizzarrini eventually joined Alfa Romeo as a test driver. ...

in 1963, the Strada was launched by his company in 1964. It was similar in concept to the

Iso Grifo ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

, also designed by Bizzarrini, and even used the Grifo name while in the planning stage, as well as the welded

unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its '' chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car ha ...

platform of the Iso Rivolta 300. The Strada – which adopted a

Front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout In automotive design, a FR, or front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout is one where the engine is located at the front of the vehicle and driven wheels are located at the rear via a drive shaft. This was the traditional automobile layout for most ...

– was powered by a 327 Chevrolet small-block engine displacing and rated at to of torque in the road legal version and in the Corsa. The engine was intentionally placed as far back over the front axle as possible, to improve weight distribution and handling. The car could accelerate 0–100 km/h (62 mph) in less than 7 seconds, and attained a top speed of . In later models, the 5,358 cc engine was replaced by a larger 7,000 cc unit, fitted with a

Holley carburetor Holley Performance Products is an automobile, automotive performance company based in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded in 1896 in Bradford, Pennsylvania by George Holley and Earl Holley. When the company was based in Michigan it was a major ...

. Dunlop four-wheel disc brakes, a

BorgWarner BorgWarner Inc. is an American automotive supplier headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The company maintains production facilities and technical systems at 93 sites (as of June 6, 2022) in 22 countries worldwide and has around 49,000 emplo ...

T-10 four-speed

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission ...

de Dion tube De Dion rear axle A de Dion tube is a form of non-independent automobile suspension. It is a considerable improvement over the swing axle, Hotchkiss drive, or live axle. Because it plays no part in transmitting power to the drive wheels, it is ...

rear suspension, and limited slip differential were also used. The

Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...

influenced

Bertone Bertone is an Italian surname meaning "descendant of Roberto". Notable people with the surname include: * Alicia Bertone, American academic, researcher, and veterinary surgeon * Catherine Bertone (born 1972), Turkish-born female Italian marathon ...

styled aluminum body, was striking in its day and still regarded in the 21st century as "gorgeous" and an "absolute masterpiece". Three spyder versions were also built, including a prototype which was a full convertible and two production versions which featured removable T-tops. In 1965, a Bizzarrini Grifo won its class at Le Mans and finished ninth overall. A total of 133 examples were produced from 1964 through 1968.

References

External links

*{{in lang, it
Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada
', auto-classiche.it Strada Grand tourers Front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 1964

History

See also

References

External links