Renzo Rivolta (5 September 1908 – 20 August 1966) was an Italian Engineer.

Career

In 1939 Rivolta founded ‘Isothermos’ a successful manufacturer of refrigeration units. After World War II his company began producing motor scooters and then motorcycles. By 1950, Isothermos was renamed Iso Autoveicoli and was Italy’s third largest two-wheel producer, behind

Vespa Vespa () is an Italian luxury brand of scooter (motorcycle), scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of ...

and

Lambretta Lambretta () is the brand name of mainly motor scooters, initially manufactured in Milan, Italy, by Innocenti. The name is derived from the word Lambrate, the suburb of Milan named after the river Lambro which flows through the area, and wher ...

. Rivolta produced home appliances, and Iso scooters, before moving to car production. In 1952 he developed the

Isetta The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built under license in a number of different countries, including Argentina, Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Because of its egg shape and bubble-like windows, it became kno ...

microcar Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are often ...

(which he described as "half motorcycle and half car") and sold the car in Italy. The car became famous through the licensed production at BMW. The company later produced sports touring cars starting with the

Iso Rivolta IR 300 The Iso Rivolta is a grand tourer introduced in 1962 by Italian automobile manufacturer Iso Automotoveicoli S.p.A. Company chairman Renzo Rivolta and his colleague, former Ferrari engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, saw it as a ''gran turismo'' in the ...

, using Chevrolet 327ci engines and gearboxes. Rivolta used to say "At the wheel of a car I enjoy myself only above 120 mph." Iso entered racing, and won its class at Le Mans in 1965. In the 1960s Rivolta's company produced 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 ...

, Bizzarrini, and other sports cars, all using the GM drivetrain. The Bizzarrini is now a much sought after model, having been developed by

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. ...

, an ex-Ferrari engineer who designed their GTO models.

Personal life

Rivolta was born in

Desio Desio ( lmo, label= Brianzoeu, Des) is a town and in the Province of Monza and Brianza, Italy. History In 1277 it was the location of the battle between the Visconti and della Torre families for the rule of Milan. On 24 February 1924, Desio rece ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 5 September 1908. He had a good education and could speak several languages. He lived in

Bresso Bresso (Milanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan. At the 2001 census the municipality had a population of 26,255 inhabitants and a population densit ...

, a

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

suburb in a mansion that was surrounded by gardens and the companies factories. When Rivolta suddenly died in 1966, his son Dr. Piero Rivolta Barberi, who was only 25 at the time and also a mechanical engineer, took charge of the company.

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading