Phantom Bizzarrini Page 5

1967 Bizzarrini

Owner’s Story

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hen I bring the car to a show, everybody is drawn to it no matter what they know about the brand or the actual model.... This Bizzarrini is the living, breathing and driving example of the unique artistic vision of a man who created some of the finest treasures in modern auto history. The P538 is undoubtedly the Mona Lisa of the Italian automotive industry, whose creator was a mechanical engineer with an automotive pedigree, brilliance and vision like that of Picasso, Rembrandt, Michelangelo and other artists. –Van Horneff

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• July 2008

some other chassis and drivetrain bits, squirreled it away out of sight. After things calmed down, pieces of cars started to emerge in Livorno. Around 1975, Torino jeweler Luciano Bertolero commissioned Autocostruzione SD, operated by Bizzarrini’s foreman, Salvatore Diomante, to build one—possibly more— P538. Diomante had several things going for him. First, he had the cooperation of Giotto Bizzarrini and his wife Rosanna, who worked with him in reconstructing the 3.5-liter V-12 Le Mans car. Second, in addition to the P538 parts in the possession of either Bizzarrini, he had apparently bought many more parts at the sale of the Scuderia. Confusing matters further, as the 1967 parts supply dried up he constructed as many as five more “SD” P538s, which used an unknown quantity of original parts, but are generally identifiable by an SD badge and square framing, versus Bizzarrini’s tubing. Bizzarrini himself may have built another car around 1980, and still more cars could contain authentic parts from the sale of the business. More replicas appeared in the 1980s and 1990s. Little wonder, then, that the intervening decades have been a morass of claims, counter-claims and even legal actions. After all, if one could be authenticated, it would easily be a seven-figure car. Fortunately, it turns out that #002 is one of the few with an unimpeachable history: In 1980, jeweler Bertolero obtained a legal document from Bizzarrini stating the provenance of the car; he swore to it again in 1990 at the behest of the then-owner. Van Horneff acquired it at an equipment auction in the mid-Nineties, where it was listed as a Lamborghini, and refurbished it to a near-concours standard. In his stewardship it’s appeared at Meadowbrook and Amelia Island, but “it’s a race car,” he said, and he’s more than willing to drive it. Four pipes from two pairs of threeinto-one exhaust collectors emerge from underneath the car, and the tips are not far at all from the combustion chamber, a fact that was gloriously obvious when Van fired it up. There are few opportunities in life to hear an Italian V-12 through straight pipes, and if one ever comes up for you, take it. The 3.5-liter version would probably be a little down in speed from Gammino’s 143plus mph car, primarily due to drag from the open body, but Road & Track took a 3.5-liter Lamborghini 350 GT coupe up to an indicated 174 mph in 1965. At low speeds, the car suffers from the ills you’d expect of something built to run flat out for a day at a time: a lumpy idle, a balky shifter and a burning desire to go sideways on hard 30-year-old tires. But there’s enough displacement in the block

that it will pull well from low speeds, and the steering is terrific, as it should be with about eight pounds over the front tires. A little blip of the throttle, when it’s not breaking the rearend loose, sends the 10,000-rpm Jaeger tachometer swinging wildly. Power peaks at 6,500 rpm, but it’s an engine known for its ability to scream to unreal heights. And scream it does. Livable at legal speeds, wind it out and it’s pure race car. Gammino’s car had a reputation for being tail happy, and with essentially no development time, we’re prepared to believe it. On the other hand, Bizzarrini was one of the very best race car builders of any era, and suspension engineering was his forte, so it may not be as bad as all that. At this point, no one’s likely to find out. Even today, a number of companies produce some version of a Bizzarrini, including Bizzarrini himself, alive and well at age 82. Had things worked out differently, he might have ended up as another Lamborghini. As it is, lightning struck in Livorno in the Sixties, but it went to earth. Thank God we can still hear the thunder.

Club Scene Iso Bizzarrini Owners Club 24042 Hillhurst Drive Laguna Niguel, California 92677 916-215-0977 www.isobizclub.com Dues: $50; Membership: 170

Iso & Bizzarrini Owners Club 2025 Drake Drive Oakland, California 94611 510-339-8347 isobizzarriniownersclub.com Dues: $35; Membership: 200

Pros & Cons Pros Makes a strong man cry Makes a woman swoon Causes the sun to rise in the morning

Cons Not as reliable as the V-8 versions No race pedigree Swirling cloud of lies, myths and innuendo

HEMMINGS.COM

4/25/08

3:52:26 PM