It seems fitting to look at the Iso Grifo now that the world has the word “Corvette” on their lips. The basic premise of the Grifo works like many American-European hybrids: take a beautiful body, in this case a Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed Bertone body that had the sleek elements of mid-1960s sports car style, and it was paired off with powertrains supplied mainly by Chevrolet. (There was a version in 1972 that had a Boss 351 from Ford.) Built between 1963 and 1974, the Grifo was meant to be Giotto Bizzarrini and Renzo Rivolta’s combination of expertise. Two different cars were being designed at the same time: the “A3/L” luxury variant that Rivolta wanted to push, and the “A3/C” race version that Bizzarrini wanted. Sometime around 1965 Bizzarrini and Rivolta’s cooperation came to an end, and the luxury line moved along.

A total of 413 Grifos were built over the entire run of two generations. With a claim that that the car could hit 68 miles an hour in first gear, you would think that the well-heeled set would’ve lined up for their chance to buy one. If any were waiting, they were out of luck by 1974, when Iso went belly-up.

It’s difficult to not look at the Grifo and see a mixture of Italian tastes and the C3 Corvette come together into one unified package. The power was certainly there, from the basic 327s to the 427s and 454s and yes, even the Boss 351 engines. It’s a car you don’t see regularly and one that isn’t really talked about much, but with the hype over the Corvette’s move to mid-engine (and it’s Ferrari 430-ish look), it’s only right to take a look at another Italian flavored Corvette take.