Restoration & Race Preparation: Bizzarrini 5300 GT

Project Intro

This Bizzarrini 5300 began life as a Stradale and arrived our workshop in complete ruin. The car had been previously dismantled to start restoration, with the body cut into 2 pieces. The chassis was extensively cracked and damaged, and other parts were present in the form of a giant jigsaw puzzle. The new owners wanted to prepare the car for historic motor sport, making for one of the most challenging restorations CCRJ has undertaken.

• Client: Confidential

• Restoration Degree: Total

• For Sale: No

The Model

Work Done

The Model

Giotto Bizzarrini was the young genius responsible for the Ferrari 250GTO, the world´s most desired classic Ferrari, but resigned from Ferrari along with other senior figures in a row over management responsibilities. With the ‘Gang of 6’, Bizzarrini went to ATS, creating a new F1 brand and the world´s first mid-engined road super car. ATS was over-ambitious and soon collapsed, leaving Bizarrini free to join the nascent Lamborghini company, where he designed the chassis and Lamborghini V12 engine for the first 350GT. This legendary V12 has powered all senior Lamborghinis (Miura, Countach, Murcielago, Hurucán and also many racing powerboats) for over 50 years. Invited to move to Iso, he designed the chassis for both the Iso Rivolta and Grifo., introducing Giotto to the power and reliability of the V8 Chevrolet engine and Bertone´s brilliant young designer, Giugiaro.

Bizzarrini was a racer at heart, so his last project for Iso, the A3/C racing GT version of the Grifo shaped by Giugiaro, was the car he wanted to build as the next logical development of the GTO concept. Again, differences of opinion about the importance of racing meant that Bizzarrini left Iso, but this time with the rights for the A3/C. Giotto began to manufacture this car under his own name as the Bizzarrini 5300, in Stradale and Corsa versions. The racing car showed promise, although lack of funds again meant a lack of development and a failure to achieve its full potential. The Stradale road car was generally too much of a racer at heart to satisfy the luxury GT market and the company soon failed, having produced around 130 examples of the 5300.

Work Done

This Bizzarrini 5300 began life as a Stradale and arrived our workshop in complete ruin. The car had been previously dismantled to start restoration, with the body cut into 2 pieces. The chassis was extensively cracked and damaged, and other parts were present in the form of a giant jigsaw puzzle. The new owners wanted to prepare the car for historic motor sport, making for one of the most challenging restorations CCRJ has undertaken.

Given the condition of the car, the first need was for a complete investigation and assessment of the project. Given the rarity of the Bizzarrini and its hand-built origins, missing parts had to be sourced or re-manufactured. The chassis was carefully assessed and repaired, before the assembly process could begin.

There is little published reference material for the Bizzarrini, whose owner also wanted to build a competitive historic race car, requiring period style modifications to the chassis which made the task even more challenging. In a sense, the easy part of the project is to build a racing short block Chevrolet motor, and the example in the CCRJ Bizzarrini is giving around 500bhp. The car is nearing completion, ready for its racing debut in 2017, and we will keep updating the progress of this exciting project. Watch this space!