1969 Iso Lele (Bertone)

In 1969 the Iso Lele was shown to the public and production started that same year. The number one car was built for an American client who asked Iso for something unique. Together with Bertone Piero Rivolta and his wife (Lele) designed this showcar. Because Iso needed a new production model too and seeing the way the press and the public received the car they decided to take the car into production. The exterior of the car remained the same but the interior was redesigned.

Some fragments from a 1969 article published in the Italian magazine "Style Auto".

"The construction of a special custom car for a private owner is nowadays something really exceptional because such one-off models involve prohibitive costs that usually discourage even the keenest wealthy buyers."

"The realization of this coupé -on Iso GT frame with 5.3 Corvette engine- was made possible by the concomitant occurrence of particular circumstances: the customer's desire to possess a unique specimen and the intention of the builder to exhibit an absolutely novel car on the US market, for evident publicity reasons."

"This car exhibits well proportioned masses especially in the lateral view"

"On the whole, the car does not offer sensational technical break- troughs. And this is exactly the wish of the customer who was eager to retain the overall comfort, silentness and peculiar features of the Iso Rivolta."

The Lele was a very elegant automobile. It was large, fast, comfortable and expensive but doesn't draw crowds like other Italian supercars. A car you bought if you wanted something different than a Mercedes, Jaguar or even Maserati.

home.tiscali.nl/isorivolta

Четвертой, и последней, версией на базе созданного Бидзарини шасси Iso стала модель Lele с 2-дверным кузовом 2+2 от Bertone. Фактически она заменила автомобиль Rivolta и имела такую же колесную базу.

По сравнению с Fidia, эта машина была настоящим спортивным купе. Внешне она выглядела довольно странно, отличаясь острыми гранями кузова, большим передним свесом, частично закрытыми сверху фарами и опускающейся за передние стойки поясной линией.

Автомобиль оказался успешным сплавом итальянской и американской технических школ. Он без усилий разгонялся (при скорости 161 км/ч двигатель работал с частотой вращения около 3000 об/мин), обладал высокой плавностью движения и хорошей управляемостью.

До закрытия производства в 1975 г. на фирме Iso было выпущено 317 автомобилей Lele, причем последние экземпляры получили двигатели Ford V8 вместо моторов Chevrolet.

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