Iconic Bizzarini that graced the 2018 Greenbrier Concours d'Elegance Poster will be on display at the 2018 Cortile

1968 Bizzarrini 5300 Strada

PITTSSBURGH, PA - The Cortile, the Italian Car Show at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix is pleased to announce that a very rare 1968 Bizzarrini Strada 5300 (No. 0303) will be gracing the Cortile Showfield on July 14-15, 2018 as part of the Proiettore Macchina celebration of Iso Rovolta and Bizzarini cars.

This very rare and unique car was once owned by famous stunt driver Carely Loftin and garnered the top result at the debut Keno Brothers Finest Automobile Auction when it was sold for $1,010,800 in 2015.

It was recently featured on the inaugural poster for The Greenbrier Concours d'Elegance in May 2018.

This slinky,  charismatic “rolling sculpture” 1968 Bizzarrini Strada 5300 is rare Corvette-engine-powered bombshell that still attracts stares, whistles and thumbs-up.

Bizzarrini was a star engineer behind three of Ferrari’s greatest cars: The 250 Testarossa; The 250 SWB and The 250 GTO.  As many great automotive talents do, Bizzarrini yearned to build his own car and power it with reliable American muscle under its curvaceous aluminum Bertone coachwork. The result is a smooth-riding, easy-shifting sports car that feels more like a grand tourer.

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1968 Bizzarini Strada Provenance

The 1968 Bizzarrini Strada was built in October of '68 but was not registered for road use until September 1969 in Padova, Italy. In the 1970's it became part of famed stunt driver Carey Loftin. Loftin's lengthy career spanned 61 years. His body of work included classic films such as the stunt driver in Grand Prix, the stunt coordinator for Bullitt, as well as stunt driving stints in Thunder Road, Vanishing Point and The French Connection.  He was the psychotic truck driver in Steven Spielberg's Duel as well as the truck driver in Maximum Overdrive. 

Loftin certainly knew performance cars when he saw them.  In 1990 the Strada moved to Germany only to return to the United States in 2006.  It underwent a full restoration by Hall Fabrication and Racing in Benicia, California in 2009. In 2015, it garnered the top result at the debut Keno Brothers Fine Automobile Auctions when it was sold for $1,010,800 to a private collector. In May 2018, it was  featured on The Greenbrier Concours d'Elegance  poster designed by Dwight Knowlton of "The Little Red Racing Car" fame.

The inaugural 2018 Greenbrier Concours d'Elegance featured the Bizzarini Strada by acclaimed artist Dwight Knowlton.

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About Giotto Bizzarrini

Bizzarrini was an Italian automotive company, founded by former Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Lamborghini engineer Giotto Bizzarrini in 1964. The company produced around 200 high performance coupés - including the 5300 Strada - before closing down in 1969.

It should come as little surprise that Giotto Bizzarrini, a talented young engineer from a wealthy Italian family, was drawn to the excitement and romance of his nation’s blood-red racing cars.

His passion and talent eventually brought him to Ferrari, where he helped develop three of the most iconic and successful race cars of the era - the 250 TR, the 250 SWB, and the mythical 250 GTO.

Bizzarini Strada at The Finest Aution 2015, Photography by Renato Zacchia

Bizzarrini then joined the ISO design team to lead the development of a new GT car, a mating of great Italian style to a high-powered, reliable Corvette engine, which he believed superior to Ferrari’s power plants, offering bulletproof reliability and prodigious torque.

He joined forces with the great, young design talent, Giorgetto Giugiaro, who was already in charge of styling at Bertone, and they created the beautiful ISO Grifo A3/C. But Bizzarrini’s urge to return to racing left him restless. So, he once again called upon Pietro Drogo to help develop a new racecar, one based on the ISO Grifo A3/C. It would bear his own name - the Bizzarrini GT 5300 Corsa.