The iconic Iso Rivolta brand is back to life, which from 1938 to 1974 gave birth to some of the most elegant and innovative models in the history of the automobile. On the one hand, the Lombard house continues the path of rebirth under the guidance of Marella Rivolta, granddaughter of the founder Renzo Rivolta and daughter of Piero Rivolta who continued her father’s work after her death. On the other hand, the glorious past of the Bresso brand is told in a room of the Turin Automobile Museum, within the “L’Iso Avventura” exhibition which can be visited from 28 March to 11 June.
The Iso Adventure
An exhibition that of the MAUTO designed to go beyond the mechanical means and tell the sporting and industrial adventure of the Iso Rivolta brand. A story that exalts all the audacity, the desire to get involved and the desire to have a cultural impact on the part of the protagonists who made the Iso world famous. The exhibition itinerary of “L’Iso Avventura” is divided into three phases. The first tells the story of the beginnings, starting from 1939, the year in which Renzo Rivolta bought Isothermos of Bolzaneto, a manufacturer of electric radiators, refrigerators and other household appliances. After moving to Bresso on the outskirts of Milan, in 1948 Iso reinvented itself and began producing scooters, sidecars and motorcycles. The creativity of the Iso Rivolta engineers, from which it springs, can already be seen in this first phase the split cylinder engine, a small engineering feat in which two pistons slide in parallel barrels facing a common combustion chamber. The split-cylinder engine, displayed in full view at MAUTO, also equips the Isetta, an iconic two-seater utility vehicle with access from the front hatch. A car born from the pencil of Engineer Preti and which manages to compete in the Mille Miglia, to then achieve global success thanks to the rights acquired by BMW which will produce 160,000 units.
The second phase of the exhibition recounts the evolution of the Iso Rivolta brand, which comes to produce high-performance cars such as the GT300, for which Renzo Rivolta made gigantic investments in 1962 that are still dwarfed today. The aim is to offer a car capable of meeting the expectations of the customer, who wants to be able to count on a fast car that is comfortable and reliable at the same time. The result is an extraordinary car, with performance capable of rivaling the Ferrari 250 GT, but unparalleled in terms of comfort and silence. “If Ferruccio Lamborghini had owned an ISO and not a Ferrari, perhaps he would not have felt the need to build his own machines”, commented Manuel Bordini on the sidelines of the exhibition presentation conference. The third and final part of the exhibition tells about the products born under the guidance of Piero Rivolta, who took over the reins of the company after his father’s death in 1966. Grifo, Fidia and Lele are just some of the cars that fill the exhibition space of the Museum dell’Automobile di Torino, completing a celebration of the Iso Rivolta brand whose charm famous clients such as John Lennon, Cher and Barbara Hutton could not resist.
Not just cars
“L’Iso Avventura” is an exhibition that sets itself the goal of arousing curiosity and reflection, as well as keeping the historical memory of the brand alive. A unique opportunity to admire the main models of a brand whose factories produced a total of just 412 cars. Of these, there are also 13 extremely rare Targa versions, one of which is exceptionally exhibited at the MAUTO with a valuation of more than half a million euros. The exposure also coincides with the first public appearance of Project 100,000, off-road vehicle prototype with the FIAT 500 engine, then shelved to divert resources to the ISO GT. Also present is a snowmobile from the Bresso brand, a reminder of how Piero Rivolta reinvents production to react to the oil crisis and the car world, also starting to produce snowcats. Finally, the infographics do not lack references to the sporting exploits of Iso Rivolta and to the relaunch in 2017 under the guidance of Marella Rivolta, which after the Vision GT project materialized in the 19 specimens of the Iso Rivolta GTZ. “Nowadays we need storiesto dream, to learn from what our ancestors did in order to then be able to do something new in turn”, the comment by Marella Rivolta. At the same time as the “L’Iso Avventura” exhibition, MAUTO visitors will also be able to see the live artistic installation by Testadoro Essenziale and, until 2 May, the temporary exhibition “The Golden Age of Rally” dedicated to the history of the World Rally Championship .
The importance of an archi-museum
The “Iso Avventura” exhibition enjoys the patronage of the city of Bresso, whose mayor Simone Cairo attended the MAUTO: “We are proud that a car like the Isetta was wanted, designed and built in the city of Bresso”. The exhibition at the Turin Automobile Museum is the preview of a project in progress by a permanent exhibition space in the city of Bresso in one of the three vaults of the old factory saved at the beginning of the 2000s. The aim of “L’Iso Avventura” is in fact to support the cause of an archi-museum, with the awareness that history has value only when there are ways to pass it on.
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