1970 Iso Lele
AUS $145,000. Gosford Classic Car Museum, NSW, Australia
attracted to a car with an ‘Isothermos’ badge on the radiator grille? Probably not. But that was the original name of the refrigeration company that transformed itself post-war into a builder of motorcycles, scooters and the celebrated Isetta ‘bubble’ car, before crossing over to the performance GT market in the 1960s – by which time the firm was known simply as the more glamorous-sounding ‘Iso’.
Iso’s most celebrated model is probably the two-seat Grifo coupé, a rival to the Aston Martin DBS and V8 models. Despite being decidedly rare – just 413 were built – prices remained low until around five years ago, when more people began to appreciate the car’s winning combination of Giugiaro bodywork, Bizzarrini engineering and tough, Chevrolet mechanicals.
Values have subsequently soared, with a well-restored Grifo that fetched £191,900 at Bonhams in 2014 recently sold on for a significant profit. But it’s still possible to get behind the wheel of an Iso for a sub-sixfigure sum, as this month’s Showroom Star shows.
The Lele’s family-friendly, two-plus-two body was created by Bertone stylist Marcello Gandini, of Lamborghini Miura fame. View it as an affordable alternative to the Espada, but with less extreme looks.
The example on offer from Australia’s Gosford Classic Car Museum has right-hand drive, is one of just 285 Leles made – and one of 112 with Chevrolet’s 327ci engine. Ford power ruled from 1972 to the end in 1974.
Finished in a winning combination of metallic blue with tan leather interior, the car was restored 15 years ago by an Australian Lamborghini specialist and appears to be holding up well – helped, no doubt, by the country’s temperate climate. (Iso cars that live in damp places are notoriously prone to rot.)
At £90,000, and with the vendor claiming to be ‘responsive to all firm, reasonable offers’, it seems more than fairly priced for a car that’s rare, practical, goodlooking and, with that Chevy drive train, mechanically bulletproof. Time for a trip down-under?