1969-1974 Iso Lele by Bertone

The number one car was built for an American client who asked Iso for something unique. With Bertone Piero, Rivolta and his wife (Lele) designed this show car. Because Iso needed a new production model and seeing how the press and the public received the car, they decided to take it into production. The car's exterior remained the same, but the interior was redesigned. In 1969 the Iso Lele was shown to the public, and production started.

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 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 a 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 didn't draw crowds like other Italian supercars. A car you bought if you wanted something different than a Mercedes, Jaguar, or even Maserati.

Source: home.tiscali.nl/isorivolta

Images: Bertone; avtoclassika.com