Bizzarrini 5300 GT

History

Giotto Bizzarrini — the engineer behind Ferrari's 250 GTO before the 1961 'palace revolt' — routed his revenge through Iso's Grifo A3/C project and then his own marque: the 5300 GT (from 1965), a riveted-aluminium berlinetta slung impossibly low around Chevrolet's 5.3-litre small-block, the engine set so far back it sat effectively mid-front, serviced through a bonnet panel drivers called the letterbox.

Competition proved the concept immediately: the Corsa took the over-5000cc class at Le Mans 1965, finishing ninth overall — a tiny works effort embarrassing budgets many times its size — with further campaigns at Le Mans, the Nürburgring and national GT racing through 1968 before the company's finances collapsed. Production across Strada and Corsa variants ran only to the low hundreds.

The historic market treats the type as blue-chip with a paddock life: genuine cars grace concours lawns and Peter Auto/Goodwood-tier grids alike, the Chevrolet drivetrain makes it the era's most rationally raced Italian exotic, and the Bizzarrini name's 2020s revival (continuation Corsas) has only sharpened attention on original chassis provenance.

Palmarès

Le Mans 24 Hours 1965 — over-5000cc class win and 9th overall (the marque's monument); Le Mans and Nürburgring campaign results 1966–67; national GT racing placings through 1968 — then five decades as a front-running entry in pre-'66 GT historic racing.