Iso Fidia

[henk4]

Iso Fidia

The Fidia was the brainchild of Piero Rivolta, who took over the Iso Factory after his father had died in 1967. He set out to build the fastest 4-door car in the world, no doubt inspired by the legendary Maserari QP. The car was designed by Giugiaro, and following good Iso tradition combined a 5.4 litre Chevrolet engine with a classic Italian style body and relatively simple chassis.

The first 43 cars were built by Ghia (at that time Giugiaro’s employer) but Rivolta had complaints about the build quality and moved production to his own facilities. The Ghia built cars are referred to as S4, while the Iso built examples were just named Fidia.

Later during its life also Ford engines became available. Whether Rivolta succeeded in producing the fastest saloon in the world remains to be seen. Max BPH was quoted at 355, which would give 230 kph, which was still slower than the QP’s claimed 240 kph. Nevertheless it was a very potent car, but never reached sufficient status to be seen as a real classic. When production ceased in 1974 only 192 cars were made. The car was too expensive, and the oil crisis also did not help in continuing production.

Shown is a mint example that was brought by his proud owner to the ISO club meeting during the LeMans Classic in 2006.

[greg.harvey]

You went to the Le Mans Classic??? Cool! I'm definitely going in 2008... It's already in my diary. Went to Le Mans proper this year (which was awesome) but saw all the ads for the Classic and was gutted I couldn't go. Would have preferred it, to be honest... *ducks*

[henk4]

Originally Posted by greg.harvey

You went to the Le Mans Classic??? Cool! I'm definitely going in 2008... It's already in my diary. Went to Le Mans proper this year (which was awesome) but saw all the ads for the Classic and was gutted I couldn't go. Would have preferred it, to be honest... *ducks*

I was, sort of, part of the UCP team that made the report shown on the main page..and there are so many other cars around there and it would be a waste not to report on these as well

And yes, it is a great event. If you can make it to the Silverstone Classic this weekend, you'll find us in action too...

[greg.harvey]

I have no money this month... spent it all in France!

[henk4]

Originally Posted by greg.harvey

I have no money this month... spent it all in France!

which you still must have found a very cheap country...compared to the UK. That is the only reason why we are NOT looking forward to this week's Silverstone Classic

[greg.harvey]

Very true. Most of the money was spent preparing the car prior to going to France. Then the car got a burst fuel hose the morning we were supposed to leave and so didn't go anywhere... *sigh* The joys of classic motoring!