<< Prev Page 2 of 2 The hastily constructed car was shipped to Le Mans just in time for the race, but too late to do any real testing. Seven laps into the race the V8 engined P538 was brought into the pits with a vibration in the wheel. The car was jacked up to examine the problem, but in the process a water hose inside one of the triangular tubes was fatally damaged. It was raced again in the fall, achieving a fourth position in a local race. Bizzarrini returned to Le Mans with the same car in 1967, but for reasons unknown to this day, it did not pass scruteneering.
For the new season the big prototype racers, including the P538, were banned, so Bizzarrini was left with a virtually useless racing car. In an attempt to sell the P538 as a racing car, Bizzarrini had the roadster body replaced by a more practical coupe. One of his customers, the Duke of Aosta, was very interested in the car, but sadly he did not fit. Especially for the Duke a fourth chassis was constructed and fitted with a tailormade coupe body. This car was appropriately named the 'Duca d'Aosta' Coupe.
At around the same former Bertone and Ghia designer Giorgietto Giugiaro expressed an interest to build a striking show car based on the P538 chassis. The two men had already worked together on various Iso projects, so Bizzarrini was more than happy to supply the Giugiaro with a chassis. They agreed that when the car was sold, they'd split the profit. Instead of building a brand new chassis, the coupe body was removed from the Le Mans car and that was sent to Turin where Giugiaro had just formed ItalDesign. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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The hastily constructed car was shipped to Le Mans just in time for the race, but too late to do any real testing. Seven laps into the race the V8 engined P538 was brought into the pits with a vibration in the wheel. The car was jacked up to examine the problem, but in the process a water hose inside one of the triangular tubes was fatally damaged. It was raced again in the fall, achieving a fourth position in a local race. Bizzarrini returned to Le Mans with the same car in 1967, but for reasons unknown to this day, it did not pass scruteneering.