1969 | Bizzarrini GT Europa 1900

A “baby Grifo”: this is how the little Bizzarrini 1900 GT Europa was nicknamed before taking on the official nomenclature. In fact, its shape recalls her bigger sister Iso Grifo A3/C (or Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada), on a smaller scale and probably even more harmonious in the sides. However, the fate of the little Bizzarrini was ephemeral, for its fate and for those of the Ingegner Giotto Bizzarrini, who was forced into bankruptcy right in the middle of the construction of the first units.

No more than 14 GT Europe were completed by the company from Livorno (some say 12, others 13): the example that we present has the same aesthetic features as the first model built presented at the 1966 Turin Motor Show, when the "baby Grifo" was unveiled with the Fiat-OSCA 1500 engine then with the Opel 1700.

The remaining 25/30 bodies on the assembly line, in different stages of progress, were the object of the harassment of the workers who - unpaid - even took a pickaxe the cars, ruining most of them that have been completed in different ways over the years.

The car offered is known by the model experts and registered in the Bizzarrini register: the exact year of construction is not known but, according to an autographed document by Ing. Bizzarrini on the headed paper of his Laboratorio Automotori, the car was completed in 1979. Compared to the numerous 1900 GT Europe produced after the closure of the company by Bizzarrini himself, this example has some differences in the bodywork that the other cars do not have: the first - more visible - is the rectangular side air intake, higher than the other bodies built. The second difference, also derived from a mold, and therefore difficult to replicate or modify, is the gap next to the button to open the door, square in this case rather than round.

Unlike the cars completed during the 1970s, all the details of the passenger compartment, the instruments, the switches, the mechanical components, the Campagnolo Electron rims, the tinted windshield, are completely contemporary with the period of production 1966/1968. Another detail not to be underestimated is the Opel 1900 crankcase which by stamps and mold does not belong to a production of the 70s, but to the first engine produced for the Opel Rekord.

All these clues lead to think that the car, although probably not the first produced, would constitute the second body identical to the first, perhaps used a test car, or for engineering studies, which was then in charge of the engineer Bizzarrini and sold at the end 70s when its production and assembly of the remaining shells was coming to an end.

The explanation of the manufacturing document dated 1979 together with the attached technical report of the car is found in the need to finally register a car that no longer complied with the requirements of the Codice della Strada. The car then received Pisa license plates in 1985 and its first public appearance was in December 1987 in the monthly magazine Autocapital. At the same time, the car was purchased by the current owner who has kept it for over 30 years, in the same condition.

The 1900 engine equipped with double carburetor has over 105 horsepower which are more than enough for the total weight of less than 700 kilos: dynamically the car was developed by the same Ing. Bizzarrini amd reveals an amazing driving pleasure, even if in need of refinements, according to the present setup experience.

The patina of a car with over 50 years opens up to two scenarios: on the one hand there is the possibility of leaving the car in its current state, focusing just on the mechanical service, or undertaking a complete restoration and bringing the little 1900 GT Europa in concours conditions.

Black italian license plates, documentation of the activities carried out in the last 30 years. The car could be seen in Bologna by appointment. More details on www.gulfblue.it