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1967 Iso Grifo GL350 Series I [162/D] Class: Cars, Coupé — Model origin: 
— Made for: 
![1967 Iso Grifo GL350 Series I [162/D]](/i001242483.jpg)
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Comments about this vehicle| Author | Message |
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◊ 2019-03-12 08:36 |
![[Image: _00_04_01-error054.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/3890/_00_04_01-error054.jpg) |
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◊ 2019-03-12 08:39 |
iso Grifo |
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◊ 2019-03-12 09:39 |
Thanks Ringo for the hint! Possibly Mike Hailwood's Iso Grifo. Hailwood (managed by Rob Walker) was participating at the 1973 British Grand Prix with a Surtees-Ford. Maybe this car: https://www.classicdriver.com/de/car/iso/grifo/1967/153301 -- Last edit: 2019-03-12 09:40:54 |
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◊ 2019-03-12 15:04 |
Hailwood was a Grifo fan and had at least 2 of them. Unfortunately they both seem to have had colour changes which makes them difficult to follow, and some references seem to mix them up. His first was chassis 660081/D - " Built in 1966, 081/D was originally owned by Mike Hailwood who was the reigning 250cc Motorcycle World Champion at the time and is believed he initially used the car in South Africa, before bringing the Iso to the UK in 1970.” which was last seen in bright red with UKE 6H plates. Unclear from online references if GL300, 350 or 365 but a book listing for 081/D as a 350 chassis, was probably white when Hailwood owned it in ZA, and apparently had a big collision with a water buffalo. More recent auction listing now shows it returned to white and says it's a 350. Long narrative description includes " ... an early Series I car that, according to a Certificate in the history file, was built in December 1966... with a Chevrolet Corvette 'Small-Block' 327 coupled to a Borg-Warner four-speed manual gearbox. It is one of only 26 RHD drive Series I Grifos built and was originally owned by Mike Hailwood, and it is believed he initially used the car in South Africa. In 1970, this Grifo (chassis 081/D) was brought back to the UK where it has remained ever since... [and was] the first of Mike's Grifos. The second Grifo, which he owned later (chassis 162/D) was the famous Canary Yellow car that in 1969 came upon a trio of cows in the middle of the road in South Africa whilst the car was travelling at considerable speed. Mike selected the central one as the smallest target and sadly the cow is no longer with us but Mike and his passenger were uninjured although the Grifo didn't fare too well. Just to be clear, the Iso Grifo we are offering here is not that car.", which contradicts itself by having both cars in ZA. So to the yellow one (chassis 162/D) - this reference says " The car was bought new by Motorcycle World Champion Mike Hailwood and was first collected in the summer of 1967. The Importer Peter Agg of Trojans (ISOs British concessionaires of that time) had John Bolster who was attending the Italian Grand Prix on 10 September, drive the car back through Europe to Britain where he delivered the car on 13 September. The drive back to the UK was used as a basis for the road-test article that appeared in Autosport magazine on 13 October. Another photo followed in Autocar Magazine that same month and shows the local police force congratulating Mike Hailwood on his Grifo. The cars number plate 17241 EE is clearly visible in both magazines and matches the paperwork that is included, along with a copy of Autocar, and a copy of Autosport within the history file. Mike Hailwood bought the top of the range Grifo with the 350hp engine mated to a 5 Speed ZF gearbox with air conditioning. Mike was living in South Africa at the time and the car went there shortly after he purchased it. The car was well known in South Africa as Mikes daily transport and what he drove to get to and from the race tracks. Early in its historic life Mikes Grifo also appeared in the Beatles Film A Magical Mystery Tour. The Grifo came back to England in 1972 and was subsequently sold to Clive Robert Watkinson and shortly after to Hugh McCallum and registered as PLD 938L on 18 April 1973." So maybe both Grifos went to ZA?? The mentioned 17241 EE was presumably a temporary Italian issue. And 0162/D is established as a bright yellow 350 and the Magical Mystery Tour car where it had trade plates. But the problem now is that the footage is 1973 British GP, by when it seems Halewood had sold the car, and it had been sold on again to Hugh McCallum. So a bit fuzzy - maybe Mike was allowed to borrow the car?? If Grifo-ists can't cleanly separate the cars and their stories, I'm not going to dig deeper. But we have enough to confirm this one here and in MMT. |
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