Mechanic test driver or driver engineer, that is how Giotto Bizzarrini loves defining himself. In his workshop, in Rosignano Solvay, Giotto created his “handmade” cars. A polite man and a tireless “teacher”. Fastidious and maybe someone would jokingly define him as a “pain in the neck”. He has fun talking about his return trip to Maranello, with his modified Topolino. The collaboration with Ferrari is linked to the car most desired by the prancing horse’s collectors, the Ferrari 250 GTO.

He left Maranello to start different collaborations. First with ATS, founded with the engineer Carlo Chiti and Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata. In the meantime, he designed engines and amongst his clients featured Lamborghini, with the 12-cylinder engine. Finally, his career crossed paths with that of Renzo Rivolta, at the ISO Rivolta in Bresso. He worked with the technical expert Bruno Raggi, they were very close even though with different ideas: Giotto wanted a racing car, while Bruno wanted a road car. Two views which resulted into the beautiful Iso Rivolta A3/C and A3/L. In 1965, as a self-employed constructor, he created the Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada and the version for the USA market, USA 5300 GT America, it was all “home-made”, apart from the Chevrolet engine. It was an adventure with two opposite results: the international success of the cars and the entrepreneurial disarray. He designed a special head for the Kawasaki motorbikes… he did an excellent job and the Japanese bikes became unbeatable!

He also created a simulated drive of the most important racetracks worldwide, reproducing all possible situations. An interesting and adventurous life.