Bizzarrini Manta in Road&Track #3/69

Mang,

The Lamborghini is metal flake similar to what boat manufactures use, heavy metal flake. Manta is a solid color.

 

I'm afraid even Giugiaro dont't knows exactly... Here is part of my correspondence with Mr. Giugiaro

V.D.: "Was the Bizzarrini Manta based on the Bizzarrini P538 chassis? Is this same car from the 1966 Le Mans race?"
G.G.: "It’s difficult to trace back to the original chassis, it was a one-off vehicle design. Bizzarrini had never produced a rear-engined vehicle, while the Manta stemmed precisely from the idea of Bizzarini mechanicals with the engine to the rear; we started working on a chassis the engineer Giotto Bizzarrini obtained by modifying a model of the Grifo Competizione which had a tubular structure. We therefore took this as the starting point for our research, with a view to constructing a vehicle for the 1968 Turin Motor Show."

 

B&W photos are not from Ron working on it in Monterey! These shots from Giovanni Giordanengo owning period. Am I wrong?!

 

Not even close, the Manta is sea foam green and the Miura Roadster is blue with heavy metal flake
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Correct That is why I posted two comments. The B&W was down in LA.

 

GG states that the chassis was from a Grifo. I question this as the Grifo was a front engined car, unless he is calling the P538 a Grifo, maybe some translations problems.

The next response about the tubular chassis is telling, as there were two types of construction for the P538. If the LeMans car used the more modern folded aluminum chassis, which I suspect, then the Manta cannot be the LeMans car.

GG's statement on Bizzarrini giving him a"modified" chassis is also telling. Why modified? This backs up the thought that the parts were used , not complete or damaged.

Most all things Bizzarrini have some type of mystery.

 

alright my eyes are bad....I should have left it at 'seeing that color REMINDED ME of the Miura roadster'

I like the color fwiw

 

For the record his color example is incorrect as the Miura is shown with a photoshop solid color and it is a very heavy metal flake. Mang may be color blind but he has passion

 

How this, better
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What year b&w? Do you know? LA, not Italy? But Giordanengo is man from Genova... I understood you incorrectly may be?

 

What a joke, I respect Giugiaro but his memory don t work correctly. It s the funniest comment that I ve seen for a long time that Giotto give him a Grifo chassis, why not a Fiat 500 ? or a VW Bettle

 

Your testing my memory. Yes, Los Angeles.

The car was being restored in Southern California, it was owned by a Texan Alfredo Brener? Brener owned a large Maserati collection. If I recall correctly he sold of many of the Maserati's. Ron purchased the Manta and had it finished .

I think the picture was taken around 2003

The Manta was in that shop for over a year maybe two

Here is another shot
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Thank you so much! Info that Manta was owned by a Texan Alfredo Brener is new fo me. But every day of my life I learn something new

 

Do you can help in this misterious story may be???

Here is page #4 of the brochure "Bizzarrini Manta. The first revolution" from 1988.

There are two b&w images, which were made in Japan, as I can see. But ItalDesign has now info what year and place these shots were made. Mr.Giugiaro said "The Manta was involved in a sort of World Tour that involved the participation to 1968/69 Turin, Tokyo and Los Angeles Motorshows". I contacted with Sachie Yamada, PR-manager Tokyo MotorShow. He checked the list of exhibitors of the 15th and 16th Tokyo Motor Show (1968&1969). He wrote about 15ht MotorShow: "We have checked the exhibitor's list of the 15th Tokyo Motor Show 1968. Only one motorcycle manufacture, INNOCENTI S.G.(Italy), was on the list, and no other foreign passengers/motorcycle manufactures were not there. So, Italian car Bizzarrini Manta has not been exhibited at the show". He wrote about 16ht MotorShow: "We checked the list of exhibitors of the 16th Tokyo Motor Show, but no foreign manufactures of passenger car, motorcycle, commercial vehicle nor buses are on the list".

Here is comment from Italdesign PR-manager Mr. Christian Bolognesi "I'm sorry but we're not able to reconstruct what happen more than 40 years ago, I can't really help you with this, sorry".

Do you have ANY info about Bizzarrini Manta’s 1968/69 Japan/USA trip??
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I saw the Manta at the LA motor show in 1968(I believe). I was very impressed.
At that time it had 4 58DCO sidedraft Webers, not the 45(?) DCOEs it has now. It then seemed to disappear for 30+ years. I was delighted when it reappeared 5 or 6 years ago- it is one amazing piece of work.
By the way, I disregard everything Mr. Olczyk says as a matter of course.
Anton

 

The September 1969 issue of Road & Track has a report on the Los Angeles Auto Expo, written (somewhat tongue in cheek) by Henry Manney. It includes a b/w picture of Hoss Cartwright (Dan Blocker) standing next to the Manta. The text:

"....the Manta, Bizzarrini's showpiece, yet another 200-mph suppository in bright orange. A big Chevy inhabited the back along with a sort of baking tin for luggage while the lucky driver sat between his two passengers (birds, I should think) terribly close to the accident in front. Rosemeyer himself would think twice before driving that one in the wet. What with the weight distribution, venetian blinds on the nose and chrome busbars on the rear, I am afraid that it wasn't my cup of tea."

 

Jeff, it's very important info. Thank you so much!

 

Dan Blocker being next to the car makes sense, he was a big Iso/ Bizzarrini fan and owned a Rivolta. There is one scene in the Andy Griffith show were his Rivolta is parked on a Mayberry street.
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Here is the picture of Dan Blocker and the Manta, taken from R&T's report on the LA Auto Expo 1969. No photo credit is given. And being b&w, it can't confirm that the Manta was orange at the time of this show.
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I thought this was interesting, from Motor Trend's report on the 1968 Turin Show:

"Carrossiers are at home in Torino. The Italian auto show is the only one where they have a hall of their own, the only one where they really seem 'wanted'. Most of the time, the hall is empty a few hours before the show opens - body makers are never ready in time - they work on their handmade cars until the last minute, and the paint is hardly dry when they roll them around the block from their shops into their little public paradise in Palazzo Valentino.

Some of the better stylists in Turin, however, are never admitted. The exhibit is open only to carrossiers making their own cars, and employing at least fifty workers. Designers like Michelotti or Frua do not qualify.

Giugiaro, former head stylist for Bertone and Ghia (where he designed the Ghibli and the Mangusta) and probably the most aggressive among the young stylists, was not admitted either. He heads his own company now - Ital Design - employs eighty designers, and works on contract for major auto manufacturers the world over. But there is no place for him at the show, because he does not normally build his own cars any more.

He got in anyway, thanks to Bizzarrini, for whom he designed one of the major stars of the exhibit - the 'Manta'. The car was built on the chassis of Bizzarrini's racing prototype, which took part in the 24 Hours at Le Mans in 1967. An extremely compact car, the Manta is only 13.6 feet long and its maximum height does not exceed 41.5 inches. The car is a three-seater, the driver sitting in a central and advanced position between his two passengers. The unusual width of the car (six feet, one inch) increases the impression of compactness. Lateral visibility is exceptional. Once again, Giugiaro, Turin's 28-year old boy genius showed new ways in car design."
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Wow! Jeff, thanks a lot. Very rare shot.

About Manta's colour. There are stripe on the front hood. And here Manta in red-orange livery.

Are there exact date (month, days) of the LA Auto Expo 1969 in R&T's report?
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Some images and blueprints I have found on internet long time ago and some are from my friends.
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Just read where Ital design is to be purchased by VW :-((

http://www.automotiveworld.com/news/manufacturing/82139-italy-vw-to-acquire-italdesign-giugiaro

 

Any idea what year and place this photo??
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Tokyo?