Italian car maker Bizzarrini is back and has given us our first look at its all-new car – the Giotto.
From these teasers and sketches, the new Giotto might look as futuristic as plenty of other current hypercars, but the firm says it’s “blended with core elements of Bizzarrini’s signature design DNA”.
That DNA is derived mainly from Bizzarini’s most famous car – the 5300 GT. The company’s founder Giotto Bizzarini, worked with Alfa Romeo and Ferrari (where we designed the 250 GTO) before moving to Iso Rivolta. Here he and legendary car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro worked on the 1963 Iso Grifo A3C race car – the road version of which would later become the Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada.
Giotto Bizzarrini is still alive today, but he’s not involved with the recent revitalisation of his namesake brand. Pegasus Automotive Group, a luxury car dealer from Switzerland, now owns Bizzarrini and enlisted Giorgetto Giugiaro to create the new Giotto.
Giugiaro said: “To have the opportunity to design an entirely new car from Bizzarrini is a privilege. Our two names are united in nearly six decades of history and a series of now iconic designs. We have created something that is both recognisably Bizzarrini and totally relevant for an entirely new era of this cherished Italian brand.”
Something that ties-in neatly with Bizzarrini’s heritage is the Giotto’s use of a Lamborghini V12. Although the 5300 GT used a 5.4-litre Chevrolet V8, Bizzarrini worked on Lamborghini’s first V12 engine – used from the 1963 350 GT right up until the Murcielago.
The second-generation of this V12 has been used in the Aventador and, given that Bizzarrini makes no mention of hybridisation, we expect the Giotto to get the 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated specification employed by Lamborghini in the 769bhp Ultimae and new Countach – paired with an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. The firm says the V12 is “Designed to meet Bizzarrini-specific performance, drivability, emissions compliance and emotional targets.”
The 5300 GT was front-mid engined and this new Giotto is mid-engined, but even with the different layouts, some design elements have been carried over. There are dual bonnet-mounted vents just like Bizzarrini designs of old and they incorporate slim LED headlights. The triangular B-pillar of the 5300 GT returns with ‘Bizzarrini’ badging and the wraparound rear window echoes the shape of the old car as well.
Bizzarrini says testing of the new Giotto will start in 2024 and we can look forward to more technical details being disclosed throughout the coming year.
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