Just last week, I looked at an extremely rare Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada that popped up on Ebay. Pictures weren't great, but as I said in that post it's not a car you see every day. Yet here we are, less than a week later, with another one of these Italian-American combinations! It's not that I was particularly wrong, just consider us very lucky to be able to see these very special cars come up for sale - even if you need to be a millionaire to consider one:

Year: 1968
Model: 5300 GT Strada
Engine: 5.4 liter V8
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 25,000 mi
Price: No Reserve Auction

CLICK FOR DETAILS:1968 Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada

Bizzarrini 5300 Strada
Alloy Body , V8 Corvette 400 CV
Fully restored, for real collectors
Please call me if real interest, 011 33 613 916 500
We take care of shipping

Giotto Bizzarrini was born in Livorno, Italy in 1926. His father was a rich landowner who came from a family with strong roots in Tuscany and the city of Livorno. His grandfather, also named Giotto Bizzarrini, was a biologist who had worked with Guglielmo Marconi on his inventions, especially the radio, following which one of the Livorno Library sections was named The Bizzarrini Library.

1959 GT Boano

Bizzarrini graduated as an engineer in the University of Pisa in 1953. He taught briefly before joining Alfa Romeo in 1954. He worked for Alfa Romeo from 1954 to 1957. He began working for Ferrari in 1957, eventually becoming controller of experimental, Sports and GT car development. He worked at Ferrari as a developer, designer, skilled test driver, and chief engineer for five years. His developments there included the Ferrari 250 TR, the Ferrari 250 GT SWB (Short Wheelbase Berlinetta or Berlinetta Passo Corto), and the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO.

Bizzarrini was fired by Ferrari during the "palace revolt" of 1961. He became part of Automobili Turismo e Sport (ATS)), a company started by the ex-Ferrari engineers to build a Formula 1 single seater and a GT sport car, the A.T.S. Serenissima.

One of ATS's financial backers, Count Giovanni Volpi, owner of Scuderia Serenissima, hired Bizzarrini to upgrade a Ferrari 250 GT SWB, with chassis number #2819GT to GTO specifications. This resulted in the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Drogo also known as the "Breadvan".

Bizzarrini's engineering company, Societa Autostar, was commissioned to design a V-12 engine for a GT car to be built by another dissatisfied Ferrari customer, Ferruccio Lamborghini. Lamborghini considered the resulting engine to be too highly strung, and ordered that it be detuned.

As with the last advertisement, information and pictures aren't great, and this one is also being offered at no reserve; my guess is that the sellers are just looking to post an ad to get attention and pull potential buyers in that way. I just have a hard time believing that there are that many people who are actively attempting to buy million-dollar cars off Ebay, but perhaps that's also a function of my lack of a million dollars. Still, this car is just beautiful; the French blue is a nice if unorthodox color for this car and it really stands out. While we're not likely to see another Bizzarrini next week, it's nice to be able to bask in the glow of two in a short period of time - so enjoy!

-Carter