I have an interesting connection to this car. Well, it's not a very good one, and I didn't even realize it until this morning. I've written up a few Bizzarinis over the past few weeks, in all cases the closed coupe 5300 GT Strada (and the A3C that it was based upon). But Bizzarini also built an open cockpit sports racer to compete with Ferrari and go racing at Le Mans. Initially offered with the 5.3 V8, as with the Strada the engine helped name the P538; P for posteriore placed engine and 5.3 8 cylinder rounding it out. So what's my connection? As a child, I got to meet an aquaintence of my father and grandfather, Mike Gammino - he was the one who allowed me so close to his 512BB. But earlier in life, Mr. Gammino was more famous for racing rare Ferraris, including a 250GTO. Obviously impressed with the Iso A3C he raced at Sebring in 1965, he was also the first person in the United States to order a Bizzarini P538. While I never got to see his example, it's rare to find them at all - and this example looks like one of the best:

Year: 1965
Model: P538
Engine: 5.3 liter V8
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 10,000 mi
Price: $1,200,000 Buy It Now

CLICK FOR DETAILS:1965 Bizzarini P538

During the 1950s, Giotto Bizzarrini worked as chief engineer at Ferrari on such projects as the Ferrari 250 GTO. In 1961, he left Ferrari and by 1963, he had formed his own company, Bizzarrini. In the mid-1950s, Bizzarrini wanted to include a mid-engined racing car to his lineup to help achieve the success that his GT racers were unable to provide. The GT cars had been able to secure class wins, but Bizzarrini wanted an overall victory.

Design, development and testing of the P538 began in mid-1965 and it took six months for the first chassis to be constructed. The chassis was a traditional tubular construction with triangle shaped tubes. Disc brakes were placed in the front and rear. The suspension was comprised of double wishbones and the engine was a Chevrolet V8 engine mounted at a 90-degree angle. It had a 5.3-liter displacement size and could produce around 365 horsepower. A five-speed ZF manual gearbox was matted to the engine and drove the rear wheels. The body was lightweight, but strong, comprised of aluminum and fiberglass.

The name of the vehicle, P538, was derived from the Chevrolet Corvette engine '5.3-liter V8'.

The car, with V8 power, was ready by the time for 1966 LeMans 24 hours race, but there had not been any time to do proper testing. It took only seven laps for the team to find a problem with the car and it returned to the pits. There had been a vibration in the wheel. The vehicle was hoisted up on jacks and in the process, ruptured a water hose within one of the triangular tubes and sidelined the car from the race.

The car was brought back to LeMans a year later, though it was not allowed to race, for reasons unknown. The prototype racer was now obsolete.

The roadster body was later removed and replaced with a coupe configuration. This had been done in an effort to sell the vehicle as a racer. Bizzarrini felt the coupe configuration would allow it to qualify for more competition than the prior body. The Duke of Aosta was interested in purchasing the car, but he did not fit. Not wanting to turn away a customer, Bizzarrini created a unique coupe body. The car was called the 'Duca d'Aosta' Coupe. The Duke kept the car for only a short time before selling it to collector in 1972. The collector kept it in his care for nearly 30 years. It was sold at auction in Geneva in 1999. In recent years, it was shown at the 2006 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It was shown at the Blackhawk Exhibition at Pebble Beach in 2005.

The car offered here is Chassis # P538*B*04 Commissioned by Frenchman Jacques Lavost and started construction of the car in early 1970s at Salvatore Diomante’s shop with Giotto Bizzarrini and his wife helping in the production using the same components used on the 1965 Built cars. The car was completed in 1978 and has certification from ASI. This car has different front air-intake, side intakes in doors and not rear wings, 2 triangular-section headrests and with matching roll-bars.

Ownerships history:

2000 – still owned by Lavost.

2003 Davide di Bernardi (Scuderia GAMS), Como, Italy

For more information call Mort at 949-335-7474 ext 1.

Condition is absolute top of the charts for this car. While it was not a successful race car, the P538 was advanced for the time - remember, Ferrari was just playing around with moving the engine behind the driver. This was quite an impressive car in its day, very light and aerodynamic with plenty of power on tap. It's also one of the prettiest sports racers ever produced. This combination, along with the rarity of the breed, makes it one of the more expensive cars from the 1960s you could buy. But in a world of multi-million dollar Ferrari racers, it's not unreasonably priced and likely much cheaper to run than those cars. While it's not an easy market to crack in to, it would certainly be appreciated no matter the event it arrived at - from Goodwood Revival right to Pebble Beach. It takes a special car to pull that off, and this is a very special car.

-Carter