Bizzarrini 5300 Strada

Original Chassis and Fiberglass Body. Below are the accounts as written by the original buyer from the manufacturer.

The example in our possession was assembled in the Catarsi shipyard in San Pietro in Palazzi, in the municipality of Cecina in the province of Livorno, in 1968.

  The Catarsi Shipyard, specialized in nautical constructions with polyester fibreglass, was the supplier and assembler of the bodywork, which they printed with hand stratification, on the frames and mechanics supplied by Bizzarrini.

In 1969, with the bankruptcy of Bizzarrini S.p.A., some bodywork and three bodied, rolling chassis remained in storage at Catarsi, evidently due to the insolvency of Bizzarrini.

As often happens, in these situations, the unpaid work remains in the manufacturer's custody due to a right of retention.  The bodies and rolling chassis with bodywork are left abandoned in non-operational areas of the construction site for over twenty years.

In the early nineties, with the need to reorganize the construction site, among other things in economic difficulties, it was decided to sell the Bizzarrini material to a fan of the brand, Gilberto Panizza.

In 1996 the three rolling chassis, otherwise complete, were taken to the Greppi company in Colico to be completed or modified.  Advised by a mutual friend, I go to Colico, headquarters of the Greppi company, and purchase the most complete and healthy of the three cars.

I transfer and examine, for a year, the possibilities of restoring the car, 1997.

After some interventions to prepare the fiberglass surfaces for painting, I chose to entrust the car to a wizard of Italian classics, Franco Toni, with the

workshop opposite the historic Ferrari entrance in Maranello. Entrusted to the expert hands of Franco Toni and his workshop, the first restoration and completion studies of the vehicle began.

Unfortunately, Franco Toni begins to have serious circulation problems in his legs and cannot continue with the work.

In the hope of a recovery and that the workshop staff under the supervision of his son, Silvano Toni, will take over the work, we reach 2008 and, given the stoppage of the works, due to the lack of familiarity of the new operators, I decide to sell the car to a collector friend who took it to Nonantola, to Top Motors, known for Lamborghini restorations.

Here the mechanical work begins, while the bodywork is entrusted to the Cooperativa Carrozzai di Nonantola, Pagani and Ferrari officials.

The car, due to the meticulousness of the restoration and the very long lead times of the very busy operators, ends in 2021, as documented in the videos.

The vehicle is considered, despite the originality of most of the components, as a REPLICA