The Iso Grifo

When I was a college student, some friends told me about a woman who ran a hair salon in her West Los Angeles apartment. She ran a steady business cutting hair for most of us attending UCLA. Perfectly positioned near campus and offering haircuts at student rates, short, perky Karen could cut your hair in 20 minutes even without an appointment. She was efficient, friendly and, best of all, she had an Iso Grifo.

Wait a minute. A hairdresser with a Grifo? Yes. True story. She not only loved it, she drove it regularly. I marveled at the car. Even though it was already 25-years old, it still looked great, not dated at all, even among brand-new cars of the ’80s, the Grifo looked a great deal better than anything else on the road. The same can still be said today, more than 50 years after it was designed.