A Brief History of the Italian Marque
Renzo Rivolta was born in 1908 in Desio, a town located to the north of Milan.
The fifth of eight children, Renzo was resourceful and had a strong personality. Encouraged by his wife Maria Barberi and her father, he founded a the Isothermos company in Bolzaneto near Genoa which by 1939 had some fifty employees. The firm specialized in the manufacture of refrigerators and heaters which were sold under licence from the Officine Meccaniche Civate.
In 1941 the factory was relocated from Bolzaneto to Bresso, near Milan. At Bresso, in 1944, the construction of workshops began and in 1946 the factory had a team of well-qualified staff and the machinery required for motorcycle production.
Renzo Rivolta saw the scooter as a perfect vehicle for the needs of post-war Italy.
Visiting the Milan Exhibition of 1947 he saw the Furetto scooter (Ferret) designed by Ing. Gianfranco Scarpa of Officine Giesse in Bresso. Rivolta acquired the project thus entered the motorcycle market.
The Iso Furetto, as it turned out, was uninspiring. Legend has it that after being severely trounced by a competitor's 65cc machine in a test at Lecco, Renzo had the Furetto buried in the foundations of a new building.
All was not lost, however, and in April of 1950 ISO revealed the Isomoto 125 which had considerable success.
In 1952, the ISO company became Isothermos s.p.a. and the production of scooters, motorcycles and three wheelers (motocarri) joined the Isetta, designed by the engineer Preti, a splendid forerunner of the modern concept of a city car. On September 9, 1954, in conjunction with the first meeting of ISO International organized in Bresso, Renzo Rivolta inaugurated the 752 metre assembly line.
As a demonstration of the international extent of ISO, it is worth noting that the company was represented in Brazil, Argentina, Spain, France and Great Britain. The Spanish factory was 12,000 square metres.
Two scooters were built in conjunction with Maserati in 1957 for the South American market, but the venture did not come to fruition.
Motorcycle production was discontinued in 1961 in favour GT sports cars powered by American engines, the prestigious Iso Rivolta.
Renzo Rivolta suffered a heart attack in 1966 at the age of just 56 years.
His son, ing. Piero Rivolta took over management, and in 1971 the company moved from Bresso to a new factory in Varedo.
Source: Moto di Lombardia
