1967 Lamborghini 350GT

Ferruccio Lamborghini had a successful farm equipment business that allowed him to enjoy the finer things in life, including automobiles built by Enzo Ferrari. When those vehicles did not meet Ferruccio's standards of quality and durability, he brought his complaints to Enzo, who promptly challenged him to build a better automobile. Convinced he could build a superior and more luxuriously appointed product, Lamborghini decided to build his own thoroughbred Italian GT car.

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. was founded in 1963 and its first vehicle was the Franco Scaglione-penned 350 GTV prototype introduced at that year's Turin Auto Show. Under the bonnet was a twelve-cylinder engine designed by Giotto Bizzarrini who worked for Ferrari on such notable projects as the 250 GTO. He was one of the individuals who had left Ferrari during the 'Great Walkout' in 1961, one of the founding members of ATS, before starting his own company, Società Autostar, in 1962 and changing the name to Bizzarrini in 1964.

The 3.5-liter V12 engine powering the 350 GT went on to become the 6.5-liter unit powering the Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640 of the early 2000s. The Lamborghini engine used a quad-cam 60-degree configuration compared to the single overhead camshaft per-bank design employed by Ferrari. Initially, the 3,464 cubic centimeter prototype design produced 370 brake horsepower at 9,000 rpm, giving it nearly 107 brake horsepower per liter. With auxiliary systems, production carburetors, and tuned for road use, it delivered around 280 bhp. During its career, the displacement of the engine nearly doubled, ultimately reaching 6,496cc, and the Weber carburetors were replaced with electronic fuel injection, and the lubrication system went from a wet to a dry design.

Among Ferruccio Lamborghini's frustration with his Ferrari vehicles was the lack of quality for a car of such pedigree. To ensure his vehicles met his strict standards, each engine underwent tests for 24 hours on a Schenk Walge dynamometer, being run for the first 12 hours under electric power, and then with gasoline at increasing speeds. After passing this grueling test, the engine was installed in the car and Wallace tested the car at least 300 miles.

The all-aluminum alloy V12 powering the 350 GT was backed by a five-speed ZF manual transmission and a Salisbury limited-slip differential. It was installed in a chassis that had a wheelbase size of 100.4-inches, with a front and rear axle track of 54.3-inches. It was 182.7-inches long and 68.1-inches wide. The chassis was comprised of square-section steel tubing in a central 'floor,' while additional sections of tubing were used to support the suspension mountings, rear differential, and engine. The suspension was independent at both the front and rear, with coil-over shock absorbers, anti-roll bars, and unequal-length wishbones. Vacuum servo-assisted Girling disc brakes were concealed behind Pirelli Cinturato HS 205-section tires.

Performance was impressive, with zero-to-sixty mph taking just 6.8 seconds and the top speed was achieved at nearly 160 mph.

The patented Superleggera (lightweight) construction of the bodies by Touring of Milan complemented the lightweight yet rigid chassis. Aluminum alloy body panels were fitted directly to a tubular structure. The production 350 GT coupe coachwork shared many features with the 350 GTV prototype, including the original profile with minor updates resulting in a more cohesive and road-worthy appearance. Among the changes were replacing the rotating hidden headlights of the prototype with fixed oval Cibie headlights that flowed gracefully into the fenders. The list of mechanical changes from prototype to production was more extensive, as many of the components reflected Bizzarrini's passion for competition, and had to be 'tamed' for road use. The racing-style dry-sump oiling system was replaced with a conventional wet-sump setup, the compression ratio was lowered from 11.0:1 to 9.4:1, relocating the distributors to more accessible positions on the fronts of the exhaust camshafts, softening the cam profiles, and replacing the 36 mm down-draft racing Weber carburetors with conventional, less-expensive side-draft 40 DCOE Webers.

Lamborghini had introduced the prototype GTV in Turin in March of 1964 and the production version followed just five months later at the Geneva Auto Show. After a favorable reception from the media and public, Ferruccio commenced with production in May of 1964. Production continued through 1966 with 120 examples built. It was replaced by the 400 GT which continued to wear Carrozzeria Touring coachwork but with an enlarged, 3,929cc V12 engine.

The 350GT was Lamborghini's first serial production model and would be built at the company's facility in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The chassis and bodies were mated at Touring before they were returned back to the Lamborghini factory. The first completed chassis and body were delivered to the Lamborghini factory on March 9th of 1964 (number 101 with Touring number 17001). This vehicle, No. 101, was the car show at the Geneva Show. The first customer delivery car was No. 104 (Touring coachwork No. 17004) and was delivered on July 31st of 1964.

Where many have failed, Ferruccio Lamborghini succeeded in building a vehicle that offered refined vehicle dynamics, a quiet and comfortable interior, a smooth ride, and impressive performance. It was one of many great achievements of the 1960s that came about due to Enzo Ferrari - along with the GT40 program that was birthed following Ford's unsuccessful merger with Ferrari - and the 'Great Walkout' of Ferrari engineers who went on to build several important products in efforts to 'outdo' Ferrari, including the Iso/Bizzarrini Grifo (A3/C and A3/L). Lamborghini's determination to 'go one better' than Ferrari had been perfectly timed, aided by many former top-ranking employees of Ferrari, including designers Giotto Bizzarini and Gian Paolo Dallara, test/development driver Bob Wallace, the racing shop of Neri & Bonanci in Modena, and Franco Scaglione, who created the renowned Alfa Romeo Bertone BATs. With sharp aerodynamic lines, a low frontal profile, a lightweight aluminum-paneled body over a steel tube frame, and powered by Bizzarini's 3.4-liter DOHC V-12, the 350 GT was an immediate success as a grand touring machine.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2021