1967 Lamborghini 400 GT

Ferrari-owning industrialist Ferruccio Lamborghini only turned to automobile manufacture as a result of receiving off-hand treatment at Maranello. Ferruccio dared to complain directly to Il Commendatore about certain engineering and design deficiencies from which his personal Ferrari GT was suffering. Enzo dared Ferruccio to do better, and Ferrucio vowed to create a better grand touring car than Ferrari.

As a successful manufacturer of tractors and related machinery, Mr. Lamborghini possessed the talents, resources, and skills to realize his dream without comprise. The first production car from Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini S.p.A. was the Touring-styled 350GT, introduced at the 1964 Geneva Motor Show, and certainly manifested its founder's vision of the ultimate GT car. Progress had moved swiftly on from the prototype 350GTV, which debuted at Turin in late November 1963, followed by series production of the two-seat 350GT. After 120 examples had been built, it was replaced by the 4.0-liter, interim two-seat 400GT.

The 350GT was the result of two of Italy's most illustrious automobile designers equipped with a 3.5-liter, four-cam V12 engine designed by Giotto Bizzarrini, housed in a chassis penned by Gianpaolo Dallara. Its four camshafts and all-independent suspension outclassed the best products being produced by Ferrari at the time, but to compete with his Maranello rival's larger models, a four-seater vehicle was needed, and the 400GT 2+2 duly appeared in 1966.

The 400GT 2+2 was a development of the 400GT, equipped with a 320 horsepower engine that offered fifty more horsepower than its predecessor. The introduction was another bold endeavor for Lamborghini, still in its infancy as an automobile manufacturer and choosing to compete among the world's best Grand Tourers. Yet the 400GT 2+2 quickly dispelled any lingering doubts about its ability to compete at the highest level of automobile production, offering impressive performance, the finest quality, durability, and the broadest range of smooth torque on the market.

The 400 GT 2+2 retained the overall, and highly acclaimed, appearance of the 350GT, while contriving to be slightly taller in the interests of increased rear-passenger headroom. Bodies were now steel instead of aluminum used on the previous 350GT, a single 23-gallon fuel tank replaced the previous dual tanks, and the 400 GT 2+2 had the twin headlights that had already been adopted in place of the oval originals, largely to meet the USA's requirements. Additional subtle and not-so-subtle enhancements were made to accommodate the extra room and weight, including the lowering of the floor pan and raising the roof 2.6-inches, creating an overall height of 50.6 inches. The trunk was enlarged and the rear window was reduced, this being the most obvious change to the 2+2's outward appearance. Lamborghini used its own differential and transmission, which was both quieter and easier to shift, partly due to the Porsche-style synchronizer system on reverse and all five forward gears. The chassis was the same as the 400GT interim except for repositioning the rear control arms, slightly modifying the wishbones and using stiffer springs and shocks.

The 400GT used a new 3929cc V12 engine that had dual overhead camshafts per cylinder bank, six Weber twin-choke 40DCOE carburetors, a five-speed manual gearbox, four-wheel independent suspension with double wishbones, coil springs and anti-roll bars front and rear, and four-wheel, vacuum-assisted Girling hydraulic disc brakes. Its wheelbase measured 100.4 inches (2550mm), a width of 68-inches (1727mm), and a length of 176-inches (4470mm). The sumptuous interior complimented the svelte design, incorporated leather, high-quality toggles and switches, and elegant instrumentation. It rode on Borrani wire wheels and Pirelli tires

Production was exclusive, with just 247 hand-built examples between 1966 and 1968 when it was replaced by the Islero. production of the Lamborghini Islero was also brief, lasting from 1968 through 1969 with a total of 225 units built among all variants. it was designed by Mario Marazzi at Carrozzeria Marazzi, had 2+2 seating, and was equipped with a 3,929cc V12 engine with six Weber 40 DCOE carburetors with 350 horsepower in (Islero S) guise.

by Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2021