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[VintageLambo] 350 on auction in London

Marcel de Lange

Coys of Kensington will be auctioning this 350 GT (most probably # 0133 in my opinion; it certainly looks like the spitting image of that car that Coys was offering in the late "80"s with a Dutch registration). Marcel 1965 Lamborghini 350 GT Alloy body Registration no: * Chassis no: 115 Estimate: £23,000-28,000 The first Lamborghini car was to have a V12 engine, the responsibility of which was to be Bizzarini"s, designer of the legendary 250 GTO whilst at Ferrari, and the unit he built was a reworking of his design for a Ferrari Formula One engine, albeit enlarged to 3,500cc. The first dyno run released a huge 370bhp at 9,000rpm and the fledgling company was under way. A body was designed by Franco Scaglione, famous for his "BAT" designs on Alfa Romeo 1900 chassis in the 1950s while at Bertone, and the new car, named 350 GTV, was displayed at the 1963 Turin salon. Although technically excellent, the car met with a luke-warm reception, for the styling was too controversial, so Carrozzeria Touring was called in to clean up the shape. The resultant car was much better received and this was put into production as the 350 GT. Instantly it rendered anything from main rival Ferrari obsolete, with its independent rear suspension, disc brakes all round, aluminium coachwork, five speed all synchromesh gearbox and quad cam V12. The end result was a supreme gran turismo, which was very fast, very quiet, handled well, was comfortable, well made and superbly appointed. The road testers from the motoring press loved the car for its excellent road manners, with fine handling, braking, steering, speed and smoothness. In the interests of usability and longevity the original engine had been detuned to give 280bhp at 7,000rpm, which was still more than comparable Ferraris could muster, and this was sufficient to provide the car with a claimed top speed of 165mph. It was a triumph of design, and is without doubt a great classic and highly collectable, with only one hundred and thirty one examples built. The very early example on offer today was purchased from an important Dutch Lamborghini collection in the late 1980s and is described as being in very good mechanical condition by the owner. The original, ineffective oval headlamps have been replaced by the later, and better, twin pairs of round units from the 400GT. Rarely does an opportunity to acquire one of these historically important cars arise and so this car will be of interest to any collector. .