Beschreibung:

The story goes that Ferruccio Lamborghini, a self-made millionaire and manufacturer of farm equipment, wasn’t happy with the clutch of his new Ferrari and went to personally see none other than Enzo Ferrari to whom he made suggestions how to improve his legendary car, Italy’s national treasure. When he was summarily tossed out of the Maestro’s office, Ferruccio became intent on his building his own car. He did so in 1963 when the newly formed company of Lamborghini launched its V-12 powered 350GT at the prestigious Turin Auto Show to rave reviews. Producing a stunning 350hp, the all aluminum, short stroke engine featured four cams and a crankshaft supported by seven main bearings. It would serve as the prototype for all future Lamborghini engines. The 350GT was offered to the public in 1964 and over 130 cars were sold. Following with the success of the 350, the company then produced the 400GT and the 400 GT 2+2, the latter seen here. The 400’s engine was enlarged to 3929cc increasing the power to 320bhp while the 400GT 2+2 body, designed by Carrozzeria Touring, also differs from the 350GT featuring a longer wheelbase, different roofline and sheetmetal changes throughout the car. The larger body shape enabled the ‘+2’ seating to be installed in the rear. The 400GT 2+2 also employs a Lamborghini designed gearbox, with Porsche style synchromesh on all five gears which greatly improved the drivetrain. In his book The Complete Book of Lamborghini, author/enthusiast Pete Lyons sums up the car as follows: “To some Lamborghini fans, the 400 GT 2+2 may be the quintessential example of the marque--the model best realizing Ferruccio's original dream. It has the elegant body lines of the original 350 GT two-seater, but it has the durable steel coachwork, the larger trunk and the room for extra passengers, plus the more powerful 3.9 engine and Lamborghini's more refined driveline." This particular car, resplendent in azzuro notte or Midnight Blue with a complementing senape (natural mustard) pigskin leather interior, is documented as the 224th of the total production run of 247 and was completed on December 5, 1967 at the Sant’Agata factory, the car subsequently imported to the East Coast by Lamborghini distributor Jake Kaplan. In July 1987, after a mechanical, cosmetic and interior restoration, this car was awarded First Place in judged concours held at the Pocono Raceway, the achievement repeated at the New Hope, PA event and at the Washington Congressional Concours d’Elegance in May 1988 where it also won ‘Best of Show’ for all European cars. Then again in 1996, after being driven to the Lime Rock, Connecticut Vintage Fall Festival, it was awarded the “distance” trophy and was spotlighted on ESPN’s coverage of the event. Attesting to its excellent condition, Lamborghini factory Chief Test Drive Valentino Balboni, after taking it through several spirited laps in 1998, remarked, “The old girl is a beautiful joy with lots of tricks left in her.” In spring 2000, following its completion of the VSCCA New York-New Jersey Tour, it underwent a complete mechanical and cosmetic freshening at Exoticars USA in Frenchtown, NJ including having its seats re-upholstered in pigskin hides from Lamborghini’s original Italian supplier. In 2002/2003 Exoticars also completed a total rebuild of the engine top-end with new valves, seals and guides, distributor and ignition parts. The “1276” car, after its purchase by its current owned at the Bonhams Brookline Auction in May 2003, has since benefitted from a further $50,000 of mechanical improvements including rebuilt suspension, new shocks, new brakes and calipers, rebuilt gearbox, rebuilt heater box as well as re-wiring. The car, showing 70,300 original miles, comes complete with all service records from 1974 to present as well as original manual, parts catalogue, factory build sheet and original photos signed by Mr. Lamborghini and Valentino Balboni. A truly outstanding example, this 400 GT 2+2 is an accommo