June 2018 issue preview

Exotic Cars

JUNE 2018

MAGAZINE

Lister Thunder The History of Lamborghini

CONTENTS

DEPARTMENTS 6 View from Rob

8 Industry News

54 Exotic Gallery

82 Classifieds

FEATURES 12 Geneva Motor Show

18 Lamborghini Terzo Millenio

23 Mercedes SL Gullwing

30 Lamborghini Urus

36 History of Lamborghini

50 Lamborghini Centenario

68 Lamborghini LM2

72 Lister Thunder

76 70 Years of Porsche

VOLUME 1, NUMBER 2 - May 2018

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View from rob

Editor/Publisher Mike Weber

Advertising Director Rob Taylor

Art Director Steven Weber

Staff Writers Sameer Shah Marty Knights

Contributing Writers Neil Winton Peter Sessler Kyle Bronson

Sales Associates Sandra Harshman Matt Schwarz Karen Sandoval

Volume 1, Number 2 May 2018

Published monthly by Exotic Cars LLC, and distributed throughout the USA by Coast To Coast Distribution.

Subscription rates: $39.95 per year in the USA only.

©2018 Exotic Cars LLC

Welcome to Exotic Cars Magazine, the first of its kind in the auto magazine industry.

We bring you the look, the feel, the latest insights, and trends of these fabulous machines as soon as we can package the details. Our goal is to provide the source of exotic awareness as well as a unique advertising niche powered by the draw of these unmistakable autos which matches the appeal of your luxury items and increases sales. Exotic Cars Magazine is a high-end consumer publication covering exclusively exotic cars and the associated exotic car lifestyle, with the price of the cover car on our first issue estimated at $12.8 million.

We feature only the top line autos from around the world, without the lower-priced mass-produced autos featured in other auto magazines. We include only select advertisements in our publication, requiring all ads to meet the highest luxury criteria to maintain our exotic ambience.

Naturally, we only feature high-end ads for luxury real estate, cars, jewelry, airplanes, yachts, and similar select items appropriate for the high-end luxury market. Our subscriber list is a very select group with an average income of more than $2 million per year and some worth upwards of $1 billion.

Subscriptions at the present are mostly of the controlled nature with copies going to the home addresses of all active NFL (starting with the July issue), NBA, MLB, and NHL players as well as their head coaches/managers, general managers, and owners.

In addition, we send copies to several of the richest Americans and celebrities including, among others, President Trump, Paul Allen, Bill Gates and many others.

Publication, Distribution, and Circulation

We print monthly and send several thousand copies directly to the homes of high-income earners throughout the US. We also send to the following stores: Barnes and Noble, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Meier, Publix, Kroger, and Albertsons, with guaranteed nationwide newsstand circulation of 17,000 for the first few issues, growing to 50,000 by the end of 2018.

We mail subscriptions to more than 2300 with plans of expansion to 10,000 within the first six months. Why Exotic Cars Magazine? This is a promising new publication (after 16 years online) with infinite potential in the luxury exotic market.

Below are the benefits of advertising with Exotic Cars Magazine.

• Exclusive coverage of exotic cars and the exotic luxury lifestyle.

• Reaching directly into the core of the luxury consumer community.

• 60% editorial / 40% ads, enhancing purchasing.

• Well known: Online since 2001, now in print.

• High end: Average income $2.0 million/year, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA, CEOs and wealthiest.

What do we offer to advertisers? A focus strictly on the high-end luxury market with an emphasis on exotics, which is available in no other publication. This magazine is the first and only of its kind, and has assumed a front-line position with its first issue.

Exotic Cars offers a more specific subject and target market than Car & Driver, Motor Trend, Road and Track, DuPont Registry, and even Robb Report.

Given the prime advertising venue our publication offers directly into the luxury market, we open our pages to the advertisements from vendors of all luxury goods.

Our model offers two advertising tiers as explained above, the primary a direct link to the nation-wide community of luxury consumers and the other to high-traffic retail stores.

We charge much lower ad rates than

6 May 2018 Exotic Cars Magazine

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Books

Robb Report, DuPont Registry, and European Car, with an equal or greater circulation base. Other benefits to advertisers

• Industry-wide competitive ad rates.

• Complimentary one-year subscription for all advertisers.

• An eye-catching cover to draw the reader inside to see your advertisement.

• Circulation: 17,000 reaching more than 100,000 readers.

• Nationwide newsstand distribution throughout the U.S. by Coast to Coast Distribution.

• All advertisers get a link from our website to theirs and a banner on our website for one month with a paid full or half page ad.

• More in-depth articles and photos than our competitors.

• For dealerships, placement of your ad near articles about your brands. (This may vary depending on our

monthly content.)

• The opportunity for your company to contribute a guest feature on a subject of interest to exotic car lovers.

• Specialty ads in our Service Directory and Classified sections are also available.

If we encounter competition among advertisers, for example ads from multiple agencies in a similar industry, we will limit competing fields to just two from the same industry with of course an exception for auto dealers and manufacturers. Please call our office for more information and a rate card or email us at sales@exoticcarsmagazine.com. Thank you for considering Exotic Cars Magazine for your advertising needs. We look forward to hosting your ad.

Sincerely Rob Taylor Advertising Manager

Check out this new book from S.S. Collins, who works in the commercial section of the UK-based weekly Motorsport News.

It is a pictorial journey around Europe of long disused, abandoned buildings and crumbling tarmac that used to be what remains of several once great racing circuits. Inside are not only photographs and information about the tracks, but diagrams showing the evolution of those circuits as well as the campaigns trying to save many of them. ISBN: 9781904788317 Available online or at bookstores

Exotic Cars Magazine encourages readers to submit their letters, photos, cartoons and works of fiction to our office for future publication.

Send all correspondence to: Exotic Cars Magazine 8282 S State St. Suite 26 Midvale, Utah 84047 Email: editor@exoticcarsmagazine.com

Please do not send originals unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.Exotic Cars Magazine reserves the right to edit and or screen all submitted work for appropriate content prior to publication.

Exotic Cars Magazine May 2018 7

2018 GenevaMotor Show

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Ferrari 488 Pista

Ferrari, McLaren Lead New Supercar Parade At Geneva Show

By Neil Winton

GENEVA, Switzerland - As European car buyers and politicians obsessed about diesels and battery cars, the industry put on a brave front unveiling some amazing new supercars at the annual Geneva Car Show, and a bizarre Aston Martin Lagonda.

Leading the assembled throng away from the mundane and luring them into the world of fantasy was the Ferrari 488 Pista with a 710-hp V8 engine. This successor to the 360 Challenge Stradale, 430 Scuderia and 458 Speciale will blast from 0-60 mph in 2.7 seconds and on to 211 mph if you have access to a race track.

The McLaren Senna has a 789 hp twin-turbo V-8, with a top speed of 211 mph also. They cost $1 million each and all production has already been sold. The $2.4 million Zerouno makes even Ferraris and McLarens look restrained. Other head-turners include the Lamborghini Huracan Performance Spyder, Bugatti Chiron Sport and the Zenvo TSR-S.

Range Rover is planning a coupe version of its big flagship with the Coupe SV. This will be Land Rover’s most expensive model to date when it goes on sale later this year. The three-door model will cost more than Land Rover’s current most expensive model, the Range Rover SVAutobiography supercharged V8, which starts at $249,000. It is expected to use the same 5.0-liter V-8 engine.

“It will be the most expensive Range Rover ever,” a company spokesman confirmed, without giving a price.

Production will be limited to 999 and will be modified by Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Operations in Warwickshire, England.

Porsche also unveiled an SUV version of its Mission E batteryonly sedan, the E Cross Turismo concept. This will be powered by the same 600 hp motor as the sedan and will accelerate to 60 mph from a standstill in less than 3.5 seconds and offer a claimed range of over 300 miles. The 800 volt system will take 15 minutes to add 250 miles of range, Porsche claims.

Aston Martin revived the grand old Lagonda name with a weird, massive, futuristic concept designed to be electric powered and autonomous too. If that’s not enough, the vehicle has a rear roof which is movable, which will allow actresses to emerge standing from the rear at big awards ceremonies with their dignity intact.

“We believe people associate luxury in their cars with a certain traditional and even old-fashioned approach because, to date, that is all that’s been available to them,’ said Aston Martin President and Chief Executive Officer, Andy Palmer.

“Lagonda exists to challenge that thinking and prove that being modern and luxurious are not mutually exclusive concepts,” Palmer said.

For an industry currently obsessed with electric cars, there weren’t many new ones on view ready for sale. The Jaguar I-Pace though stole a march on the opposition, its first electric car and rival to the Tesla Model X. The I-Pace was designed from the outset as an electric vehicle and seats 5. The all-wheel drive performance from twin Jaguar-designed motors

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McLaren Senna

Porsche Mission E

with a combined 400 hp blasts the SUV from rest to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds. A 90 kWh lithium-ion battery delivers up to a claimed 298 mile range. Rapid charging takes the battery from 0-80% in 85-minutes, with 30-minutes charge giving about 80 miles range, Jaguar claims.

Expect to pay at least $100,000 for an I-Pace when it goes on sale in the U.S. later this year.

While exotic tastes were being sated at the expensive end of the car show, the regular market was overwhelmed with new SUVs, now as ubiquitous across Europe as in the U.S.

Leading the SUV march was the new compact Volvo XC40 and the big Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, the compact Lexus UX and the latest generation Hyundai Santa Fe. There are still sedans being launched, led by the Audi A6, Peugeot 508, Kia Ceed and Mazda6 Tourer and sedan. Volkswagen is introducing a convertible version of its small T-Roc SUV. VW unveiled its fantasy I.D. Vizzion concept, which it calls its automobile of the future which will drive autonomously and electrically.

Autonomy, or self-driving, is the current fad, but don’t expect to be able to buy anything remotely like that for the foreseeable future.

Aston Martin Lagonda

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Jaguar I-Pace

Aston Martin Lagonda

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LamborghiniTerzo Millenio

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By Peter Sessler Automobili Lamborghini in collaboration with two laboratories of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology marks the first steps of a possible future Lamborghini electric super sports car. On the occasion of this announcement Lamborghini presents the new design concept “Lamborghini of the Terzo Millennio”. The concept physically imagines design and technology theories of tomorrow, while sustaining the visual intrigue, breath-taking performance and, most importantly, the visceral emotion found in every dimension of a Lamborghini. It is made for future super sports car enthusiasts. The technological goal of the project is to enable Lamborghini to address the future of the super sports car in five different dimensions: energy storage systems, innovative materials, propulsion system, visionary design, and emotion. The first two dimensions are conceived together with the two laboratories at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: the “Dinca Research Lab”, led by Prof. Mircea Dinca, Department of Chemistry and the “Mechanosynthesis Group”, led by Prof. Anastasios John Hart, Department of Mechanical Engineering. The collaboration is substantially financed by Automobili Lamborghini and intended to lead to radical innovation in energy storage systems technology and material science. Stefano Domenicali, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini, says: “Exactly one year ago we have signed an agreement with the MIT-Italy Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which marked the start of a collaboration between two outstanding entities for the creation of a project that intends to write an important page in the future of super sports cars for the third millennium. Collaborating with MIT for

our R&D department is an exceptional opportunity to do what Lamborghini has always been very good at: rewriting the rules on super sports cars. Now we are presenting an exciting and progressive concept car. We are inspired by embracing what is impossible today to craft the realities of tomorrow: Lamborghini must always create the dreams of the next generation.” Energy Storage Systems The strategy of creating super sports cars with uncompromising performance generates Lamborghini’s motivation to revolutionize the approach to energy storage, moving away from conventional batteries and investigating the potential of supercapacitors to equip the Lamborghini Terzo Millennio. This is in line with the application of low voltage supercapacitors in the V12 Aventador, which started five years ago. The next logical step is the development of a storage system able to deliver high peak power and regenerate kinetic energy with very limited influence from aging and cycling during the vehicle’s life, and with the ability to symmetrically release and harvest electric power. Thus, the collaboration with Prof. Mircea Dinca is aiming to overcome the limits of today’s technology and close the gap on conventional batteries’ energy density while preserving the high power, symmetrical behavior and the very long lifecycle related to supercapacitor technology. Innovative materials To support this revolution in energy storage systems, materials and their functions have to change, too. Lamborghini aims to further develop its leadership in the design and production of carbon fiber structures and parts, enhancing its ability to develop features and functions that take lightweight materials to the

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next level. For this reason, the cooperation with Prof. John Hart will investigate the new manufacturing routes for carbon fiber materials constituting the bodyshell of the Terzo Millennio, which will also act as an accumulator for energy storage and enable the complete body of the car to be used as a storage system. Prof. Hart says, “We are thrilled to combine our expertise in advanced materials and manufacturing with the vision and support of Automobili Lamborghini, and to realize new concepts that will shape the future of transportation.” The project also aims to combine the technology to continuously monitor the whole carbon fiber structure, both visible and invisible, with the concept of “self-healing”: the target is to provide the Terzo Millennio with the ability to conduct its own health monitoring to detect cracks and damages in its substructure derived from accidents. In this case a self-repairing process starts via micro-channels filled with healing chemistries, reducing to zero the risks of small cracks propagating further in the carbon fiber structure. This allows further weight reduction with increased use of carbon fiber or the application of CFK to high-fatigue parts. Propulsion System The energy storage system goes hand-in hand with performance: each wheel incorporates an integrated electric engine, perpetuating the commitment to four-wheel drive and in the meantime harvesting the opportunities provided by electric motors: high torque, reversibility, and the possibility of moving energy by wire. The Lamborghini Terzo Millennio therefore also embodies the first steps for Lamborghini to go in the direction of creating a “Lamborghini Electric”. Moving the electric motors into the wheels has another positive effect: freedom for designers and aerodynamicists. Design

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The Lamborghini Terzo Millenio is the visionary outcome conceived by the Lamborghini Centro Stile to express future design elements, taking into account the radical changes in technology and anticipating elements of forthcoming Lamborghini design. An example for a very strong statement is the evolution and further development of the Lamborghini typical Y-signature in the front and rear lights. As a result of the change in technologies the design can be a radical expression of aerodynamic supremacy, based around an entirely new architecture, totally dedicated to perfecting airflow. A highly advanced monocoque based on Lamborghini’s Forged Composite technology can be modelled, containing only the energy accumulation system and driver’s and co-driver’s seats, inspired by race cars. Emotion Fundamental to a Lamborghini hypercar of the future is sustaining the emotion of driving a Lamborghini, and an immersive driver experience. The responsiveness of the electric motors, the four-wheel torque control and the dynamic body control system will enhance the driver’s experience, projecting it into the third millennium. Finally, the consequent aerodynamics and innovative lightweight approach will result in a new dimension of longitudinal as well as lateral dynamics, in this combination until today unknown from electrified cars. The Lamborghini Terzo Millenio’s virtual cockpit allows more than travelling the highways of a future world: its Piloted Driving simulation allows the driver to be taken around a track such as Imola by a virtual expert before the driver takes over to feel like a ‘pilot’ himself, experiencing the real car and circuit while following the virtual ghost car.

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Mercedes300SL Gullwing

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1955 Mercedes 300 SL

5.1 The SLS AMG in all its glory. (Photo courtesy Daimler AG)

The 300SL Gulling 1954-1957, by Peter C. Sessler

The 300SL was the first road-going car developed from the Mercedes-Benz race cars, and that was at the International Motor Sports Show at New York in January 1954. It was well-receivedfor one thing, the car had unique looks for the time- it sported two Gullwing doors and the front of the car had a new, simple grille design that used a large Mercedes-Benz star. The grille design has been a Mercedes-Benz SL trademark since then. Still, production reached only a total of 1,400 units in its three year life span, 1954- 1957. SL stood for “Sports Light.” The Gullwing doors The 300SL (the W194) was based on the 300S production car which came to fruition in the late 1940s. However, to keep costs down, it was decided to use the production based engine in the race car, instead of using a specially designed race engine. Unfortunately, the production based engine was definitely down on power.

Competing makes, such as Ferrari and Jaguar, were typically open roadsters which were designed that way to keep weight and frontal area at a minimum.

However, to make the car aerodynamic as possible, Mercedes

felt that a hardtop was required. A carefully designed roof would trade some frontal area for a large reduction in the drag coefficientand that would make the 300SL more competitive and aerodynamic. This would make the most of the power output of the production based engine.

Unlike other cars, the 300SL used a spaceframe for the chassis, instead of a conventional ladder frame. This technique enabled Rudolf Uhlenhaut, the Chief Designer of the 300SL, to have a frame that was not only strong, but also light- in fact, the chassis of the 300SL only weighed 110 lbs. The result was a very sleek car, but unfortunately, left no provision for doors!

This presented the designers with two problems. The first was how to get the driver in and out of the car and at the same time, meet the racing rules that stipulated doors that measured a minimum of 16” x 8”. The problem was the side tubes used on the chassis were much higher than normal, which left no room for conventional type doors- unless a major redesign was made.

The solution eventually presented itself. Instead of the doors extending down, they extended upwards into the roof. The doors were hinged the top and held open by a folding prop rod. Depending on the driver’s size, the steering wheel could then be detached to enable entry. Later, some additional changes were also made, but the end result was a car met all the racing rules, was extremely well suited for the type of racing it was made for, and sported a unique

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1987 Ferrari F40

The 300SL has this long downward sloping rear deck. (Photo courtesy E.J. Boyd)

front grille which was dominated by a large Mercedes-Benz star.The street 300SL

In most respects, the streetable 300SL was very similar to the race versions. But there were differences, too.

The 300SL, coded W198, featured a front grille with the large Mercedes- Benz star, a hood that was hinged at the front (instead of the rear) and two power hood bulges. More noticeable, were the eyebrows above each wheel arch- these gave some styling pizzazz to the otherwise slab-side body; in fact, Mercedes-Benz claimed they were aerodynamic additions because they directed the airflow over the top of the car and thus helping to keep the windows clean in inclement weather.

Mechanically, the 300SL was similar to the race versions which featured a rear swing-axle. A better, low-pivot swing axle had been developed, but as Mercedes-Benz did not feel that it was ready for this system, went with the traditional rear swing axle. The front suspension was conventional, with double wishbones with coil springs, shocks and anti-roll bar. Steering was recirculating ball and chassis used the complex spaceframe system.

The engine used was a 3.0 liter straight inline six cylinder that employed a cast iron block and an aluminum cylinder head. Cam actuation was achieved by a chain-driven overhead camshaft; compression ratio was 8:55:1. The oiling system used a dry sump. Unique at the time, was the Bosch direct fuel injection system. The following numbers don’t really sound like much, but in the 1950’s parlance, it was. The 3.0 liter engine was rated at 215hp @5,800

The steering wheel is designed to move out of the way for the driver to get in or out of the car.

(Photo courtesy E.J.Boyd)

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The chassis on the 300SL. The tubes limit movement in the car, which necessitated the Gullwing doors (Photo courtesy Daimler AG)

with 203 ft.lb torque.torque at 4,600 rpm.

"You don't have to worry about winding up these en gines," he said. "Before they're even dropped into a car they're run for 24 hours on a dynamometer, including six hours at peak output. Then they're torn down, checked, reassembled, and given another eight hours of running-in. Our times may be a shade slow, but don't be afraid to peak it in the gears." This was taken from the April,1956 issue of Sports Cars Illustrated.

Another interesting point were the combustion chambersthere weren’t any! Instead, they were formed by the piston’s shape. Ford, with the MEL engine (1958-1968) and the Chevrolet W-Series big-block (1958-1965) both tried using similar cylinder heads, with disappointing results.

The interior was fitted with larger seats, carpeting and leather was optional. Naturally, heating and cooling controls were fitted as was the steering wheel which was made to pivot for easier entry and exit.

It was not possible to raise and lower the door windows; instead, they could be removed and stored in the area behind the seats. And for use behind the seats, a pair of suitcases were available from Mercedes-Benz, as there wasn’t any practical room in the trunk.

For those wishing greater speed, an optional camshaft was also available. Other mechanical options included axle ratios, knockoff wheels and the aluminum body of which twenty-nine were made. These took about 200 lbs from the 300SL’s weight.

Regardless of the car’s good or bad points, the reality is that the 300SL Gullwing is one of most sought after collector cars of all time, and at the same time, is the inspiration of the current Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

2011-2014 Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS Fast-forward to 2010.This new car not only resembles the 300 SL, but also has those overhead Gullwing doors. Modern aerodynamics says that supercars should be wedge shaped. Not the SLS. The SLS has an immensely long front hood with the open Mercedes-Benz grille and its sloping tail- that too resembles the

original 300 SL. The result is a poor aerodynamic drag of 0.36- yet paying homage to history is bound to have some detractions. The SLS may not be as quick as a Ferrari 458/599, but to put it mildly, who cares.

The Mercedes-Benz SLS ((Super Light Sport) AMG at the same time, built to replace the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren supercar, which ended production in 2009. The McLaren, was not as successful as it could have been. In terms of design, the Mercedes- Benz SLR McLaren had many features that were later seen on the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG- like the long hood/short trunk, and the Gullwing doors. However, its immense cost probably did it in- whereas the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG listed for around $200,000 in 2010, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren cost nearer to $500,000.

What it all adds up to, the Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS best sports car Mercedes has ever built. In his review for "Top Gear," Jeremy Clarkson referred to the SLS AMG as "the greatest car in the world," noting that "it's more powerful than a Ferrari 458, just, it's a little bit louder than a Lamborghini, and it's way more fun than the 911RS GT Turbo 3S or whatever this week's ultimate Beetle (i.e., Porsche) is called; this is the thinking man's supercar.”

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG was assembled largely by hand, with its chassis and aluminum body shell produced by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria and then transferred to Sindelfingen, Germany for assembly, with its engine being hand built by AMG in Affalterbach, Germany.

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG made its debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2009 and went on sale in Europe in 2010. It went on sale in U.S.A. in 2011. Approximately 300 of these cars were planned to be sold in the first year.

The standard engine in the Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS is the M-159 6.2 liter aluminum V-8 rated at 563hp @6,500 rpm with 479 ft.lb. torque @4,750 rpm. The transmission is the AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT 7-speed dual-clutch semi-automatic transmission.

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5.7 The SLS AMG GT3. Although the engine is the same as the street versions, the car is lighter than the streer cars. (Photo courtesy Daimler AG)

The Gullwing doors were designed to separate the doors from the car, in case of a detected rollover within 10-15 seconds. Explosive bolts situated at the top of the door frame separate the doors from the car for easy exit during a serious accident, according to Car and Driver, 7/10.

In its brief tenure, the SLS was built in many different variations. Most of these are not for the American market, but include: SLS AMG "AMG Desert Gold" SLS AMG "Blackbird" (2010) SLS AMG Matte Black Edition SLS AMG GT SLS AMG Electric Drive (2013) SLS E-Cell SLS AMG Roadster SLS AMG GT Final Edition (2014) SLS AMG GT3 SLS AMG Roadster SLS AMG BLACK SERIES SLS AMG Ambulance SLS AMG GT3 "45th ANNIVERSARY" SLS AMG GT FINAL EDITION

Production ended with the SLS AMG GT FINAL EDITION in early 2014.

Photos: Above right: The stock engine on the SL. Note the larger valve cover screws which allow for hand tightening. (Photo courtesy E.J.Boyd) Bottom right:

The trunk is miniscule- that’s one of the reasons is its large capacity gas tank- 34.3 gallons on this SL.

( Photo courtesy E.J. Boyd)

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36 May 2018 Exotic Cars Magazine

The History ofLamborghini

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GTV Concept Car

By Rob Taylor - Special to Exotic Cars Magazine

Although Lamborghini started life in 1945 associated with tractors, by 1963, it was success in tractors that allowed Ferruccio Lamborghini to take revenge on Enzo Ferrari. No other car make has risen to such iconic status so quickly or has had so many different owners in such a short time - six in just thirty five years. As one of the wealthiest men in Italy, Ferruccio had been able to indulge his love of cars with Ferraris, Jaguars, and Mercedes 'Gull Wings,' and legend has it that it was the unreliability of his Ferrari which caused him to travel to Modena to confront Enzo. Unfortunately for Ferrari, Enzo refused to see Ferruccio who stormed back to his tractor factory in Cento determined to manufacture the highest quality gran turismo car of all time.

350 GTV Prototype and GT

His first prototype, the 350 GTV, relied on many bought-in components including a chassis built by Neri and Bonacini of Modena, a gearbox from ZF, an interior by an external upholsterer and a Scaglione-designed body built by Sargiotto of Turin. The magnificent V-12 engine was designed by engineer-supreme Giotto Bizzarrini, previously of Ferrari, and used many parts made by ATS Microfusioni. Although the GTV originally produced 350

bhp at 8,000 rpms, Ferruccio requested a reduction to 270 bhp at 6,500 rpms to better serve his design goal greater reliability. This was, after all, to be a grand touring car, not a racer. Bizzarrini wanted to build racing engines, however, and soon departed. The metallic blue prototype appeared as a “non-runner” at the 1963 Turin Auto Show with its engine displayed next to the car as it wouldn't fit after design upgrades. The lukewarm response prompted the redesign and eventual production of the 350 GT, which produced sufficient enthusiasm five months later at Geneva to confirm production. Ferruccio must have been relieved, having recently invested millions on a state-of-the-art factory at Sant'Agata, Bologna. He may have lost the brilliant Bizzarrini but he was able to attract some of the best engineers and designers of the day including Dallara, Stanzani and Sgarzi.

He even managed to secure racing legend Bob Wallace as chief test driver, a vital component of a ‘supercar’ manufacturer. The 350 GTV prototype was ‘productionized’ under the direction of Dallara who commissioned Touring of Milan (of Aston Martin DB4 fame) to build the car using its patented Superleggera method which involved mounting panels on a frame built from light tubing. While still bearing inspiration from the prototype, the new exterior was completely different with the 'pop-up' head-

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Espada

lights replaced by fixed ovals. The new GT looked like no other and was instantly recognizable as Lamborghini. The replacement of the rare and expensive down-draught Weber carburetors with side-draught models allowed the engine to fit under the smooth-lined, extended hood. From 1964 to 1966, one hundred twenty 350 GTs were sold and the next model was developed over the next two years with styling improvements and a larger 4.0 liter engine. In an attempt to widen its appeal, Lamborghini introduced a 400 cc 2+2 GT, of which 250 models sold.

Miura

Other models followed but the next milestone for Lamborghini was the evocative Miura, the work of Marcello Gandini of the Bertone design house.

The Miura is perhaps best remembered from the film “The Italian Job,” skillfully driven by Rossano Brazzi up an Italian alpine pass. Enthusiasts watching for the first time must have wept as the Miura plowed headlong into the mafia's earth mover and was tipped over the edge into the ravine below. This car must have shaken Ferrari to its roots in terms of its beauty, its handling, and its incredible performance.

By “supercar' standards, it was a commercial triumph with

profitable sales of more than 600.

Espada

As the seventies approached, Lamborghini produced increasingly more outlandish designs, namely the four-seater Espada and the extreme Countach which replaced the Miura. Also designed by Gandini and engineered by Dallara, the Espada was based on the Miura with the engine mounted further forward but with its wheelbase nearly four inches longer. The longer wheelbase provided space for the extra seats but ironically, the overall length was actually shorter.

Countach

The futuristic, insect-like Countach was even more successful with nearly 2000 sales before it gave way to the Diablo of 1990, but not before the final design of the Countach debuted on the company’s 25th anniversary. It was at about this time that Lamborghini made its short-lived and unsuccessful foray into Formula 1 motor racing. Formula One It wasn't the supercars that caused the first hiccup at Lamborghini but the tractors: A customer cancelled a large order after Ferruccio had upgraded his factory to increase

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