Lamborghini celebrated the 350 GT’s 60th birthday this week with some glamour shots on the roads of Geneva.
Automobili Lamborghini first entered the public consciousness at the 1963 Turin auto show with a sleek two-seater prototype, the 350 GTV, styled by Franco Scaglione and constructed by Carrozzeria Sargiotto. After much development and tweaking to chassis and body alike (while pretty, the GTV didn’t translate to a viable car), the production-ready 350 GT was finally unveiled five months later at the 1964 Geneva motor show.
The newest entry on the Italian exotic scene wore a lovely aluminium body, redesigned by Bianchi Anderloni and constructed by Carrozzeria Touring, with a chassis engineered by a young Giampaolo Dallara. It was powered by a front-mounted quad-cam 270bhp 3.5-litre V12. It all added up to a stunner, too.
A beaming Ferruccio Lamborghini was on hand to show off his new car to onlookers, journalists, and prospective buyers alike. Before long, the V12 underhood would grow to four liters and give rise to the 1966 400 GT. Crucially, the mill’s underlying architecture would serve as the basis for the V12s that powered several subsequent Lamborghinis over the next 40 years, including the front-engine Islero, Jarama, Espada, and LM002, and, mounted amidships, the Miura, Countach, and Diablo.
Lamborghini would go on to produce 135 350 GTs before 1966, when 400 GT production began. Unfortunately, the Geneva show car, chassis number 101, was destroyed during testing. But the oldest remaining example, #102, in metallic grey over red leather, is fitter than ever, and it looked stunning for its 60th anniversary Swiss photoshoot.
