Lamborghini 350 GTV

The Lamborghini 350 GTV is a two-door coupe, which was created in 1963 as a unique. He is the first sports cars Automobili Lamborghini SpA and technical and stylistic point of the precursor of the produced in small series Lamborghini 350 GT. The car was initially an unroadworthy exhibit: In his presentation in October 1963 was in place of the motor only a box of rubble under the front hood. It was not until 25 years later it was placed in a roadworthy condition.

Genesis

The company Lamborghini Trattori SpA was founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini produced from 1948 tractors and special machinery. Ten years after the founding Lamborghini was the most successful tractor manufacturer in Italy.

Since the early 1960s, Ferruccio Lamborghini thought about the expansion of its operation on the automobile production. In the literature, these considerations are often attributed to an alleged rift between Ferruccio Lamborghini and Enzo Ferrari, who - to have refused to modify its clutches or the cylinder heads of his sports car after Lamborghini's ideas or Ferruccio Lamborghini for an interview - depending on the source receive. Ferruccio Lamborghini participated over the decades repeated in the dissemination of these stories. Your truth is, however, doubtful. Other representations assume that Ferruccio Lamborghini and Enzo Ferrari have never met in person. Rather, Lamborghini had taken up the sports car production primarily with the aim to advertise his tractor operation; the alleged animosity to Ferrari was merely a public relations tool. An Italian source finally sees Ferruccio Lamborghini's " love for all mechanical " as the decisive reason.

Ferruccio Lamborghini himself declared in the autumn of 1963:

" The most famous sports cars in the world I've owned. At each of these great cars, I found error. Too hot or too uncomfortable, not fast enough or does not handle well enough. Now I 'm going to build a sports car itself. A perfect car. "

In December 1962, the decision was made in favor of the production of a Lamborghini sports car. After Ferruccio Lamborghini's ideas, the vehicle should connect the stylistic and technical elements of the Jaguar E-Type and a Ferrari together. As a twelve-cylinder engine was provided so that the new car could compete with the current Ferrari models.

Particulars

During the year 1963 was developed in Sant'Agata Bolognese, the car plant the newly formed Automobili Lamborghini SpA At this time, the company had not yet own design department, which was able to develop a sports car in the luxury class. Many design tasks for the 350 GTV were therefore awarded to independent engineers such as Giotto Bizzarrini and Giampaolo Dallara or to established businesses. The individual parts of the car and the engine specifications were made by various independent companies as a commission after Lamborghinis; provided that no new development was needed, bought Lamborghini technical components also among suppliers as Girling, Salisbury or ZF.

Chassis and suspension

The 350 GTV had a tubular space frame, had designed the Dallara. The vast majority of automobile literature assumes that it was built at Neri e Bonacini of Modena. A single source is called notwithstanding this, the Modena factory Marchesi as the manufacturer of the frame.

All four wheels were individually suspended. Ferruccio Lamborghini attached particular importance to this feature, with which his car in particular deposed by the Maserati models, which still had a rear rigid axle with leaf springs in the 1960s, and in that connection in the press sometimes derisively as " via motorized truck " were designated. On all four wheels to disc brakes which were obtained from Girling were.

Body

For the body design is Ferruccio Lamborghini had initially tried to established design houses Bertone, Ghia, Pininfarina, Touring and Zagato. They all told from due to alleged lack of capacity. Ultimately, Lamborghini commissioned the independent designer Franco Scaglione, who was until 1959 chief designer at Bertone.

The alcohol-and cocaine- dependent Scaglione was among the Italian designers as "the man for the Wild ." He designed a two-seat coupe with a long front end, close-cut passenger compartment and a flowing roof line, which resulted in a short notchback. The design resorted to design features of Osca 1500 Berlinetta, Scaglione had designed the 1959 Bertone. Only the proportions in the front of the car were changed, and accounted for the indicated tail fins of Osca. At the front end of the vehicle was wearing pop-up headlights. The trunk lid was due to the far reaching down and rounded rear window free only a narrow opening. How the Jaguar E-Type, the entire hood opened, including the front fenders to the front.

Scagliones design was and is assessed differently. Some observers spoke of an " exciting design ", and Giampaolo Dallara, the more developed the 350 GTV to the 350 GT, the body found successful than the later series model. Others saw Scagliones body as " polarizing ", " bizarre " or " rigged " to or considered him a " confused ensemble of detail views of several other sports car".

The body made of steel plate and was screwed to the chassis. Unlike the structures of the later production cars, the bodywork of the 350 GTV in Sargiotto Carrozzeria in Turin was built. Ferruccio Lamborghini was unhappy with the work of Franco Scaglione belonging workshop. He later called them " a rickety hut that was hardly bigger than three by four meters ." The level of craftsmanship was poor according to representations in the trade press; the vehicle had been " hastily hingepfuscht ".

Engine: 100 hp per liter of displacement

With the conception of the engine Ferruccio Lamborghini commissioned the former Ferrari engineer Giotto Bizzarrini. To what extent was the engine but actually designed by Bizzarrini and which technical models, the engine is viewed differently in the automotive literature.

Giotto Bizzarrini

The majority of automotive literature provides a working Giotto Bizzarrinis in the design of the Lamborghini twelve-cylinder engine. Other hand, recent studies have concluded that Bizzarrini contrary to popular representation, the engine did not construct itself. Instead, he delivered only a few sketches for a 1.5 liter twelve- cylinder engine, which he had made in 1959 as Ferrari employee. The detailed design of the Lamborghini engine took over Oliviero Pedrazzi and Achille Bevini as a subcontractor for Bizzarrini. He was eventually made at Neri e Bonacini.

Lamborghini engine was after the Ferrari engines by Gioacchino Colombo and Giulio Alfieri Maserati Aurelio Lampredi and the fourth constructed in Italy twelve-cylinder of the postwar period. The conceptual origins of the engine are not fully understood. Lamborghini during the presentation of the model, if it were a completely newly designed, self-contained engine. Giotto Bizzarrini joined the counter in the 1990s and claimed that he had essentially copied the Ferrari twelve-cylinder engine by Gioacchino Colombo. Other sources put the other hand, assume that Maseratis twelve-cylinder engine ( Tipo 9) had served as a model of from 1957 in Formula 1 was used: Both engines have significant technical similarities.

Technical details

The twelve-cylinder V-engine of Lamborghini had a displacement of 3465 cm ³. The cylinder head was made of light alloy. The crankshaft was mounted on seven bearings. Each of the two rows of cylinders had two overhead camshafts, which were driven by roller chains. For each cylinder, two V- shaped arrangement valves were provided, which were operated by bucket tappets. The combustion chambers were performed hemispherical and greatly expanded the piston, which originated in contract work at ATS upwards. The mixture was prepared by six double carburettors from Weber ( Type 38 IDL). The compression was 9.5: 1 The force was transmitted to the rear axle via a manually shifted five-speed transmission from ZF on a self-locking differential of Salisbury.

After Ferruccio Lamborghini's specification of the twelve-cylinder engine should produce 100 hp for each liter of displacement. Lamborghini claimed recovery Bizzarrinis dependent on this value has been reached: less for each PS was contractually entitled to a deduction of Bizzarrinis fee has been agreed. Bizzarrini fulfilled the requirement. The prototype of the motor made in August 1963 to the test 360 SAE horsepower at 8000 revolutions per minute. Given this high level of speed, the engine had a terrible roads or series production. Therefore Ferruccio Lamborghini kept a part of Bizzarrinis fee; An Italian court obligated Lamborghini later to pay full compensation.

Designation

Lamborghini's first car was called in-plant Tipo 103. The finally selected model designation 350 GTV was referring to the volume of the engine ( 3.5 liters ), but not on its performance. The abbreviation stands for Gran Turismo Veloce GTV.

Presentation: Motorized or not?

In October 1963, the prototype of the 350 GTV, and a copy of the engine were completed. In the same month the vehicle was presented to the public. Lamborghini showed the 350 GTV the first time on October 26, 1963 before the nascent factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese; a week later he stood at the Turin Motor Show.

In almost all earlier publications we find the Note, the engine did not fit into the car and the car was shown in 1963 without. Research from 2013 found, however, that in any case the engine was installed in the front at the first presentation on 26 October 1963. This is evidenced by contemporary photographs. In the subsequent fair presentation of the 350 GTV, however, was undoubtedly not equipped with a motor. Instead, was for reasons of weight under the hood a wooden box, which was filled with floor tiles. The twelve-cylinder engine, at that time still existed only a copy of the, was shown alongside the coupe on a separate frame.

Fahrbereit was the 350 GTV 1963 at any time. The car had no drive shaft, and the electrical system was completely absent.

Modifications for the series production

The 350 GTV was suitable either technically or in stylistic point of view, to be produced in series. After the presentation of the vehicle, therefore, both the technical and the exterior was extensively revised. From the modified version of the 350 GTV 350 GT 400 GT and later emerged, of which were built until 1968 120 (350 GT) and 247 copies (400 GT).

The following changes were compared with the prototype:

In order Lamborghinis revised Carrozzeria Touring in Milan Scagliones body design during the year 1964. Responsible Giorgio was Prevedi. He kept Scagliones lines with largely, but changed numerous details in terms of a rational series production. So the pop-up headlights was dropped in favor of standing oval lights, the relative depending on the source, either from Hella and at the same time also the NSU Prinz 1000, and Ford Taunus P3 ( "bathtub " ) were used or produced the Cibié for the Citroën Ami 6. The rear roofline has also been modified; its rounding is shortened so that a usable boot lid could be installed. Observers were of the view that Scagliones design was not improved.
Touring also changed the body construction. Instead of the steel structure of the 350 GTV, an aluminum body, which rested on a framework of thin steel tubes ( Superleggera principle) was born.
For the series production and the twelve-cylinder engine has been revised in many details. Responsible engineer Giampaolo Dallara was. He replaced the dry-sump lubrication with a pressure circulation system, wet sump and changed the carburetor assembly. He also reduced the compression to 9.0: 1 The subsequent production version of the engine thus lost 70 hp on the prototype, but was revving and practical for everyday use.

Restoration of the 350 GTV

The Lamborghini 350 GTV had stood from 1963 to 1985 in a neglected condition in the factory before it bought the Lamborghini dealer Romano Bernardoni. Bernardoni had the car restored in its operation based in Bologna Emilia car. The aim was to put the car using the original Bizzarrini engine for the first time in a roadworthy condition. The work took more than four years. The engine was preserved and has been revised. Many body parts as well as the exhaust, the propeller shaft and the entire electrical system had to be remade it. In many details the restorers based on Lamborghini 350 GT.

In the spring of 1990, the Lamborghini 350 GTV was driving on a public road for the first time. 2010, the car was acquired by a Swiss collector who has since been repeatedly shown at international exhibitions.

Specifications: Lamborghini 350 GTV 350 GT and compared

The table below shows the comparative technical data of the prototype 350 GTV and the later series model 350 GT again.

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