9781422279588

I N T R O D U C T I O N

AMagnet for Talent Lamborghini was in a good position to build his team, for he was able to attract disaffected employees from Iso, Maserati, and Ferrari—particularly from Ferrari, whose temperament had instigated a mass defection of design and engineering talent at the time. One of those engineers was Giotto Bizzarini, the designer of the Ferrari 250 GTO, who went right to work and produced for Lamborghini a 3.5-liter V-12 engine that generated 360 horse- power, believing it would be used for a Formula One race car. Bizzarini later discovered that no grand prix racer was planned and would ultimately leave Lamborghini’s employ (to be replaced by Giampaolo Dallara and Giampaolo Stanzani), but the engine was introduced to the press, mounted on a test stand in the newly completed engine-testing room, even before the factory had been completed. The press raved. The magnificent and sophisticated engine boasted a pair of overhead cams for each cylinder bank, in a day when Ferrari engines only had one. It was destined to power the 350GTV, Lamborghini’s first prototype auto- mobile, which was unveiled at the Turin auto show in 1963. The beautiful two- door coupe was designed by Franco Scaglione, and the chassis was engineered by Giampaolo Dallara, another ex-Ferrari employee. The prototype was large- ly assembled by the tractor factory in Cento. A badge, bearing a stylized inter- pretation of Lamborghini’s astrological sign, the bull, appeared on its nose.

Only a single 350GTV was ever produced. Franco Scaglione penned the design, and the chassis was engineered by Giampaolo Dallara, an ex-employee of Ferrari.

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