Lamborghini's first car, the 350 GT, turns 60

Lamborghini as an automobile company was founded in 1963, but did not begin building cars until the following year.

Its first car was the 350 GT, which made its official debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1964, where Lamborghini began taking its first orders; a one-off prototype known as the 350 GTV had been shown a year earlier at the Turin Auto Show.

It was a dispute between Ferruccio Lamborghini and Enzo Ferrari that ultimately led to the 350GT. Lamborghini, who already had a successful company manufacturing tractors, complained to Enzo himself that the Ferrari clutch he owned was problematic and that he should use better parts. Rejected by Ferrari, Lamborghini decided to build the car himself.

The aluminum body of the 350 GT was designed by coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera and was initially previewed on the 350 GTV, a slightly different design than the 350 GT. The chassis was developed by the young Giampaolo Dallara, who would launch the racing car constructor Dallara a decade later.

The engine was a 3.5-liter V-12 that was the basis for Lamborghini's V-12 engine until the launch of the Aventador, and contributed to the development of the Ferrari 250 GTO and the launch of his own sports car brand, Bizzarrini, which was now undergoing a revival It was developed by Giotto Bizzarrini.

Bizzarrini developed the engine for motorsports, and his colleague, engineer Paolo Stanzani, was to modify it for public road use. the four-cam design produced 350 hp, with a redline of 7,000 rpm, a very high (at least for the time) rpm The first 350 hp was produced.

The first 350 GT was chassis number 101, green with a white interior. It was displayed at its Geneva debut. The car was kept by Lamborghini and later used as a test model for endurance testing, but was rear-ended at a stoplight and ultimately destroyed

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The second 350 GT built was finished in silver with a red interior and was delivered to a customer in Geneva in August 1964. This car is currently the oldest Lamborghini production car. The original 350 GTV prototype is still considered the oldest Lamborghini.