TopSpeed Retro Car Sunday - Chapter : Lamborghini 350 GT
There is a saying that the beginning is half of everything. In Lamborghini's case, the success of the 350 GT was to enable it to establish itself as a car manufacturer and start the war against Ferrari. Lamborghini is, in a sense, a company born out of the 'arrogance' and 'wounded ego' of two Italians. Enzo's "arrogance" that his cars didn't have an issue and Lamborghini's "wounded ego" when he told him that the 250's clutch was fine and his problem was that he didn't know about cars (Enzo added, "keep making tractors since you don't know about cars"), was to be the beginning of the birth of Lamborghini.
The story behind the 350 GT
The original design team
After testing the prototype engine, in May 1963, Lamborghini's then chief engineer Giotto Bizzarrini left the company. The very next month, Ferruccio Lamborghini commissioned engineer Gian Paolo Dallara to create the production version of Bizzarrini's 350 GTV (the name of the prototype, which was later called the 350 GT in the production version). Engineer Paolo Stanzani and test driver Bob Wallace, assisted Dallara in the development of the production version.
Dallara and Stanzini soon discovered that the 350 GTV prototype was not properly designed for "mass" production. They began working on two projects in parallel, which would result in the final version of the 350. First, they started by making the necessary changes to the Bizzarrini's engine, while also adapting the chassis design for road use. They then set to work feverishly preparing the 350 GT for its premiere at the Turin Motor Show in October 1963, where Lamborghini hoped the car would attract enough interest for the 350 GT to enter production.
The redesign of the original 350 GTV
Bizzarrini's 3.5-litre atmospheric V12 was a race-designed engine capable of producing 400bhp at 11,000rpm. An engine of such a design, of course, did not follow the character of the 350 GT. For this reason, Dallara, together with Wallace, created a "softer" version of this for use in a road car. The changes they made were :
- The replacement of the racing type of dry cart with a conventional type, to reduce production costs
- The reduction of engine compression from 11:1 to 9.4:1
- Reducing the use of expensive materials for the manufacture of the crank and other mechanical parts, in order to reduce production costs
- They moved the distributors in front of the exhaust camshafts in order to make them more easily accessible
- They fitted a very large, single, Lamborghini-made oil filter
- They replaced the Weber racing type carburetors with conventional type, 40 DCOE Weber carburetors
- They made the camshaft profile softer for road use
This first, detuned, version of the L350 engine was tested on October 3, '63. The result, in the production version of the 350, was an engine capable of a top speed of 255 km/h.
While Dallara and Wallace's work continued, Ferruccio presented the 350 GTV prototype at the press meeting on October 26, and at the start of the Turin Motor Show on October 30, he presented the 350 GTV with the Bizzarrini engine intact on a stand outside the 350, saying it was not the final version. The reactions it received were "lukewarm", which did not lead to the 350 going directly into production, as Lamborghini was waiting to see people's reactions to the final prototype, which at the time was still in development.
In March 1964, at the Geneva Motor Show, just 5 months after the 350's "premiere" in Turin, the "Redesigned GTV" - now called the 350 GT - made its debut at the world's most important motor show. The 350 GT received enough positive reactions that Lamborghini decided to put it into production in May.
Production and assembly
The construction of the carriage was entrusted to Touring Of Milan, which used its patented manufacturing method, Superleggera, where he mounted aluminum panels directly onto a tubular frame. The 350 GT's first chassis was built by the 350 GT.Neri & Bonacini", on behalf of Touring Of Milan, who continued to manufacture the 350 GT bodies until the start of production, after which the work was entrusted to Marchesi. The frames and bodies were joined in the Touring Of Milan and delivered to Lamborghini ready to go, even with the bumpers already on.
The first assembled car from the Touring Of Milan, arrived at the Lamborghini factory on 9 March 1964 and was named No. 101 (Touring No. 17001). That same month, 101 was the car that premiered the 350 GT at the Geneva Motor Show. The first 350 GT delivered to a customer was No. 104 (Touring No. 17004) on July 31, 1964.
Lamborghini built a total of 120 examples before replacing the model with the 400 GT in 1966. Many 350 GTs were later fitted with the 400 GT's more powerful 4-litre V12.
Technical data
The 350 GT, was fitted with an all-aluminum V12 engine, with a 5-speed ZF manual transmission. It had an aluminum body (although some 350s were made of conventional metal), a Salisbury-made differential, independent suspension on all four wheels, and vacuum-assisted disc brakes, made by Girling, on both front and rear axles.
Its wheelbase is 2.55 metres, with an overall length of 4.64 metres. Its axle width is 1.38 metres on both the front and rear axles, and its overall width is 1.73 metres, while its height is 1.22 metres. With a total, wet, weight of 1450 kilograms, the 350's V12 made the 0-100 sprint in 6.8 seconds and 0-160 in 16.3 seconds, with a top speed of 255 km/h.
Features of the redesign
The 350 GT shares many mechanical and design elements with the original 350 GTV, such as its aluminium body, its independent suspension and its 4-cam V12. A multitude of adaptations and changes were made, based on information provided by "Neri & Bonacini" and Bob Wallace. The production version had fixed instead of retractable front lights and different carburetors from the GTV, mounted on the side, in order to keep the hood low, as Ferruccio wanted.
Context
As with the engine, so with the chassis, Dallara created the "street" version of the "racing" chassis designed by Bizzarrini in the GTV. He used heavier and less "exotic" materials, but created a chassis that allowed for easier entry and exit into and out of the cabin, was focused on comfort and noise reduction inside, but also on the robustness of the build, comparable to the then competitor, the Aston Martin DB4.
Post
The 350's suspension was fully independent, with unequal-length swingarms and metal spring shock absorbers. The rear suspension swingarms are focused towards the base of the springs to "resist" the torque of driving and deceleration, giving the 350 an excellent ride.
Engine
The quality control on the 350 engines was amazing. Each engine was put through a 24-hour test on a Schenk Walge dynamometer, where it was run for the first 12 hours on electricity and then on petrol at higher revs. Then, if the results were satisfactory, it was placed in the car and then put through 500 kilometres of testing by Bob Wallace himself before being delivered to the customer.
Internal
The interior of the 350 was entirely upholstered in top quality leather, while the assembly was of high quality for the time. The almost vertical switch panel on the centre console was a feature. The steering wheel had a rim made of wood, while the frame was made of metal. The gear selector was also made of wood.
All in all
The 350 GT was probably the best start Lamborghini could have had. A stylish, luxurious and fast GT, capable of rising to the occasion against its biggest rival, Ferrari's 250. Of course, it's also a Lamborghini that is often overlooked, as is the 400 GT, as the Miura is the first to be consistent with the image people have of this particular manufacturer today. Either way, it's a beautiful car, with a history that I myself was unaware of and discovered in the course of researching information for this particular tribute. 350 GT then, il toro scatenato originale.
