350/400GT thread

Martin is notoriously anti-Lamborghini. Which is a shame, considering his influence. He often bad-mouths them, especially the Countach. He's a Ferrari guy.

I frankly think my 67 400GT 2+2 has body construction & build quality like a Bentley or something similarly high-end like that. I've had a lot of cars, and I don't know what he's talking about -- my guess is neither does he.

I've heard he can't even keep his own Ferrari running. He's really not much of a car guy, I wouldn't listen to what he says.

But I do like his magazine. I think he was at the right time and place when he started Sports Car Market.

Hey, he's probably a nice guy. But he just doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to Lamborghinis, and I'm not the only guy that will say that.

Cheers,

Fred

 

omg, I just read that review -- it's awful! "The noise levels were deafening..."

What on earth? It was waaaaaaay quieter than the Ferrari. Read any review...any one.

(well, not that one -- it's useless)

 

Fwiw, mine's a Touring. But still...I'd call the build quality of the worst 400GT 2+2 at least good. Touring at least good to very good.

Also, the Islero simply wasn't of the quality the 400GT was, in general. A cheaper version of the 400GT, and that's not my opinion, it's well documented.

Anyway -- Martin doesn't like Lamborghinis.

 

350GT #358 for sale at RM London in October:

http://www.rmauctions.com/FeatureCars.cfm?SaleCode=LF11&CarID=r125

 

Stephen, you're dead on...in every regard.

Thanks for posting, just a beautiful car.

Honestly, the Miura sidetracked the direction Ferruccio was going in. It's a totally different car than he ever intended to build. He was pressured by the "kids" he had hired. They wanted to go racing, Ferruccio wanted a great GT car.

The 400GT 2+2 is really the pinnacle "early" GT car. Mine drives like a Lexus, it's just superb.

I love the Miura and the lp400, but they are such different cars, for a different crowd.

Cheers,

Fred

 

we've tried. Martin doesn't want to hear any of this. Basically, no Ferrari guy/gal wants to hear any of this. They own the market, and they don't want to hear it. They don't believe it because "it can't be true."

But it is. There is simply no comparison -- at this point, Lamborghini was building a vastly superior car.

I grew up loving and worshipping Ferraris. I still do. But -- Lamborghini was better. I learned that when I worked at Ferrari of Monterey, just listening to the mechanics talk. That was back in the early 70s. I learned that regardless of how good the 60's Ferraris were, "hey, you better check out the Lamborghini -- it's pretty damned good!" (don't forget Ferruccio owned ALL these cars, and knew exactly how to make a better car -- and that he did. He hired away the Ferrari talent and built a better car)

I drove all the cars back then and know them all. The 400GT is a Rolls compared to all the exotics that were coming out in the mid-60s.

Cheers,

Fred

 

there are a few things "incorrect" judging from the photos. Why not take the time to make the car worthy of a top price? It's a nice-looking car...

Thanks Olivier

Fred

 

There were 2 black 400GT 2+2's:

0664
0703

Both had the Tobacco (tabacco) interior.

Could this be one of them? I have no idea

Nice car,

Fred

 

I just moved from St Pete and went to Saratoga a few times -- didn't know about the museum! Instead spent time sailing around Long-Boat Key. Ah...the good life. (I didn't have it, but I could see it from the boat!)

I'm thinking we can ID this car. I'll work on it.

Thanks for the pic,

Fred

 

Hi Olivier,

Since I suggested over on the vlg that this is not a 400GT Interim, I'll suggest it here. Hey, it could be, but it was originally delivered with a slam-dunk 350 motor. No question.

Who knows, maybe the motor was swapped to a 4 litre at some point, but ultimately I would not call this a true 400GT Interim. Rather a 350GT Interim. It clearly has the Salisbury diff on top of everything else.

I'm hoping we can come up with an easy test to id the 350 motor, besides dip-stick location (this car has the 350GT dip-stick location, for what it's worth...which isn't much since there are other true 400GTs with the driver's-side dip stick)

Hard to tell, but I'll be putting my money on this ultimately being (when all research is done) delivered as a 350GT.

Cheers, and thanks for all the excellent info from Europe!

Fred

 

Good point, Olivier. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm just going from my notes.

Access to the factory archives would clear this up. Again, I don't care either way ... I just get tired of seeing some of these cars paraded as 400GT Interims when I don't think they are.

I'm just giving my opinion, based on the photos I've seen. I have photos (don't even know where I got them) of the engine before it was painted black, and it certainly looks like a 350 motor to me. ie: They have changed (at least) the looks of the engine compartment and engine prior to auction.

You've seen these "before" photos? I'll post in a bit.

Cheers,

Fred