I thought, perhaps a little late, that it might be useful to do an English translation of the first document I posted above. Google translator helped me. "Meeting with his imperial majesty Shah of Persia - Livorno November 30, 1958. The Shah of Persia is interested in one of our special cars with an 8-cylinder engine. The car should have a sedan body, two seats with a discreet trunk and have sporting characteristics, in particular a lot of hp. It is not indispensable for the car to pick up well from 500 rpm, as proposed by the engineer Alfieri, a good pick up at 2500 rpm being sufficient. Engineer Alfieri ensured a speed of 280 km/h. The shah owns a Ferrari 4900 which has given him trouble, especially with the clutch. A 4 month delivery was mentioned. One or two coachbuilders (Ghia, Vignale or Farina) had to be contacted urgently in order to be able to send one or two drawings of the car to the Shah in a very short time. Address the offer to the Iranian embassy in Rome in via Monte Parioli 6 for forwarding to the Shah in Tehran. Copy of correspondence (raw) should be sent directly to Ambassador Aamed Maybud, 5 Shahin Avenue Tehran Iran. Engineer Alfieri should have the chassis drawing prepared immediately and contact the suppliers for particular groups."
Interesting part about the Ferrari clutch trouble ... I think that's how and why the Lamborghini GT 350 was created? Yup https://lucasenatore.co.uk/lamborghini-and-ferrari/
Thanks for this great translation! I don't know what a Ferrari 4900 is but the model that gave Sr. Lamborghini the clutch trouble was most likely a late '50s, early '60s 250 GT PF coupe. Some claim to have found the very car he owned at this time! The 250 PF coupes (much like the one that just sold yesterday on BaT) were heavy, steel cars, with a small, high revving V-12. These PF versions actually contained an improvement over the previous 250 GT cars, in that they employed a real flywheel, and resulting clutch & pressure plate. Previously, the 250s used in essence a clutch "basket", much like a motorcycle. These served as a super light weight flywheel, with a dual friction disc arrangement. There is NO torque, or low end grunt with this set-up. Mix this with a gutless, high revving engine, and not much clutch friction surface, and it spells clutch disaster. Anyone know of a reasonable Lambo 350 GT available?
The Ferrari we are talking about should be 410 Superamerica coupé Pininfarina 1957 chassis number 0717SA. Here you should find more information https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/ferrari/410-superamerica/1955/319714 Stunning!
At least the car is real. Is the story hyperbole ... gosh it's so embedded in the mythos of Lamborghini now who can know for certain? Who would dare now to refute it? An awful lot of historical tales have emanated from Italy going all the way back to Romulus and Remus. The Italians are great storytellers ...
At the risk of a bit too much Lamborghini & Ferrari content in a Maserati here's the concluding episode where the proof of the part substitution, however bad an idea it was, is confirmed as possible. BTW the Espada to the left of that white Ferrari is identical to mine. I can only wish mine was in his shop getting worked on.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login I offered my left nut for the Ghia, and a decent pile of cash,…sadly my offer was rejected.
Oh Walter they're all so related to each other right? Ing. Giulio Alfieri gets fired by Detomaso and lands in Lamborghini.
And I have plenty of people who seem to enjoy this related excursion. You might even learn something too! Then there are these two guys ...
Fantasy Junction has this Allemano 5000GT for sale. https://fantasyjunction.com/inventory/1961-maserati-5000gt-indianapolis-coupe/overview I recall seeing this car many years ago in Charlottesville, VA with its unique Indianapolis script. Ivan Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The car, chassis #014, was offered by GOODING & CO at Pebble in Aug. 2022 but it remained unsold. Now the next try to sell it via BaT. The owner/seller is on the way to "burn" that car......
It means that when a car has been unsuccessfully offered by various dealers, it gets very difficult to sell.
BaT does bring in a new set of buyers and sometimes achieves results that exceed the traditional auction houses. I have no idea if this car will ever be on BaT but I would not be surprised if it is. Ivan
