GTV for sale -- more info?

Good, I'm not losing my mind ;^D

I would just love to know what Ferruccio was thinking at the time. But he was such a mechanical ... genius? ... that I'm sure he was very excited to have Dallara sort of "improve" on the initial Bizzarrini concept. (Bizzarrini understood racing -- with the GTO and Breadvan -- but how much did he understand Grand Touring?)

I know what it's like to create from a blank piece of paper. It's scary, unless you really know what you're doing.

Dallara knew what he was doing to move over to the solid square-tubing of the 350/400 models for a true GT car.

The lp400 is a classic example of what you can do with round tubing, and the 350/400 a classic example of what you can do with square tubing. My 400 is solid as a rock up to 140mph, that I can tell you from experience. ('cuz I didn't want to go any faster!) It gets better with speed. It comes alive over 100mph.

Well, I'm going to let this go. The GTV was not a dialed-in production car, it was something to "hoist up the flagpole" to see if anybody would salute it.

They didn't (including its creator, Ferruccio)

But ... that still doesn't distract from its importance, if you are a true enthusiast.

I honestly think the 350/400 was a compromise. A "detuning" of what would eventually become ... the Miura.

Very cool stuff, no matter how you slice it.

Cheers,

Fred

 

1970?? Sheesh...

;^D

Fred

 

Thanks Glen.

I didn't mean to say that round tubing was inferior to square -- just that Dallara is clearly a chassis genius, Bizzarrini ... probably not (but I don't know). Having not driven the GTV (that's kind of a joke, obviously) I can't compare it to the 400. But I've never driven a 50s/60s car that was as solid feeling as the 400, when it comes to chassis/suspension -- it feels amost like a Lexus, it's that good. It's a modern car.

Just wonder how the GTV would compare. I can't imagine it would be as good, given its speed of development and lack of testing.

The 350 was tested to death by Wallace et al. It was a dialed-in car.

Cheers,

Fred

 

Joe, that's sort of what SCM said last month, and I agree -- so maybe the car finally has some traction valuewise

Well, I can tell you from experience that one reason is that some folks find it downright ugly. I had a guy come up to me once, when I pulled up to park at Safeway in Monterey, and he said "is this a Lamborghini 400GT?" I said "Why yes, it is!" And he actually said "you know, I've always hated these cars, I think they're ugly" and walked away.

:-O

What are you going to do? Typically, if there's a group of car nuts around it, which just happened at Sears Point a few weeks ago, 1/2 love it, 1/2 hate it. (typically the Ferrari fanatics just despise it)

Then, typically, when a "Ferrari" guy actually DRIVES the 400, they are kind of silent because pretty quickly they realize that it's a great machine.

I frankly don't get it because when I see a "vintage" Ferrari, I really don't care about the whole rivalry thing, I just love it. They're both great machines, great companies.

Cheers,

Fred

 

btw, that was one case, but I've had a lot of "quizzical looks" at the 400 over the years. Obviously, the headlight treatment was a gamble, one that never really paid off. I happen to like it because I *think* I understand what Ferruccio was trying to do, which was to be distinctively different than Ferrari.

But when you're trying to be distintively different than a beautiful car, you run risks. Ferruccio understood taking risks, and that I admire a great deal.

Still, there are so many lines right out of the "great italian cars" that it's just such a thrill to own. The front fenders alone give me the chills when I drive. It's like driving one of the great racing Ferraris....in comfort.

Again, Ferruccio knew all these cars. He made a "car enthusiast's car" by putting all his favorite elements together into a single package.

That's why these cars are so good.

Cheers,

Fred

 

Yes, Alberto -- it's like taking a while to understand the Bartok string quartets. It's progress not easily understood...at first.

Fred

 

Hi Glen,

I'm not doing any serious research here, I'm just stuck in a hotel room in Florida for another day and reorganizing my computer (I kind of expect to see Kaminski wondering around outside...)

Just ran across this GTV brochure (I'm sure from an ebay auction since it's so tiny) -- tho it's somewhat similar, it really doesn't look that much like the 350/400 chassis to me, fuzzy as it is.

Is this yet another case of Lamborghini not using a photo of the actual car...? as for example their use of 350 photos throughout the 400GT 2+2 brochure...?

Anyway, interesting stuff. (I think the answers/photos are in the Lyons book, which I should just carry around in my pocket ;^D

Cheers,

Fred
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lol! (really)

Fred

 

Hey Tim,

By accident I ran across the following 1991 article about that duzzy today (I'm cleaning out my laptop):

http://www.400gt.com/misc/11-91/

Called "The World's Finest Motor Car"

So, you may not think much of the car, but you got to admit (especially after reading the article) -- it probably deserved to win Best of Show at Pebble. I mean, whether you liked it or not ;^D

Cheers,

Fred
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