Description
This is lot number 130 in the Bonhams Zoute sale on October 6th, please see the Bonhams website for full details.
Matching numbers
Extensive documentation providing a clear history
Restored over time at a cost of approximately $250, 000
Awarded third-in-class and 'People's Choice' at the 1993 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
'Best of Show' at Interclassics Brussels 2021
Property from the collection of a private Belgian gentleman
Belgian registration document
It is the stuff of legend that Ferrari-owning industrialist Ferruccio Lamborghini only turned to automobile manufacture as a result of receiving off-hand treatment at Maranello, vowing to build a better car. A successful manufacturer of tractors and related machinery, Lamborghini possessed the resources to realise his dream without having to compromise.
Lamborghini's first production car, the Touring-styled 350GT, debuted at the 1964 Geneva Motor Show. The work of two of Italy's most illustrious automobile designers, the 350GT featured a glorious 3. 5-litre, four-cam V12 designed by Giotto Bizzarrini, housed in a chassis conceived by Gianpaolo Dallara. The 350GT's four camshafts and all-independent suspension meant that it upstaged the best that Ferrari offered at the time; but to compete with his Maranello rival's larger models, Lamborghini needed a four-seater and the 400 GT 2+2 duly appeared in 1966. A development of the 350GT, the newcomer used an engine enlarged to 3, 929cc. This 4. 0-litre unit had first appeared in 1965, finding its way into a handful of late 350GT two-seaters, this interim model being known as the 400 GT. The 400 GT's claimed maximum power was 320bhp - up from the 350GT's 270 - an output sufficient to make the former capable of around 155mph (250km/ h).
Despite its novice status as an automobile manufacturer, Lamborghini soon dispelled any lingering doubts about its ability to compete with the world's best Grand Tourers. Reviewing the 400 GT in its 2+2 form in 1967, Autocar magazine voted it 'better than all the equivalent exotic and home-bred machinery in this glamorous corner of the fast-car market.' The relaxed manner of its long-legged performance was reckoned the finest quality of the Lamborghini, its V12 engine being judged to have the broadest range of smooth torque the testers had experienced. Autocar concluded: "To achieve this level of performance without noise, fuss, temperament or drama is an achievement; in the time taken for development, it is nothing short of sensational."
After the four-seater's arrival the original two-seater model continued to be available with either the 3. 5-litre or 4. 0-litre engine, and many of these so-called 'interim' cars incorporated features of the 400 GT 2+2 such as quad headlights and Lamborghini's own gearbox.
Chassis number '0565' is one of the twenty-three 400 GTs referred to by the Lamborghini community as 'Interim' cars. The car offered here is one of the 20 bodied in mild steel and the 16th of the 23 Lamborghini 400 GTs produced. Chassis '0565' left the Sant'Agata Bolognese factory finished in Amaranto Caracas (amaranth) with a Senape (mustard) leather interior and was delivered on 14th December 1966 to Mr Jake Kaplan of importers Lamborghini East Coast, USA in Rhode Island. The Lamborghini's first owners were Roswell and Elizabeth Sanford of Margaretville, New York, who had struck a deal with Ed Jurist of the Vintage Car Store Inc in Nyack, New York, trading in their 1965 Ferrari 275 GTS towards the barely used Lamborghini, which they preferred. The Ferrari had served as Luigi Chinetti's New York Show Car just two years earlier. At the time, the Ferrari was valued at $6, 000, while the Lamborghini commanded a staggering $11, 500. The relevant 1967 invoice is on file.
The Lamborghini remained with the Sanfords for 18 years, during which time it covered approximately 40, 000 miles. The engine was rebuilt in 1984. In 1985, Mr. Sanford passed away and the car was offered for sale soon afterwards.
In the autumn of 1986, Michael Kerr of Woodsburgh, New York purchased the largely original 400 GT and commissioned a ground-upward restoration. Between 1987 and 1989, approximately $150, 000 was spent on its restoration by Italian car specialists Berlinetta Motorsports Ltd, during which time the exterior colour was changed to Midnight Blue Metallic. The initial restoration was completed in 1991, and work would continue over the years. In 1992, the interior was reupholstered in fawn hides sourced from Connolly Leather in the UK, in tan.
In August 1993, the 400 GT made its concours debut during the Classic Car Week on the Monterey Peninsula, receiving the 'People's Choice' award at Concorso Italiano and a third-in-class award at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance. At the Pebble Beach auction sale in 2013 the Lamborghini sold for $451, 000, passing to the third owner.
The fourth and current owner, a Belgian collector, imported the car and registered it on 19th July 2016. In 2021, chassis '0565' was displayed at the Interclassics exhibition in Brussels, Belgium where it won the coveted 'Best of Show' award, demonstrating that the restoration's high quality had not suffered over the years.
An impressive file of restoration invoices includes records of the 1984 engine rebuild; the aforementioned restoration by Berlinetta Motorsports and East Coast Classic Cars among others; Platinum Motor services (2001); Westhampton Coachwork (2006); and AI Design (2012). The car also comes with various photocopies of old registration documents and a certificate from Lamborghini historian Olivier Nameche outlining and confirming its history.
