Lamborghini 400 GT

As motoring first efforts go, the 400 GT is up there with the very best

- Alastair Crooks

LAMBORGHINI'S origins are well documented - an Italian entrepreneur got upset with an Italian car maker, and decided to build an entire car company out of spite. This firm went on to make some of the most coveted objects of the 20th century. There was even a 2022 film depicting Ferruccio Lamborghini's initial struggles and success as a car maker - funnily enough coming out a year before the film Ferrari.

We all know Lamborghini's back catalogue of halo cars over the decades, the most recent being last year's Revuelto. However, it was the 350 GT that presented Lamborghini to the world, followed by the car we're driving here, the 400 GT. Both provided a stunningly gorgeous foundation on which to build a car brand.

After the handsome 350 GTV prototype was revealed at the 1963 Turin Motor Show, Lamborghini sought the help of Milan design house Carrozzeria Touring to restyle it so that an engine could actually fit beneath the svelte bodywork (instead of the 350GTV show car's pile of bricks). They came up with the 1964 350 GT.

What an engine it was too, a Bizzarrini-developed 3.9-litre V12 with 280bhp. Our car is the later 400 GT 2+2 four-seater, which gained the engine upgrades the 400 GT received in 1966 with power upped to 320bhp.

This 400 GT 2+2 in particular belongs to the Lamborghini museum at the firm's factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese. It's a pristine example inside and out, showcasing exactly how the car would have felt, driven and even smelled back in the sixties.