In 1970, after just 7,136 km, this unique V12 Granturismo was bricked up in a garage on a busy street
Lamborghini’s first model-the 350 GT-wowed the motoring press and public at its 1964 launch. Not content to rest on their laurels, Lamborghini’s engineers were already at work on the 400 GT, which was in road testers’ hands by the end of the year.
The series-produced 350 GT/400 GT coupé was the work of respected carrozzeria Touring of Milan, retained by Ferruccio, who, some say, was not entirely happy with Franco Scaglione’s design for the first 350 GTV prototype.
Though even the revised design remained somewhat controversial, just a handful of bespoke show cars were built on the 350/400 GT chassis. Touring was responsible for a pair of handsome spyders and the rakish, shooting brake-inspired “Flying Star II” for a French client.
Sporting Milanese firm Zagato penned a pair of coupés with many of their trademark features. Almost certainly the most exotic creation of all, however, came from much closer to home: Neri & Bonacini’s mysterious “Monza.”
Believed to have been finished in May-June 1966 (this date appears on photographs shot by journalist Pete Coltrin of the car nearing completion), the Monza may have been intended as an alternative Lamborghini model but, after attracting the attention of the motoring press, it remained a tantalizing one-off and disappeared from view for almost four decades.
This rakish one-off was shipped to Spain and shown on Lamborghini importer Amato’s stand at the 1967 Barcelona Motor Show, where it caught the eye of a wealthy Spanish gentleman.
In 1970, after just 7,136 km, this unique V12 granturismo was laid up in one of the owner’s garages on a busy shopping street alongside numerous motorcycles and a powerboat before the entrance was blocked off. Here the car sat for the next few decades while thousands of miles away, motoring historians speculated as to its fate. Rumors abounded that the car had been sold to an American collector, and books on the marque invariably listed the Monza as missing, but nobody knew for sure.
As offered today, the Lamborghini 400 GT Monza is “as-found.” The word original could not be more appropriate: paint, leather, carpets, trim-nothing has been touched since 1966, with the exception of a mechanical check-up by former factory foreman Orazio Salvioli to ensure the engine runs, and cleaning of the coachwork and interior by Modenese coachbuilder Pietro Cremonini.