1976 lambo roadtrip
Discussion
Wow! Awesome find! 
I did 3,000 miles round Europe this year in my '77 Lamborghini. As the car was 30 years old, it was a bit of a celebration and the longest journey in the car's life. We hit most of Europe's best driving roads and visited the factory in Sant'Agata. The factory made a fuss of the old Espada too which was very special - as was Cristina Guizzardi's remark that "this is still the original floor.... your car was made on this floor".
The car was so good at thirty years old, I wondered "what it would have been like to have done this in period" ....now I know.
Thanks for the link!
I did 3,000 miles round Europe this year in my '77 Lamborghini. As the car was 30 years old, it was a bit of a celebration and the longest journey in the car's life. We hit most of Europe's best driving roads and visited the factory in Sant'Agata. The factory made a fuss of the old Espada too which was very special - as was Cristina Guizzardi's remark that "this is still the original floor.... your car was made on this floor".
The car was so good at thirty years old, I wondered "what it would have been like to have done this in period" ....now I know.
Thanks for the link!bosscerbera said:
Wow! Awesome find!
I did 3,000 miles round Europe this year in my '77 Lamborghini. As the car was 30 years old, it was a bit of a celebration and the longest journey in the car's life. We hit most of Europe's best driving roads and visited the factory in Sant'Agata. The factory made a fuss of the old Espada too which was very special - as was Cristina Guizzardi's remark that "this is still the original floor.... your car was made on this floor".
The car was so good at thirty years old, I wondered "what it would have been like to have done this in period" ....now I know.
Thanks for the link!
I did 3,000 miles round Europe this year in my '77 Lamborghini. As the car was 30 years old, it was a bit of a celebration and the longest journey in the car's life. We hit most of Europe's best driving roads and visited the factory in Sant'Agata. The factory made a fuss of the old Espada too which was very special - as was Cristina Guizzardi's remark that "this is still the original floor.... your car was made on this floor".
The car was so good at thirty years old, I wondered "what it would have been like to have done this in period" ....now I know.
Thanks for the link!
pretty sure I've got a book with that article in somewhere here!
Should anybody not know about them:
www.brooklandsbooks.com
stock books filled with worldwide-based articles about Lamborghinis from the 60s through to now-ish.
They used to be cheaply produced things looking like they were made with an 'almost broken photocopier' but may well be better (re-)produced these days - especially the hardback book made in 2004. I got sent a copy of the 1990-2004 book but actually bought three of the earlier ones with my own pennies, imagine that...
The various times that the questions like, "will the world ever see cars like the Miura again?" (not really!) and "is the Countach the end of the line for the supercar?" (no!) get asked make for amusing reading to say the least!
...and that Mel Nicholls/Autocar article is about the worst review of the Lamborghini Silhouette you will ever read - ie, not that bad a review really! - they are gorgeous, lovely cars to drive!
Should anybody not know about them:
www.brooklandsbooks.com
stock books filled with worldwide-based articles about Lamborghinis from the 60s through to now-ish.
They used to be cheaply produced things looking like they were made with an 'almost broken photocopier' but may well be better (re-)produced these days - especially the hardback book made in 2004. I got sent a copy of the 1990-2004 book but actually bought three of the earlier ones with my own pennies, imagine that...
The various times that the questions like, "will the world ever see cars like the Miura again?" (not really!) and "is the Countach the end of the line for the supercar?" (no!) get asked make for amusing reading to say the least!
...and that Mel Nicholls/Autocar article is about the worst review of the Lamborghini Silhouette you will ever read - ie, not that bad a review really! - they are gorgeous, lovely cars to drive!
bosscerbera said:
Wow! Awesome find!
I did 3,000 miles round Europe this year in my '77 Lamborghini. As the car was 30 years old, it was a bit of a celebration and the longest journey in the car's life. We hit most of Europe's best driving roads and visited the factory in Sant'Agata. The factory made a fuss of the old Espada too which was very special - as was Cristina Guizzardi's remark that "this is still the original floor.... your car was made on this floor".
The car was so good at thirty years old, I wondered "what it would have been like to have done this in period" ....now I know.
Thanks for the link!
and we got to see what it would have been like watching someone do it!I did 3,000 miles round Europe this year in my '77 Lamborghini. As the car was 30 years old, it was a bit of a celebration and the longest journey in the car's life. We hit most of Europe's best driving roads and visited the factory in Sant'Agata. The factory made a fuss of the old Espada too which was very special - as was Cristina Guizzardi's remark that "this is still the original floor.... your car was made on this floor".
The car was so good at thirty years old, I wondered "what it would have been like to have done this in period" ....now I know.
Thanks for the link!plenty of matt munro moments!
Harsh said:
bosscerbera said:
Wow! Awesome find!
I did 3,000 miles round Europe this year in my '77 Lamborghini. As the car was 30 years old, it was a bit of a celebration and the longest journey in the car's life. We hit most of Europe's best driving roads and visited the factory in Sant'Agata. The factory made a fuss of the old Espada too which was very special - as was Cristina Guizzardi's remark that "this is still the original floor.... your car was made on this floor".
The car was so good at thirty years old, I wondered "what it would have been like to have done this in period" ....now I know.
Thanks for the link!
and we got to see what it would have been like watching someone do it!I did 3,000 miles round Europe this year in my '77 Lamborghini. As the car was 30 years old, it was a bit of a celebration and the longest journey in the car's life. We hit most of Europe's best driving roads and visited the factory in Sant'Agata. The factory made a fuss of the old Espada too which was very special - as was Cristina Guizzardi's remark that "this is still the original floor.... your car was made on this floor".
The car was so good at thirty years old, I wondered "what it would have been like to have done this in period" ....now I know.
Thanks for the link!plenty of matt munro moments!
!Fantastic. I love stories like this. Some really good lines in there as well. This one in particular:
"cars few can afford and even fewer really deserve"
I love the thought that some of the cars are still around somewhere. Particularly the blue and gold Countach, waiting in the back of a barn in Haiti waiting to be discovered.
"cars few can afford and even fewer really deserve"
I love the thought that some of the cars are still around somewhere. Particularly the blue and gold Countach, waiting in the back of a barn in Haiti waiting to be discovered.
Great to see that the article stays true to the formula for writing up trips to the Italian manufacturers - i.e must include reference to food (normally the Cavallino restaurant for Ferrari), and must make mention of the nonchalance of the factory PR people (car not ready yet, we didn't know you were coming etc.)...
Great read.
Great read.
Great story, and I remember reading it when it came out, there was an extended story around it as well. IIRC the Silhouette was for a postman who'd sacrificed everything else in his life to have that gold Silhouette! 'Car' was a fabulous magazine then, and IMHO better than Evo now.
Also; as a spotty-spode 16 year old I went to Earls Court that year, and as you walked through the main entrance there was the Lamborghini stand, and on the stand were a gold Countach and a gold Silhouette! Don't know if they were the exact same cars, but it was good enough for me, I came. I truthfully didn't get past them for half an hour. Being the 70's there were pleny of scantily-clad 'birds' draped on the cars, and there was a red Escort RS2000 with the 'droop-snoot'.....but, nothing compared to those two Lambo's.......even now.
Nurse, I need a rub-down with the liniment.....
Also; as a spotty-spode 16 year old I went to Earls Court that year, and as you walked through the main entrance there was the Lamborghini stand, and on the stand were a gold Countach and a gold Silhouette! Don't know if they were the exact same cars, but it was good enough for me, I came. I truthfully didn't get past them for half an hour. Being the 70's there were pleny of scantily-clad 'birds' draped on the cars, and there was a red Escort RS2000 with the 'droop-snoot'.....but, nothing compared to those two Lambo's.......even now.
Nurse, I need a rub-down with the liniment.....
TBH it isn't just the cars that we should be wistful about. Travelling in the 70s, in just about any mode or country has changed.
In this story, look at the attitude of the police. I guess the majority of the roads they were on would be quite deserted, not so now. Finally I guess most people would appreciate such a car, whereas now you’d just get called names, etc.
In this story, look at the attitude of the police. I guess the majority of the roads they were on would be quite deserted, not so now. Finally I guess most people would appreciate such a car, whereas now you’d just get called names, etc.
sclayto2 said:
TBH it isn't just the cars that we should be wistful about. Travelling in the 70s, in just about any mode or country has changed.
In this story, look at the attitude of the police. I guess the majority of the roads they were on would be quite deserted, not so now. Finally I guess most people would appreciate such a car, whereas now you’d just get called names, etc.
I agree to a point about being wistful of the 70s driving environment but the roads we toured were pretty empty. In this story, look at the attitude of the police. I guess the majority of the roads they were on would be quite deserted, not so now. Finally I guess most people would appreciate such a car, whereas now you’d just get called names, etc.
When I did see locals they were pretty excited about the car. Roaring through the Apennines was one of many highlights - classic old Italian folk sat outside their homes waved.
One guy stood and stared at the Espada for ages outside a coffee shop before nodding his approval. While getting some petrol, a boy got his mother to turn around and pull in so he could take photos.
great post, thanks. Such a wistful writeup, dated now but so evocative of an era when all seemed so innocent, and read now with a sort of poignant nostalgia....do we still revere cars as we did then? and do we still see them as a passport to some other world of experience, a mythical world of the exclusive set, who seem to live a super enhanced reality? Problably not,which is sad in a way and i finished the story with some sense of indistinct longing......or maybe its just the LemonSip Max pills kicking in as i am home in bed with the dreaded sniffs and coughs!
Gassing Station | Supercar General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff