Lamborghini Polo Storico led a tour from the Italian lakes to the factory in SantʼAgata Bolognese, to celebrate the marqueʼs 60th anniversary. Around 20 privately owned cars from Lamborghiniʼs back catalogue took part in the Giro Polo Storico from 14-17 September, including some of the finest and most storied examples of the manufacturerʼs output from its first 35 years.
Beginning in the north of Italy for a jaunt through the vineyards of the Franciacorta region, the tour wove around Lake Idro and Riva Del Garda before heading south through the countryside via Verona and on towards Modena and the old SantʼAgata works.
At the heart of the diamond-anniversary convoy was the earliest-surviving Lamborghini 350GT. The production prototype, chassis 0102 was displayed without a body alongside chassis 0101 at the Geneva Salon in 1964. That very first car was destroyed in a crash during testing in ʼ64. This car was also damaged in the 1970s after another accident, but it was saved, restored in 1997 and has been cherished since. Now back in its original specification, it features the rare early full-width bumper and novel ʻ2+1ʼ centrally mounted rear seat.
It was joined by other pristine examples of Lamborghinis past, including Espada, Urraco and Jalpa, plus two famous ʻsafety carsʼ. The white Countach LP400S used at the 1981 and ʼ82 Monaco Grands Prix was fitted with a huge blue-and-red light bar for the task, while the Diablo used as a pace car in the ʼ96 PPG Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) IndyCar World Series was modified more extensively, with a factory-fitted rollcage, twin tow-hooks in the front bumper and an air intake atop the engine, which was pushed to 595bhp ʻJotaʼ spec.
There was also a fine selection of Miuras, including the 1971 SVJ Spider presented in period at the Geneva Salon, now returned to its original Bianco Perlato paintwork, and a 1967 P400 meticulously built into a replica of the lightweight ʻJotaʼ special built by Bob Wallace but lost in a crash in 1971.
Apart from the fully liveried 2008 Gallardo LP560-4 built for the Italian police, the newest car in the convoy was the very last Diablo built, number 42 of the 42-off 6-litre ʻSpecial Editionʼ versions from 2001. This example marks the last of the era of models that Lamborghiniʼs in-house Polo Storico focuses on documenting, certifying and restoring.
