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 penned 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 400GT 2+2 duly appeared in 1966.

A development of the 350GT, the newcomer used an enlarged - to 3,929cc - V12.

Thi...