Lamborghini embarked on a special London tour in a Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 from Abbey Road Studios to Savile Row, and many famous streets in between. It was a journey that helped define the world’s most successful and influential band, The Beatles, to whom Lamborghini plays tribute on the day of the 60^th anniversary of their debut single “Love Me Do”, released on October 5, 1962. The Beatles recorded virtually their entire output at Abbey Road, including “Love Me Do”, and when they performed live for the very last time on the roof of their Savile Row Apple Corps headquarters on January 30, 1969, a Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2, Rosso Alfa (red) with Nero (black) interior, was parked on the street below. The car is visible in director Peter Jackson’s recent award-winning Beatles documentary, Get Back.

All four members of the band were car enthusiasts, but Sir Paul McCartney was particularly seduced by the allure of the Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2. Numerous sources suggest that around the time The Beatles were recording their “White Album” in 1968, including the immortal “Let It Be”, with which they ended their career, McCartney owned one, despite the lack of official documentation to prove it.

The Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 was launched in 1966, a mere three years after the founding of Automobili Lamborghini. Despite the company’s early days, the 400 GT 2+2 was already credited as one of the best grand tourers available on the market. It was the perfect expression of Ferruccio Lamborghini’s original concept of creating the fastest, most comfortable, and most beautiful GT, and its 2+2 configuration also made it reasonably practical. It was designed by Carrozzeria Touring, then one of the leading firms in terms of style and high-quality craftsmanship, and equipped with a 4-liter DOHC V-12 engine, the architecture of which is still today a trademark of Automobili Lamborghini.

In this latest Lamborghini video, Dylan Jones OBE, English journalist, author, and broadcaster who has interviewed Sir Paul McCartney on many occasions, retraces this fascinating journey, taking us back to the Sixties to explore London’s influence on the songwriter and the era he and the other band members shaped so profoundly.

“London was where McCartney drew his inspiration from, London the city that informed his writing, his creative processes and his boundless curiosity,” Jones says. “If he had previously seen himself as rather a traditionalist, the fast-moving changes occurring in London’s underground culture encouraged him to explore his creativity, still working with John Lennon to create a series of musical masterpieces that remain unsurpassed.”

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The Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 qualified both of these criteria, easy to drive, high performance and still offer luxury and comfort combined with a frightening high top speed, the 400 GT 2+2 evolution of the 350 GT was first shown to the public during the March 1966 Geneva Auto Show, the show car was chassis number #0403 … the 400 GT 2+2 prototype in fact.

At first glance the Lamborghini 350 GT and the 400 GT 2+2 might look very much alike, but upon closer inspection you will notice quite a lot of differences, actually almost no body panel can be interchanged between these two models, mostly because the 400 GT 2+2 had an all-steel body while the 350 GT came with an aluminum body. While all of the 350 GT were built by Carrozzeria Touring, during the production of the 400 GT 2+2 they went out of business and production was taken over by Marazzi in 1967, most likely from chassis number #1030 on.

To make room for the two additional seats in the rear the Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 was 65 mm taller than the 350 GT and had a different rear window and modified luggage compartment cover, while some consider the 2+2 less exciting looking as the 350 GT, the 400 GT 2+2 was produced in greater numbers (224 2+2 against 100 350 GT), still a rare sight. The initial difference you’ll notice are the quad sealed-beam headlights replacing the special looking oval units, and which were needed to comply with the U.S. Safety Laws.

From the 400 GT 2+2 on, Lamborghini built its own transmission and differential designed by Dallara, this way Ferruccio could assure himself of almost all the pieces he needed to build ‘his’ cars, some of the 400 GT Interim cars still used the Salisbury unit while others already received the official Lamborghini unit.

There has been a lot of talk about the dual and single windshield wipers, some state only the 350 GT came with the single wiper while the 400 GT 2+2 always had dual wipers, but many 2+2 have been seen with only one wiper too … rumor has it the customer could select either one or two wipers, it wasn’t an option nor was it related to the model itself.

On the inside the 400 GT 2+2 naturally offered two more seats in the rear (do note that a very rare 2+1 configuration on the 350 GT was available), but also the dashboard was slightly modified … on the 350 GT the dials were often set on brushed aluminum bezels while on the 400 GT 2+2 a wood imitation plate was used, some sources even state the number of switches on the central console was different.

If you look at the Lamborghini 350 GT and 400 GT 2+2 side by side you will notice the 2-seater rides lower at the rear, to cope with the additional weight of two more passengers the rear suspension on the 400 GT 2+2 has been raised.

The Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 was the first model from Sant’Agata to be available in RHD, all of the 350 GT were LHD, but from mid 1968 on a total of 5 factory built RHD left the gates, #01354 was sold to New Zealand, #01243 and #01297 were shipped to Australia while #01342 and #01345 came to the UK … six more 400 GT 2+2 have been converted to RHD outside of the factory.

The Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 became a success, totaling at 224 units it outsold the 350 by more than 100 units, however the two extra seats cost about $ 500 each, a rather stiff fare in 1966. If you look for an early Lamborghini, try the 400 GT 2+2, it will be easier to find, and, thanks to the steel body, cheaper and easier to restore, some body parts are actually still available, but don’t expect it to be cheap … prices on the 400 GT 2+2 have been rising over the last years.

If you really want a Touring built 400 GT 2+2 instead of the later Marazzi ones there are a few items to keep in mind, as already mentioned it is believed from chassis #1030 on Marazzi built these cars, but also check the Touring Wing crest on the body … none of the Marazzi should have those while the Superleggera script on the engine cover was omitted on the last cars too. The Touring wings and Superleggera script on the luggage compartment cover is more difficult to distinguish as the early Marazzi units came with this, only the last cars didn’t receive these logos … naturally during a restoration the owner might have added these items anyway, so nothing is certain at first glance.

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1967 Lamborghini 400 GT 2 + 2 – Jay Leno’s Garage. In its day, the 400 GT was Ferruccio’s dream of the perfect car come to life. Jack Riddell stops by the garage to offer living proof that you can rack up 250,000 miles and still drive your Lambo every day!

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This is exactly what you are looking at on this page, a Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 that left the factory doors in Sant’Agata back in 1967 with chassis number 0892, the 4 liter V12 successor to the very first production car ever made by Lamborghini, the 350GT however back in late 70’s the owner of this blue over tan leather Lamborghini was probably caught in an accident that wrecked the entire front of the car, most likely she sustained some damage to the rear too.

The car was repaired, but not with original Lamborghini 400 GT parts the entire front design of this car was modified to look more like the Lamborghini Islero the model that succeeded the 400 GT 2+2. In fact the entire front section was replaced with a more forward plunging design holding a large rectangular grille in the lower section.

Turn signals were mounted vertically alongside this grille and a pair of pop-up headlights received their place on top of this front bumper, a pair of oval air intakes look like all that remains of the original bodywork at the front where the dual headlights used to be on this ’67 400 GT 2+2.

A photo from the rear shows different taillights on this car too, and on one image it is obvious original, thin chrome bumper has been replaced with a larger, black painted unit back in the 70’s the beautiful tan leather interior was left untouched at first glance, do note that this specific 400 GT 2+2 came with the optional air conditioning system from the factory.

This car may look weird at first glance, almost a sacrilege to have touched the venerable lines of the original 400 GT 2+2, but if you take a second look at her you can appreciate the workmanship that went into creating this now one of a kind GT also keep in mind back in the late 70’s these early Lamborghini probably weren’t as valuable as they have become today.

This specific example was once owned by Manny Carrillo, in mid-2015 she was offered for sale by Gullwing Motor Cars listed at $450,000, with the same south California owner since 1983 this unique Lamborghini remained in storage since 1991 almost 25 years she went unseen until now.

With only 36,000 original km on the counter and no rust whatsoever the interior hasn’t been touched for all that time either, still in original, almost pristine condition complete with a partial set of original books and tools it might be a nice addition to a collection of rare cars, especially Lamborghini.

In early 2016 this car was bought by David from the UK, he had Gary Bobileff remove the custom front and rear sections and create a completely new nose and rear from scratch using steel panels a time consuming process that returned this Lamborghini back to factory specs.

Once the body was rebuilt as original the car was shipped to the United Kingdom where the finishing touches and cosmetics would be completed, creating another perfect sample of such a classic V12 Lamborghini from the Sixties.

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