Guide: Zagato Bull - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the Lamborghini 3500 GTZ
BACKGROUND
One of the first individuals to recognise the commercial potential of Ferruccio Lamborghini’s automotive project was Gerino Gerini, an Italian nobleman whose aristocratic family originally hailed from Florence.
Between 1953 and 1960, Gerini had raced a variety of Ferraris and Maseratis, some of which he owned while others were leased. Arguably Gerini’s most notable performances came during the 1954 season when he won the Giro dell’Umbria and Trofeo Sardo driving a Ferrari 250 Mille Miglia and 250 Monza respectively.
Having proven himself adept in circuit, road course and hillclimb events driving both sports and single seater machinery, Gerini ultimately managed to pick up the odd works drive from Maserati towards the end of his competition career.
In 1964, Gerini was granted the Lamborghini agency for Milan which he christened Lamborcar.
However, although Gerini had been enormously impressed with the standard of Automobili Lamborghini’s engineering work, he felt the 350 GT would be better served with more conventional bodywork than its avant garde Touring of Milan styling. The Lamborcar boss also thought the car’s 2550mm wheelbase was longer than necessary for a two-seat model.
With this in mind, Gerini convinced Ferruccio Lamborghini to dispatch a pair of short wheelbase 350 GT rolling chassis to Zagato of Milan where they would be kitted out with new bodies and interiors. The completed cars, dubbed 3500 GTZ, were then to be displayed at major international motor shows in the hope of stimulating sufficient customer demand for a run of 25 units.
Zagato was of course no stranger to this type of commission; Alfa Romeo and Lancia were repeat customers for special bodied models, many of which were created with competition use in mind. Five years prior, Zagato had been recruited by Aston Martin to design and produce a limited run of special-bodied DB4 GTs.
The first 3500 GTZ made its salon debut at the London Motor Show in October 1965.
CHASSIS
The 3500 GTZ’s tubular steel Marchesi-made chassis was identical to that of the 350 GT albeit with a 100mm reduction to the wheelbase (2450mm as opposed to 2550mm).
The fully independent suspension layout comprised double wishbones with coil sprung telescopic shocks plus an anti-roll bar at either end.
Girling disc brakes had a 280mm diameter up front and 274mm diameter at the rear.
15 x 6.5-inch Borrani wire wheels were carried over along with Pirelli Cinturato tyres.
ENGINE / TRANSMISSION
Dropped into the 3500 GTZ was a standard Tipo L350 power unit imported from the regular 350 GT.
These Giotto Bizzarrini-designed all-alloy 60° V12 motors were generally regarded as the best high performance road car engines of their day; in addition to outstanding output figures they were incredibly smooth, had long service intervals and proved extremely reliable.
In addition to a 24 valve DOHC head, the Lamborghini V12 employed wet-sump lubrication. It displaced 3464cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 77mm and 62mm respectively. With a compression ratio of 9.5:1 and bank of six Weber 40 DCOE 2 sidedraught carburettors, peak output was 280bhp at 6500rpm and 228lb-ft at 4000rpm.
Transmission was through a five-speed ZF gearbox with single dry-plate hydraulic clutch and Salisbury rear axle with limited-slip differential.
BODYWORK
The 3500 GTZ’s rakish new body was styled by Ercole Spada who created a body that incorporated a mix of the latest design cues.
An air-piercing nose was home to fixed headlights mounted under glass covers with handsome chrome bezels. Instead of having been painted body colour, the cowled inlays were given a highly polished chrome-effect. Lower down, a pair of quarter bumpers were located either side of a wide central intake. Worked into the hood were a pair of discrete power bulges to ensure adequate clearance for the engine.
Down each flank, low profile doors were sunk below the bulbous fenders which exacerbated the cockpit’s glassy feel. Rain was cleared by a single panoramic wiper.
Stepped sills were an unusual feature added to lend the GTZ an ultra slender side profile.
Spada adopted a Fastback cabin complete with a wraparound glass screen reminiscent of his work on the Alfa Romeo TZ2. Integrated onto each sail panel was a flush fuel filler cap.
More TZ2 influence could be found at the back where the 3500 GTZ adopted a sharply creased Kamm tail complete with a raised central tunnel complete with a bank of six elegantly crafted ventilation louvres per side. Simple circular tail light clusters were fitted along with a Lamborghini 3500 GTZ script and full width bumper. A Zagato emblem was also added to each front fender.
Body panels were fashioned entirely from aluminium.
INTERIOR
Although the 3500 GTZ adopted practically the same layout for its instrumentation and switchgear as the standard 350 GT, every other aspect of the interior was redesigned.
Directly behind the wood-rimmed steering wheel with its three highly polished and vented spokes was a primary binnacle that housed large read outs for road and engine speed between which was a small oil pressure gauge.
Located above the central control panel were more small read outs for water temperature, oil temperature, battery voltage and fuel.
These two binnacles were set within dark walnut veneers to match the 3500 GTZ-branded inlay mounted in front of the passenger seat and the small insert off to the left of the steering wheel.
In addition to the dash, the door trim panels, seats and rear luggage compartment were completely restyled.
Unlike the regular 350 GT, opening quarterlights were added to the side windows and manual window winders were installed as opposed to electric.
The well-padded seats came with pleated inlays while the rear section of the transmission tunnel and the rear parcel shelf were trimmed in diamond pattern.
WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE
As a consequence of its short wheelbase chassis and slightly reduced dimensions, the 3500 GTZ likely tipped the scales at a little less than the standard 350 GT which weighed 1290kg.
Top speed would have been broadly similar with a top speed in the region of 158mph and 0-62mph time of 6.6 seconds.
PRODUCTION
The first 3500 GTZ was built on chassis 0310 and it was this white car that appeared on the stand of Zagato’s British concessionaire at the London Motor Show in October 1965.
Chassis 0310 then returned to Zagato for final finishing, after which it was delivered to Gerino Gerini in Milan during early 1966.
A second example (finished in grey metallic) was also completed on chassis 0322. This car featured a subtly reworked front grille, new engine cooling vents behind each front wheelarch and twin wipers.
Chassis 0322 was displayed on the Zagato stand at the Turin Motor Show during November 1965 and then delivered to Automobili Lamborghini for assessment. Sadly it was crashed and subsequently destroyed during the summer of 1966.
Unfortunately, with no orders placed for additional copies, no further copies of the 3500 GTZ were manufactured.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Lamborghini - https://www.lamborghini.com
