Chassis No.: 9804

€64 000 | Sold

Matching numbers Beautiful restoration Interesting history French registration Chassis n° : 9804 - Engine n° : 41492 Sold without technical control The legend is well known : after a clutch failure with his Ferrari 250 GT, Ferrucio Lamborghini, head of a solid tractor building company, visits the Commendatore to complain. But, resenting the criticism, Enzo replies to Ferrucio that he is better at building tractors than driving Ferraris. That same evening, he decided to build a GT to beat Ferrari on its own ground. The 350 GT, presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 1964, and the 400 GTs that followed soon proved to be serious competitors to the Ferraris.

And what about the sublime Miura P400 unveiled at the 1965 Turin Motor Show? After this one, Ferrucio decided to produce a new 4-seater GT and had a prototype named Marzal designed by Gandini (then attached to Bertone), which offered four real seats without losing either habitability or sportiness. The car was slightly redesigned (the engine was moved from the rear to the front, and from six to twelve cylinders), and the production car was marketed in mid-1968, after being named Espada. With its Miura V12, it was one of the fastest 4-seaters in the world, with a top speed of 250 km/h.

The Series 1 was produced in 176 units until November 1969, and then the Series 2 was produced, with 578 units sold until 1972. At the end of that year, Lamborghini presents the Series 3, which is supposed to meet the drastic American safety standards. It was fitted with new bumpers, but also had air conditioning as standard. Likewise, despite strict anti-pollution standards, new carburetors still allow the V12 to develop the 350 hp announced by its predecessor. The 3 Series will end the great adventure of this incredible GT 2+2 in 1979, after 472 units built.

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The Espada #9804, equipped with engine #41492 and Bertone body #750*1175 (750 being the Bertone reference for the Espada and 1175 the sequence number out of a total of 1,225 bodies built), was delivered in October 1976 to the Établissements Thepenier, of SaintCloud, French Lamborghini and Maserati importer of the time. But the invoice of the carrier that we found (a copy is attached to the file) indicates as destination the Paris Show, and it is therefore quite likely that the car we present is the one of the 1976 Paris Show! It was then sold to Mr Bonino, resident in Brive, Corrèze, as attested by the libreto di assitenza e garanzia which also accompanies the car.

He kept it until 1986, when he sold it to a doctor from Deux-Sèvres, who only sold it thirty years later. Originally delivered in grey (argento), it was repainted in blue and is now in a beautiful state of preservation, with a delightful patina and particularly clean mechanical parts that seem to attest to the 66,450 km on the clock. Some invoices justify regular visits to the Aumonier garage, a recognized specialist of the brand in the Deux-Sèvres. The V12 borrowed from the Miura that powers it is now just waiting to express itself and will delight its future owner... and his three passengers.

https://www.aguttes.com/lot/113642/dcfb875a-b254-40b6-9934-67b17e9b699b