LAMBORGHINI ISLERO
The Lamborghini Islero was presented for the first time in 1968 at the Geneva Motor Show. It replaced the 400GT and bore fresh, deliberately discrete and stylish coachwork imagined by Carrozzeria Marazzi. As Ferruccio Lamborghini liked to say, a car for the tycoon, not for the playboy. One famously starred in the Roger Moore film, “The man who haunted himself”. The new Islero was a gentleman’s GT that perfectly suited il Cavaliere’s tastes.
After 125 Isleros were produced, an upgraded S version was launched in 1969. Outwardly similar, it had a redesigned interior, further developed suspension and a high-compression engine with Miura S calms now producing 350 HP. One hundred Islero S were sold in total, which brings the total production run of the Lamborghini Islero to 225 examples.
Body number “6300” was delivered by Carrozzeria Marazzi to Lamborghini on 19 September 1968. And the car was completed on 27 February 1969. It was finished in Bronzo Chiaro (light bronze) with a Senape (mustard) interior. Factory records show that the first owner of this Islero was Edmondo Lamborghini in person (Ferruccio’s brother).
As it was common practice at the time for VIP clients, a special V12 engine was fitted to chassis number “6300”. That engine was quite possibly a prototype of the new “S” engine, showing on the copy of the build sheet a torque of 45,4 kg mt at 5500 rpm. The Belgian “Identification du véhicule” dated 26/8/1987, states that the date of its first registration was 31/03/1969.
The immediate history following Edmondo’s ownership is unknown, but we know that the vehicle was owned for at least 15 years by a Belgian collector who sold it to a Swiss enthusiast in March 2009. The sale is verified by an export certificate dated 30/03/2009.
The Swiss owner decided to restore the Islero to “haute horlogerie” standards. Principally working with “Garage Burnier”, he embarked on a bare-metal repaint – with other associated mechanical work – choosing to retain the attractive metallic bottle green paint the car had worn for many years.
The restoration took a long time to ensure the highest standards of presentation. For example, even the correct Ansa exhaust stickers were flown in from the UK. Various invoices and other paperwork included in the history file accompanying the car state a mileage at this time of approximately 65,000 Km.
From 2011 to 2013, the restored Islero participated to various European car events such as the 2011 Landeron Classic where it won “Meilleur ensemble” price, the 2013 Schloss Bensberg Classic Concours d’Elegance, the 2012 Milano Autoclassica, where it was presented on the Marazzi stand. Mario Marazzi signed the car and was pictured in front of it. In 2013, chassis 6300 took part in the Lamborghini 50 Grande Giro and won the 2nd place at the Concours d’Elegance.
Later that year, it returned to Garage Burnier for further works totalling some CHF 35000. By the time the Swiss owner decided to sell the Islero in July 2014, he had spent more than CHF 100000 on its restoration.
Kidston SA sourced the car immediately for a world-class Lamborghini collection. In 2017, the car was bought by a fine collector and imported with all local taxes paid to Belgium, where it has been last registered.
Between 2017 and 2021, a long list of maintenance works including engine, gearbox and dashboard dismantling as well as an extensive mechanical revision have been done by “L’Officina”. For an amount exceeding EUR 100000, the chassis 6300 was again completely repainted in its beautiful metallic green color, resulting in the concours state in which it is today.
Little-used (400Km since restoration) but carefully maintained, this vehicle can be considered one of the best documented and most celebrated of all surviving Isleros, still fitted with its original high compression engine.
Known as Ferruccio’s favourite model, here is a very rare opportunity to acquire a genuine “Lamborghini family car”.
For any further information, please contact us or make an appointment. Our offices are located in Zaventem, 5 min away from the Brussels airport.