The 1964 Lamborghini 350 GT, with toned-down coachwork by Touring, looked nothing like any Ferrari or Maserati and made clear that Lamborghini would play by its own rules.
We’ve assembled our “12 Classics Cars of Christmas” with cars that inspire lust but won’t end up gathering dust in the garage. A few, admittedly, may also bring back Santa’s own memories searching in every store only to find all have been sold. We even included a few stocking stuffers for family enjoyment.
Recently I posted a photograph on a social media site of my ‘classic’ car collection circa 2007. It struck me for a two reasons. First, was that I remembered the day vividly. The second was that I was struck by how different each was from the other: a 1950 ‘Crosley-Gardner Special, a 1952 Lancia Ardea, a 1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Touring Spider and a 1969 Lamborghini Islero.
The Islero delivered all the right ingredients for a high-end GT. Its 4.0-liter, 325-horsepower V12 was a four-cam, six-carburetor aluminum sculpture backed by a 5-speed manual transmission for a 150-plus mph top speed. The Islero name, which sounds almost musical, was borrowed from a bull that had killed a matador.
