http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/maga...0.asp?id=12636

Don't you guys think this estimate is pretty low for a one-owner, one-off barnfind?

I imagine, that car will go for far more than that.
If it was a ferrari, you could add a couple of zeros to that.

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Had Enzo been a gentleman...The greatest cars on the planet would have never existed.

Jalpa FLA12194
Countach ELA12667

Here's the first picture of the soon to be auctioned Monza.
Image copyright: Bonhams

I hope this isn't a repost...

After almost ten years' investigation and pursuit, Bonhams has been successful in consigning for auction a unique Italian prototype that has been hidden from public view since soon after its sale to the present owner's family in 1966.

This uniquely exotic front-engined Lamborghini - christened the '400GT Monza' - has been the object of speculation by Italian car collectors and Lamborghini enthusiasts. Many have doubted its survival and its whereabouts has been a much-discussed question.

In fact, this Lamborghini Monza first saw the light of day in May 1966, combining the marque's acclaimed 400GT chassis with gloriously voluptuous, Ferrari-esque coachwork hand-crafted by tiny local autofficina Neri & Bonacini. They are best remembered for their masterly coachwork creations on rival Ferrari chassis but also builders of the original prototype Lamborghini chassis and engine.

The Lamborghini 400 Monza's coachwork is, in fact, reminiscent of a Ferrari 250GTO, right from its low, wide mouth through to its steeply raked windscreen (which was taken from a '64 GTO). But the Monza is distinguished by a Maranello sports-prototype-inspired vestigial 'basket handle' roof design, the body styling then terminating in an almost horizontal fastback which was truncated by a classically cut-short, 'Kamm' or 'transom' tail treatment. Trademark blade-like bumpers complete its signature Neri & Bonacini styling.

According to at least one contemporary source, company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini followed this 400GT Monza project closely, hoping that it might bear greater fruit than an earlier design by Neri & Bonacini for a lightweight 350GT.

Exhibited to the public for the first and only time at the 1966 Barcelona Motor Show, the Monza was instead sold to a wealthy Spanish sportsman After being used mainly to transport its owner to race meetings in which he was driving his Porsche 906 and 908 competition cars, the unique Lamborghini Monza was laid-up in 1970 with just over 7,000km recorded on its odometer.

Retained by the owner's family after his death, this unique Lamborghini Monza is preserved and this almost mystical machine - the Lamborghini 'missing link' - will be be offered at Bonhams' annual London Olympia sale on 5 December 2005.

Story by Bonhams, edited by Supercars.net

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2004 Blue Caelum Lamborghini Gallardo 6-speed
~The ultimate pocket rocket!!~

Sorry but it is a re-re-post.....they just keep pumping out the Page Ranking to up the price.....hope it Tops 4 Million....that will bring everything else up ..

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JRV

www.PinnacleMotorsports.com

Oops. Oh well.
It should be a pretty amazing price though, for a 1/1.

__________________
2004 Blue Caelum Lamborghini Gallardo 6-speed
~The ultimate pocket rocket!!~

It would really be amazing if it was somehow timecapsuled to protect it from the elements (Corrosion). You know what it will look like.

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Always in the market for a basketcase

Actually...
http://www.supercars.net/Pics?viewPi...0%20GT%20Monza

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2004 Blue Caelum Lamborghini Gallardo 6-speed
~The ultimate pocket rocket!!~

TY! Very much appreciated, I was curious last night since I don't know of this "Prototype car" they built. Great pics, and please excuse my ignorance when I automatically expect everyone to understand what I mean such as in the corossion. I don't mean the body as much as the hardware holding everything on......

I know, I'm too anal.

Went to the preview of the Bonhams auction this morning to look at the Monza in the flesh. The publicity photos don't do the car any justice at all. The car is just stunning. The bodywork is a touch dodgy in places with a few rust bubbles and a few small dents here and there. The car appears to be exceptionally sound though, nice and clean underneath and the interior is very smart, especially for a prototype. It appears to be a most interesting composite of various other (later) cars - XJS rear 3/4 butresses, a 246 Dino rear panel, overall lines that ressemble the Bizzarini, Intermeccanica front-end/nose, yet from the front angle the car is unmistakeably still a 350/400GT.

On the one hand it is of course tremendously exciting for such a car to emerge from the shadows in this way, but the flipside is that the car is now terribly vulnerable. Its future is uncertain in a way that it has not been during its 30 year interrment in spain. If the car was to get in the hands of one of these concorso perverts it could easily turn into a tragedy. This is one of the most interesting Lamborghinis that exist - not just to Lambo people but to the general collector fraternity. There is a real risk that the car will be super-restored - if it ends up outside the Lamborghini circle the chances must be that it will be stripped, renovated, repainted, and thus ruined.

I will be bidding for the car, but my budget doesn't stretch much beyond the guide price (£80/120,000). I really don't fancy my chances - the car is gonna appeal to too many serious collectors and i reckon it will go for £300,000 ($500k) and possibly somewhat more.

I gather that the factory had a blank-cheque approach for Flying Star 11 recently rejected - perhaps the best hope for the Monza is that the S A museum will buy it in and preserve it ?