Lamborghini Islero GTS at auction

JL Arboledas 5 October 2010 3 min.

Incredible but true: an Lamborghini Islero GTS is going under the hammer, perhaps one of the least well-known yet most sought-after models from the legendary Italian marque, created at a time when the company was still defining its future and was under the direction of its legendary founder Ferruccio Lamborghini.

Focusing a little more on this legendary sports car, which is so rare and hard to come across, with only a total of 226 units ever built, it is even rarer to find a “S” version, of which only 100 units were made, and, to make things even more intriguing, only 5 of those 100 were built with right-hand drive. The unit you can see on your screen belongs to that group.

But that is not all, since this particular model has far more history than its subtle lines reveal. This specific unit is famous for appearing in the 1970 film in which Roger Moore, better known back then as James Bond, drove it during the shooting of “The Man Who Haunted Himself“.

But, beyond all this, what can its future owner expect from this car? For example, a legendary unit that was named after the bull that killed the Spanish bullfighter Manolete, and which Ferruccio Lamborghini decided to keep. If you want to know about the mechanics, this is a 4-litre V12 fitted with no less than six Weber carburettors which, coupled with a 5-speed gearbox, was capable of producing a remarkable 350 horsepower.

As is only logical for a car of this kind, its restoration has been meticulous, to the point that the current owner reportedly spent around 100,000 pounds on it, all to obtain a car that is completely faithful to the original and fully functional, showing on its odometer just 38,000 certified miles as verified by the Italian marque itself.

If you are interested in acquiring this model, be aware that it will go to auction on 27 October at the British auction house “Central London Sales”, where it is expected to fetch between 95,000 and 135,000 pounds, a remarkably modest price for a model whose story was overshadowed by the fame acquired by a model such as the Lamborghini Espada, which reached the market only a year before it did.

Finally, it is worth noting that this particular unit has several surprises: at a meeting held recently in Knightsbridge, the actor Roger Moore signed the car’s sun visor and its paperwork, and even posed for a photograph with it. Furthermore, this model comes with something rarely seen today on a classic: an original invoice from the marque, a photographic record of the restoration, and a letter from Valentino Balboni, all to certify that it is indeed the original car from the film.