GT MAN CARS OF DISTINCTION
LAMBORGHINI ISLERO
a high Mediterranean sun the tailored looks of this compact two-plus-two turn heads without loosening jaws as you flash past beleaguered euro-families in their straining Opels and Fiats. It’s a shape that leaves them guessing, eschewing showstopper drama for refreshingly simple lines; there’s power in that sleek nose, hunched poise in the way that glassy, angular roof squats over the fat rear wheels, something business like about the chopped, boxy tail.
Ferruccio Lamborghini never intended his Islero to be a playboy machine. Quite the opposite. ‘I wanted a car that was not quite so exotic’ he said ‘something more suitable for businessmen who do not want to be dubbed a playboy.’ Launched at Geneva in 1968 the Islero 400GT, named after a bull that had killed the matador Manuel Rodriguez in 1947, was rather lost in the excitement surrounding the four seater Espada.
In some ways there was not a whole lot to get excited about. Here was a re-skin of the Touring bodied 400GT 2+2 based around the same square tube chassis but with longer wishbones and trailing links designed to accommodate the latest 70 profile tyre technology. The 4-litre, 325bhp four camshaft V12, allied to Lamborghini’s own five speed gearbox, was exactly as before.
The body was built by a Milan based firm called Marazzi, a company formed by Mario Marazzi a former employee of the then recently defunct coachbuilder Touring who had built the bodywork for the 350 and 400GT models. Marazzi, still with us today building buses and hearses and the occasional oddball Alfa station wagon, emerged from the remains of Tourings 1967 demise. Mario Marazzi assembled a group of ex Touring workers around him and continued building the 400GT on Lamborghini-owned tooling. Ferruccio could see there was still an appetite for a conventional front engined Lamborghini and Marazzi was given the job of building a successor to the 350/400 series using as many existing components as possible. Mr Lamborghini had become rather tired of loosing money on every car he made so the Islero was designed to be reasonably economical to produce, with single curvature glass and a rather functional and unpretentious interior. In fact Ferruccio was closely involved with the styling of the car, the steel body being shorter and slightly heavier than before. It was slightly roomier inside (although leg room in the back remained negligible) and was said to have improved soundproofing.
The Geneva show prototype had a deeper front air intake, interior trim differences compared with production models (mainly a two rather than a three spoke steering wooden wheel) stainless steel sill covers plus the rare feature of Borrani wire wheels, but otherwise the Islero went into production pretty much as it was. From the side it showed an immodest amount of its expensive exhaust system; too the rear its Alfa-sourced light units and the outline of the spare wheel well below the floor of the short, shallow boot.
226 Islero’s were built in total between 1968 and the very early part of 1970. One early car was loaned to Brigit Bardot who was friends with Ferrucio. Mr Lamborghini himself ran a blue with tan leather Islero as a personal car – with a curious wooden petrol cap and quilted interior - as did his brother Edmondo.
The last 100 Islero’s, from the summer of 1969, were ‘S’ (or GTS) models with more powerful 350bhp engines. The additional 50bhp came by way of higher compression heads, different advance curves on the distributors and changes in the static ignition timing and carburettor jetting. Visually they had flared arches, tinted glass, a bonnet scoop for cabin ventilation and slot-like wing vents. The doors had fixed door ¼ lights, the rear screen was heated and the repeater flashers on the wings were now circular. Chassis changes were restricted to larger brakes and revised rear suspension with a thicker anti-roll bar to bring the Islero into line with the Espada.
The interior was new with a completely different dashboard with rocker switches, a glove box where there had once been a grab handle and an armrest for the rear passengers. ‘S’ seats were new with higher backrests and they sometimes had cloth inserts. But most importantly the quality was better all round: the Islero in its original form had gained a reputation for poor panel fit.
Only the Islero S was supplied with right hand drive and five are believed to have been built. Distributed by Lamborghini Concessionaires Ltd in Alie St London E1 the Islero S was listed at £7400 in 1969 when a Miura was £9500, so in Lambo terms it was a bit of a bargain. Del Hopkins, the factory trained Engineer who worked for Lamborgini for 31 years in the UK, rates the Islero as his favourite Lamborghini.
‘I’m always one for the underdog so I’m a lover of the Islero and the Jarama. I don’t like flash looking cars, which is odd given that I worked for Lamborghini for so long! Isleros were few and far between but I saw them coming in as part exchanges and for servicing.’
‘They didn’t really sell but they were better built than the later Bertone stuff, which was crap. Its car I have fond memories of. They are very lively and because of the shorter wheelbase so you have to be careful in them, certainly in the wet. Espada’s were more forgiving but I preferred the Islero, I thought they were more of a drivers car.’
Del recalls one British based Islero that was owned by the Governor of the Bahamas and made regular trips back to the Sant Agata for rebuilds and another that was owned by eminent surgeon.
This car, chassis 6432, is perhaps the most famous Islero of all. Finished in azzuro blue with grey Connolly interior it was invoiced by the factory on 31st of March 1969. With its £250 Borletti air conditioning unit, seat belts, number plates and ‘sprint version engine’ it cost its first owner, the rather Victorian sounding Mr A.C Johnson of Henry Righton & Co London N1, £8440.
Registered YLR 11G its not clear how the car ended up starring next to Roger Moore, and a Rover 3.5 litre saloon, in the 1970 psychological thriller The Man Who Haunted Himself, but it steals remarkable amount of screen time as the vehicular representation of the repressed hero’s more flamboyant alter ego. The unlikely premise of this film - in which two parts of the same man fight for survival - I’ve explored in these pages before but Mr Moore, as safety conscious executive Harold Pelham, probably gives the best performance of his career after the desperate (but strangely likeable) Crossplot came close to finishing off his big screen ambitions and a life beyond the Brylcreemed thick-ear of Simon Templar. His interactions with the Islero seem to be mostly back projected, but they look good together.
Thirty eight years and one restoration later I’m slipping into the same seat, except the leather is red now and the paint on the long tapering bonnet is silver, but it’s a combination that suits the Islero S equally well. Little is known of its post The Man Haunted Himself history between 1970 and 1988 but the current Cotswold based custodian bought it from its third owner last year with very little paperwork.
The short stroke V12 engine, one of the great automotive achievements of the pre electronic age, idles precisely at smoothly orchestrated 700rpm with a peculiar throb that comes with six firing strokes to every full rotation of the crank. Side draught Webers keep the bonnet line sleek, dual Marelli distributors keep the timing accurate through a rev range that extends well beyond the 350bhp, 7500rpm power peak. Even the smooth, silent pre engaged starter motor adds to the sense that this is something special; from warm a mere flick of the ignition sets the engine at an instant idle almost before you’ve had chance to release the key.
It would probably be fair to say that the interior doesn’t really live up to rest of the car, lacking the stylish details of certain Pininfarina Ferrari models or the bold drama of an early Espada. Yet, in a way, its suits the unpretentious nature of the Islero its sharply angled binnacle holding all the instrumentation you could ever need combined with Fiat sourced rocker switches and a Blaunpunkt Blue Spot radio. There is a separate switch to raise or lower the headlamp pods (a bit lethargically) plus another to actually light them up.
City driving would not be too much of a chore in this car. There’s great vision, a remarkably light and easily manipulated hydraulic clutch and smooth, precise throttle control. By the standards of most other exotica the turning circle is handily tight.
The engine is flexible down to 1000rpm in 5th but with all the vital fluids warm there’s every reason to explore the revs. The gobble of induction, as the six Weber 40s feed mixture to short, curved in let tracks, is quickly submerged in the metallic hum of top-end drives to the four camshafts and dual distributors.
The revs pick-up and shut down quickly and power comes in more aggressively from 3500rpm and then just keeps on coming, flattening great swathes of Cotswold landscape as the Islero strides out.
There is no necessity to change into fourth until you are doing well over 100mph and from here you can level the throttle again and feel that smooth, sustained thrust that never seems to let up.
The gear change is precise with short, meaty throws. The finger grips of its wooden knob are echoed in the chunky rim the steering wheel. The Islero wants to run dead straight and the steering box, its design apparently somewhat compromised by the requirements of the exhaust manifold, doesn’t feel anything like as low geared or ponderous as the 4.5 turns lock-to-lock suggests.
Through long, fast high-vision curves in fourth or top the Islero is easy to position and carries lots of speed, generating hardly any roll and just a suggestion of understeer. Spearing away from lower speed corners the steering feels a little more twiddly but always communicative, adding to the impression that Islero is really quite a compact car.
The dual servo brakes are not found wanting and neither is the ride, although the shocks check downward movement of the body a little abruptly. Otherwise the Islero acknowledges inequalities in the road surface but never really reacts to them.
No doubt about it, the Islero is best Lambo of the lot. In its short life it managed to raise Roger Moiré’s left eyebrow but very little interest from the press - it birth and demise seemed to pass unnoticed – but today that rarity gives it an aura of mystery its more feted siblings lack.
Behind the green tints you are in your own air conditioned world, shared perhaps with a cool, aloof beauty cast in the mould of an Alexandra Bastedo; but just as likely you are a mysterious man alone in search of a dozen empty pleasures, stuck in a Martini advert cliché of breath taking Monte Carlo vistas or some other jet-set scenario, probably involving a swimming pool, a St Tropez villa and an international line-up of pouting sex kittens who can’t choose between you – Islero-man – and Alain Delon. To be honest, I’m not sure I’d want to spend a week desperately holding my stomach in wearing tight swimming briefs, suffering the unflattering comparisons made between me and Mr Delon, but you see where I’m coming from? Much as I love my Espadas and my Miuras the Islero, mysterious intriguing and powerful, transports me to these worlds in a way no other Lamborghini can.
LAMBORGHINI ISLERO S
Sold/number built 100
Construction Steel body, tubular chassis
Engine V12, Quad cam, 3929cc, 6 Weber carbs
Max power 350bhp @7500rpm
Max torque 275Ib/ft @4500rpm
Suspension front Coil springs, wishbones, anti-roll bar
Suspension rear Coil springs, wishbones, anti-roll bar
Steering Worm and sector
Brakes Girling discs front and rear
Length 14ft 10 in
Width 5ft 8.1 in
Height 4ft 2 in
Wheelbase 8ft 4.3 in
Weight 2795Ib unladen
0-60 5.9 secs
Top speed 160mph
MPG 12
Transmission 5 Speed manual
Price new £7950
Now £100,000
Article courtesy of Martin Buckley and Classic & Sportscar Magazine
THE ISLERO IN FILM:
THE MAN WHO HAUNTED HIMSELF
This relatively obscure piece of cinema starring Roger Moore in a beautiful Islero as a reppressed GT Man is perhaps Moore`s best acting performance that goes way past the usual eyebrow raising and puzzled looks of many other outings. Co starring Olga Georges-Picot, HildeGard Neil and Thorley Walters. The man Who Haunted Himself tells the story of Harold Pelham (Moore) who dies on the operating table briefly after a car crash. He is saved in the operating theater, but his evil double is is endeavouring to destroy his old life.
Even in the rarefied world of front-engined Lamborghini’s the Islero is an enigma, but for me it presses every button.
The shape, the period, the name; everything about this short-lived Lamborghini makes it perfectly cast for its starring role in a late sixties fantasy world of GT glamour cars. From deserted sun-kissed Autostrada’s to endless alpine tunnels the Islero is the ideal companion for these roads of the imagination. Quad exhausts blaring, giant spinners on Campagnolo magnesium wheels glinting in
