I’ve had my turn here gushing over the Marzal, so now it’s Road and Track’s turn. Not surprisingly, they were as blown away as I was when they first saw pictures of it. But then “it is seldom that that an entirely fresh approach to automobile design is seen…it’s so fresh it’s startling”.
What’s a bit surprising is that there’s no mention of the name Marcello Gandini, who designed it and also takes credit for the Miura and others to come. Actually, R&T did criticize the excessive use of the hexagonal honeycomb motif in the interior as well as engine cover “tasteless to the extreme”. Ouch; that’s pretty harsh.
I’m disappointed. R&T’s editors lacked the belief in their own convictions and didn’t show us the “honeycomb motif” that they found so “tasteless to the extreme.”
I see photographs and illustrations of seat bottoms, seat backs, dash gauges and vents, and the rear “window” expressing the motif.
I see them now. Didn’t load before. Thanks.
The vent window caught my attention, even in 1967 they still assumed them on a model car like this (though flow-through ventilation was probably pretty new at this time, and looks like A/C is required, even though not common in ’67 unless a luxury car).
You would think though that they’d make it a bit bigger like the Subaru SVX so you could at least use the ATM or pay tolls (though manned toll booths aren’t common now, they weren’t in ’67). I do like vent windows, but living with gullwing doors aside from the “gee wiz” factor would likely get old quickly. Also not the car for side impact protection apparently
That was my favorite matchbox car in my collection.
Yes! Becoming interested in cars c1969 meant loving Lamborghini and they remain my favourites as a result.
It looks wrong in silver-on-silver, in my mind’s eye it’s “supposed” to be purple with a yellow interior and glass like mine was. And with distinctly tired Superfast wheels that the previous owner wore the chrome off of.
“Tasteless to the extreme”
Well hold on then…
The 70s are coming!
+1
THE car for nudists.
Just needs washable seat covers.
“Marzal.
Where the skid marks are INSIDE the car!”
–
Now _that’s_ tasteless to the extreme.😀
The u jointed drive shafts to boost the doors are the most prominent thing in the engine compartment.
That giant counterbalancing spring catches my eye, looks like the one above my garage door!
That’s a car obviously designed in the dead of Winter when driving a hothouse on wheels might be survivable in northern Italy!
“Not recommended for Phoenix or Las Vegas.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2VUHrM0PQ8
After much searching, I finally found a video of the Marzal where you can listen to the sound of its I6 Lamborghini engine.
Thanks for that. Note the, um, one-off type bodywork inside the driver’s door opening (near the driver’s left knee).
There is a vid somewhere – perhaps this same event – from inside the car at very low speed, and the Mini-style gearbox in sump sounds just like a moaning Mini, but then, the first Muira does too.
I sat in this after its restoration whilst working at Bertone in the ’90s. Incredibly light and airy interior – it really is unlike anything else! And finished in silver (leather?)! A design groundbreaker that was incredibly influential….
It is impossibly beautiful. It makes the Muira look demure.
I suspect too that it is impossible generally. That ohc engine and compressor and radiator all lean back past the rear axle line, and given the Muira itself is known to start front lifting at high speed, I can only imagine this reaching 118 mph angled up like a funny car. Corners too might get the attention of the driver, likely being a bit tail-wagging-the-dog. As for a rear-mounted radiator, with no obvious ducting to it, I think those fans would be soon overwhelmed and die of overwork in their childhood. As would rear passengers, with that cute little a/c doing not much back there and that hot-breathing engine attached to their ears.
Oh, who cares? The thing is just utterly, entirely covetable.
If I were a rich man, I wouldn’t bother with staircases going up or down, but I WOULD build a living room with this right in the middle, just for show.
It toured the international motor shows even to far off New Zealand, looked pretty cool to this 9 yr old.
Now I’m not sure it was a great car, actually pretty sure it wasn’t, I’d love to have something like that in my driveway today, 50 some years later. While I am an old time gearhead, even K jet FI would be a huge improvement I’m sure in terms of regular driving, but just look at that thing, it looks great!
And so, what’s better, an old VW Beetle that you can drive coast to coast, albeit slowly, but reliably, in it’s 5 decade, or this gorgeous Lambo which in all likelihood needs a riding mechanic?