By the time his car company was founded in 1963, Lamborghini had wisely dipped into the pool of talented Italians who could quickly create an exotic automobile from the ground up. Giotto Bizzarrini, late of Ferrari’s title-winning racing team, was commissioned to design a 3.5-liter twin-cam V-12. He was followed by Gian Paolo Dallara, whose company builds today’s IndyCar chassis, and Paolo Stanzani, who would later engineer the Bugatti EB110. Bob Wallace, a New Zealander, came on staff as test driver. Work began on a factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese, halfway between Bologna and Modena.

Lamborghini commissioned a former designer for the Bertone coachbuilding studio, Franco Scaglione, to design the first car, the 350 GTV, a shapely coupe. Making its debut at the 1963 Turin Motor Show, the GTV was without Bizzarrini’s V-12, which was on display and said to have 360 horsepower. Workers could not fit the engine under the hood; according to a subsequent owner, the GTV’s front compartment was loaded with bricks to get the correct ride height.

At the time, Lamborghini told Road & Track magazine about plans for touring and competition versions of the 350 GTV, which seems odd now, since the start-up automaker never showed a passion for racing his cars. That made it difficult to compete against Ferrari’s reputation for performance, and while there was a somewhat successful Formula One engine program from 1989 to 1993 (and limited participation in current sports car championships), racing has not been a Lamborghini priority.

The 350 GTV never made it past the prototype stage. The body was reshaped by Touring, a Milan coach builder, to create Lamborghini’s first production car, the 1964 350 GT, which had a more realistic 280 horsepower. This was followed in 1966 by the 400 GT, a 2+2 design with a 320-horsepower 3.9-liter V-12. In top condition, both GT models can today bring upward of $300,000 at auction.

But for most devoted fans, Lamborghini history really begins with the 1966 Miura.

Started as an off-hours project by Dallara, Stanzani and Wallace, the Miura — one of several Lamborghinis named for fighting bulls — was a major departure because its V-12 was mounted transversely at the rear. Credit for the ground-scraping exterior styling went to Marcello Gandini at Bertone; the Miura’s coming-out party was the Geneva Motor Show in early 1966.