Yahoo Autos Watch the One-Off Lamborghini Marzal Drive Again
Lamborghini says a parade lap with Prince Albert of Monaco at last weekend's GP de Monaco Historique was the Marzal's first outing since 1967, when the car was used to open the Monaco Grand Prix. Personally, I would take that with a grain of salt, given that the Marzal has been on static display at various shows throughout the years, and was seen being driven on and off the grass on a few occasions. But that's hardly important.
What matters is that the car that was once rejected by Lamborghini for being too extravagant gets all the love it deserves today, with its two-liter inline-six singing happily for all to see. And what better place to celebrate than Monte Carlo?
The Marzal's story started in 1967 when Ferruccio Lamborghini wanted a proper four-seater. Marcello Gandini came up with a proposal at Bertone, with the "P200 Marzal" being built on an extended Miura chassis.
Power came from a Miura V12 cut in half lengthwise, resulting in a 2.0 inline-six mounted transversely. The concept also featured 48.4 squire feet of glass, a silver leather interior and full-sized gullwing doors.
The first concept's chassis collapsed at the rear from the weight of the added glass, and since Ferruccio Lamborghini was showing no signs of supporting the idea, Bertone had to go ahead and build a working one-off using its own workshop and chassis design.
The Lamborghini Marzal became known to the world when it was used by Rainer and Grace of Monaco to open the 1967 Grand Prix of Monaco. More than 50 years later, it did it again, opening the qualifiers and races of 1966-1972 Formula 1 vehicles at GP de Monaco Historique.
Which has been quite the party, as you'd expect:
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