Sometimes your wallet won’t stretch to purchasing your dream motor. But don’t worry too much, there are some cars that even the biggest bank balances can’t buy, the dream cars that will forever remain a dream. These are the concept cars that never go into production.
Lamborghini Marzal
Though this series is dedicated to the cars that even the richest of the rich cannot own, there’s the chance that a generation of car fan kids from the 1960s may have actually owned a Marzal. Not a real one of course, but both Dinky Toys and Matchbox produced their own smaller versions of the distinctive supercar.
Designed by Marcello Gandini of the Bertone styling school, the Marzal was presented at the 1967 Geneva Motor Show and though it would forever be a one-off, it was innovative enough that many recognise the Marzal in the Espada which would go into production in 1968.
The Marzal was a real tribute to the motor glazing industry, with almost fifty square feet of clear viewing for the passengers, delivered through those space-age gull-wing doors, which were the mode of the time. The engine was rather modest by Italian supercar standards, a 2.0 L 175bhp was simply a split-in-half version of Lamborghini’s 4.0 L V12 engine. You might be asking why the small engine? Well the reason being that when Ferrucio Lamborghini launched his company, he wanted it to be opposite of everything rival brand Ferrari was. Where Enzo Ferrari was producing racing cars for the road, Ferruccio favoured comfort and planned for grand-tourers. In essence the Marzal epitomised everything the company’s owner wanted in a car.
The Marzal gained the Royal seal of approval in its debut year, when it was honoured as the lead car on the traditional parade lap of the Monaco Grand Prix, it’s driver that day was Prince Rainier III, accompanied by his wife, Princess Grace.
A long time lodger at the Bertone Design Study Museum, the Marzal did eventually get a buyer when it was sold in Italy at auction in May 2011 for almost two million dollars.