Looked at from a distance of nearly 60 years hence, it’s hard to conceive that they were even rivals, let alone that the Lamborghini came first. A Ferrari 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ looks pretty svelte and gorgeous, and continues to do so until the moment it is parked next to a Lamborghini Miura.
Then a few other adjectives come to mind: ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘upright’ among them. But then you could say the same of just about anything trying to make itself seen next to the white hot blazing beauty of not quite the first Lamborghini, but the Lamborghini that set the tone for all the great Lamborghinis to come.
It is often said and even more frequently assumed that the car I’ll hereafter refer to as the Daytona (because it’s easier to type than its proper name) was conceived as a direct response to the Miura, but the truth is more complex. Ferrari had been sceptical about mid-engined machines for racing and didn’t enter one for a full Formula 1 season until 1961, despite having ceded the last two titles to them. In the road car arena, there was even greater resistance, and it would be 1973 before a mid-engined car bearing a prancing horse would finally be offered for sale. Truth is, Miura or no Miura, the Daytona is the car Ferrari was always going to make, though it’s possible its edge was honed rather more keenly as a result.
