25 super slices of ’60s exotica

Sensational ’60s

The 1960s was a decade that witnessed the exotica establishment reach giddying new heights.

It also saw a raft of new pretenders to the throne; start-up operations that promised to not only take on the likes of Ferrari and Aston Martin at their own game, but vanquish them. Some stayed the course to become the old guard in later years. Others made like the mayfly, enjoying – enduring – only the most ephemeral of lives. 

What united the cars gathered here was striking looks, high performance and glamour. They were cars adopted by the Jet Set, being capable of leaping continents in a single bound, assuming you could afford the fuel bills.

They typified automotive exotica before the market segment went down the trash and trinkets route. Some of our selection are obvious, others markedly less so. More importantly, none could ever be accused of being boring. Enjoy!

1. Maserati 5000GT (1959-’64)

Exotic road cars in the 1960s were seldom more rarefied than this.

Maserati made just 34 of these quad-cam V8-engined GTs from 1959-1964 – and none were identical.

Eight different coachbuilders acted as couturiers, Carrozzeria Allemano accounting for 22 cars (as pictured).

2. Jaguar E-type (1961-’74)

It was a sports car that outperformed most Italian exotica while also undercutting them.

The Beautiful People clamoured to land an E-type following the Jaguar’s unveiling at the 1961 Geneva motor show – and with good reason. Later iterations lost much of the original purity, though.
 

3. Ferrari 250 Lusso (1962-’64)

This super-glamorous GT made its debut at the 1962 Paris motor show, or at least it did once the prototype belatedly arrived in the French capital.

It screamed Jet Set, owners in period including the likes of Steve McQueen, Dean Martin and Battista Pininfarina.

4. Apollo GT/Vetta Ventura (1962-’65)

This Italo-American GT married exotic styling courtesy of Ron Plescia and Franco Scaglione, Buick V8 power and a choice of open or closed bodywork.

Arriving in 1962, it was all over by 1965, with some cars having latterly employed the Vetta Ventura nameplate.

5. Studebaker Avanti (1962-’63)

Studebaker’s last-gasp model was a bold departure for the ailing firm.

The styling, courtesy of the Raymond Loewy studio, was considered daring when the car went on sale in 1962. The Avanti was also fast in supercharged form.

Sadly, the curtain descended in December 1963.

6. Aston Martin DB5 (1963-’65)

The Aston Martin DB5 is routinely touted as being a paragon of British design brilliance.

What tends to be forgotten is that it was shaped by Touring of Milan, its outline owing much to the DB4GT that preceded it. The DB5 remains a pop-culture touchstone, thanks to its James Bond association. 

7. ATS 2500 GT (1963-’65)

Think the Lamborghini Miura was the first mid-engined supercar? Think again… ATS emerged following the famous ‘Palace Coup’ that saw half of Ferrari’s brains trust depart at the end of 1962.

This V8-powered machine appeared a year later, but only a dozen were made before Automobili Turismo e Sport crashed.

8. Chevrolet Corvette C2 (1963-’67)

Few cars, if any, can match the original ‘split window’ C2-series Corvette from 1963 for pure theatre.

It is redolent of the sort of starry-eyed futurism that propelled the USA to dizzying heights during the decade. In big-block V8 form, it was also blisteringly quick for its day.

9. Iso Grifo (1963-’74)

One of the true greats from the 1960s GT boom, the Grifo married underpinnings developed by Giotto Bizzarrini with styling by Bertone’s resident genius, Giorgetto Giugiaro.

First seen in prototype form in 1963, and entering production two years later, endless permutations followed thereafter.

10. Iso Grifo A3/C (1963-’64)

The mercurial engineer Giotto Bizzarrini endlessly petitioned Iso to build a GT racing car, but his entreaties were rebuffed.

Unbowed, he took it upon himself to go ahead and build one all the same. He subsequently made variations for road and track use under his own name after splitting with Iso. 

11. Ferrari 275GTB (1964-’68)

This super-GT was made in a variety of forms following its release in 1964.

There were short noses, long noses, twin-cam or quad-cam V12s, plus gossamer-thin aluminium coachwork for the competition fraternity.

12. Lamborghini 350GT (1964-’66)

Arguably the best car Lamborghini made during the 1960s, the 350GT was also its first.

Derived from the 350GTV show car that was first seen in 1963, the production model employed a Giotto Bizzarrini-designed, Gian Paolo Dallara-refined V12 that subsequently became a marque staple.

13. Ferrari 275GTS (1964-’66)

Introduced alongside the 275GTB, this gorgeous roadster had no leanings towards competition.

It was strictly a sports car, albeit one that was packing a 3.3-litre V12 and a price-tag to match.

A mere 200 were made before it made way for the 330GTS.
 

14. Ferrari 500 Superfast (1964-’66) 

Given the model name, this was never going to be anything shy or retiring.

In essence, the Ferrari Superfast represented a distillation of all manner of small-series V12 supercoupés including the 400 Superamerica Series II Aerodinamico.

Only the ultra-rich need apply, customers including tycoon James Hanson, actor Peter Sellers and the Shah of Iran.  

15. Toyota 2000GT (1965-’70)

A fabulously involving little GT car, the 2000GT acted as a halo product for Toyota. First seen in show car form in 1965, and manufactured from 1967 to ’70, only 337 were sold.

Two cars were provided for use in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. They were hastily turned into convertibles because Sean Connery couldn’t fit in the regular car.

16. AC 428 (1965-’73)

While it might not be among the most famous of the cars gathered here, the 428 was every inch the exotic when the prototype emerged at the 1965 British International Motor Show.

It brought together styling by Pietro Frua, big-block Ford V8 power and a stretched Cobra chassis. Offered in open and closed forms, it was devastatingly fast, but production was of the stop-start variety. Just 81 were made.

17. Lamborghini Miura (1966-’73)

The template-setting supercar.

First seen as a rolling chassis in 1965, the Miura emerged in ‘completed’ form a year later and caused a furore.

Given that Lamborghini was barely three years old at the time, it represented an incredibly daring leap of faith for the Sant’Agata upstart.

18. Ghia 450/SS (1966-’67)

This enigmatic roadster was rooted in a Fiat 2300-based, Ghia-bodied machine that employed a Gilco chassis.

It appeared on the cover of Road & Track in 1966, which sent 20-something film and TV producer Burt Sugarman into a headspin.

The American subsequently had the design reworked to employ Plymouth Barracuda running gear. Around 57 were made.

19. Maserati Ghibli (1966-’73)

Blending quad-cam V8 power with a striking outline penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Ghibli nevertheless languishes in the shadow of its arch-rival, the Ferrari Daytona.

First seen in prototype form at the 1967 Turin motor show, and entering production a year later, this graceful GT subsequently spawned an open-top variant.

20. Fiat Dino (1966-’73)

Fiat returned to the exotica firmament for the first time since the glorious 8V of the early-1950s with two distinct strains of V6 range-toppers.

There was the shapely Spider styled by Pininfarina in its pomp, and Bertone (by Giorgetto Giugiaro shortly before he jumped ship to Ghia). Early Dinos featured all-alloy two-litre units. 

21. Intermeccanica Torino/Italia (1967-’74)

Frank Reisner’s Intermeccanica outfit produced a bewildering array of cars during the 1960s and beyond.

These spanned everything from Formula Junior single-seaters to this, the Italia (originally called Torino) which was rooted in a prior project for US car manufacturer Jack Griffith.

This V8-engined spider was as ‘boutique’ as it got. 

22. Dino 206GT (1967-’69)

The Dino 206GT never was a Ferrari. It was a sub-brand, after all, but it was in many ways more daring than some of the road cars of the period that wore the Cavallino Rampante badge.

For starters, it was mid-engined, the V6 powerplant being a rev-happy jewel. Then there was the styling, an Aldo Brovarone/Leonardo Fioravanti co-production that has rarely been bettered.

23. De Tomaso Mangusta (1967-’71)

Alejandro De Tomaso’s answer to the Miura employed a muscular outline courtesy of Giorgetto Giugiaro, a backbone chassis, plus small-block Ford V8 power.

The model name is Italian for ‘mongoose,’ an animal that kills cobras. Legend has it that it was coined as a single-digit response to Cobra-instigator Carroll Shelby after he pulled out of a deal with De Tomaso.

24. Lamborghini Islero (1968-’69)

One of the lesser-known Lamborghinis, the Islero was nevertheless a capable machine.

Essentially a replacement for the 350GT/400GT, it employed the same running gear but with new bodywork crafted by Carrozzeria Marazzi.

This short-lived GT earned a degree of fame in period following its appearance in the Roger Moore thriller, The Man Who Haunted Himself.
 

25. Ferrari 365GTB/4 (1968-’73)

While the Lamborghini Miura prompted the world’s media to uncork their purpliest of prose, reaction to the 365GTB/4 at the 1968 Paris motor show was that bit more muted.

It was relatively conventional by comparison, but it worked. Known universally as the ‘Daytona’, it was among the fastest cars of its day and subsequently spawned a Spider variant.