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As released at the 1963 Turin Auto Show, the 350 GTV stirred much attention. Not until the release of this car, Lamborghini was only manufacturing premium tractors.

Ferruccio Lamborghini, who was very wealthy in the sixties, decided to change the companies' image and direction starting with the 350 GTV. In only a year the first Lamborghini automobile was created in the corner of their tractor factory. Shortly after the prototype was finished, Ferruccio's auto manufacturing plant was completed in Sant'Agata Bolognese.

A small group of men including Giotto Bizzarrini, Franco Scaglione, Georgio Neri and Lucciano Bonacini were responsible for the first Lamborghini road car. Bizzarrini, who worked for Ferrari developing the GTO, specifically designed the engine and chassis for the Lamborghini 350 series. It was this engine that set the basis for all future Lamborghini engines that would come after it.

For most of the GTV's life, it remained engineless due to clearance problems. Indeed the capable engine that Bizzarrini developed would not fit due to the tall downdraught webbers. After being ignored for over 22 years, a large restoration on the car was undertaken. During this process, the chassis was modified to accept the production 350 GT V12.

In 1964, at the Geneva Motor Show, Lamborghini released the first road-going version of the GTV. Having conceptualized and created his production car in less than two years, Lamborghini proved his versatility. Great talent from Giotto Bizzarrini and Carrozzeria Sargiotto helped ensure high engineering and build standards, standards which still lay the foundation of Lamborghini products today.