Taking its name from the bull that killed high-profile matador Manuel Rodriguez in 1947, the Islero was developed as a collaboration between Ferruccio Lamborghini and Marazzi, a coachbuilder that rose from the ashes of the defunct Carrozzeria Touring, which had gone bust at the start of 1967. Headed by Mario Marazzi, the new company employed several key people from Touring, with ex-Touring designer Federico Formenti reckoned to have played a significant part in the Islero’s styling.

Compared with its 400GT forebear, the Islero came with Campagnolo alloys instead of Borrani wire wheels and beefier antiroll bars. Otherwise, the new car was mechanically the same as the old. Where it did differ was in proportions. The length was increased by a couple of inches (to 178 inches) and the height by an inch (to 51 inches), yet despite sticking with an all-steel body shell, the curb weight was cut by around 400 pounds, to a claimed 2866 pounds.

Sharply (if conservatively) styled, the Islero was the perfect GT for those in a hurry who wanted to blend into the background. With its sextet of Weber twin-choke carbs, the Islero could sprint to 60 mph in just 7.5 seconds on its way to a 160-mph top speed. And yet when parked up, this hugely expensive 2+2 looked innocuous.

Cheaper alternatives didn’t come with the standard air-con of the Islero, though, which also featured electric windows. The problem was that neither of these features tended to work for very long, because the build quality was poor. Marazzi wasn’t really up to the task of producing such an expensive luxury car, and the quality of the early Isleros was poor, but things would improve later on. Not that this was much consolation to customers who had forked out the price of a decent house—roughly $121,500 today—to buy an early Islero.

Islero production started as the car was unveiled in spring 1968, and by May 1969 Marazzi had been able to produce 125 examples, which was pretty good going for such a low-profile and costly car. It was at this point that Lamborghini turned up the wick, with the introduction of the 35-bhp Islero S.

Given away by its flared wheel arches and quarter lights in the doors (as shown with the car pictured here), these later iterations of the breed were produced to a noticeably higher standard than their forebears.

RM Sotheby's/Remi Dargegen

Just two years after the Islero had made its debut, the final S edition rolled off the production lines when the Jarama picked up the baton. That’s another overlooked Lamborghini, so we’ll tackle it at a later date because let’s face it, you probably have no idea what a Jarama looks like, do you?