Learning to Fly: The Lamborghini 400GT Flying Star II by Touring

Back in 1966, a ‘shooting brake’ implied muddy fields, gundogs and winter mornings spent in the English countryside. How different, then, was Carrozzeria Touring’s special one-off bodywork on a Lamborghini 400GT, the car displayed at that year’s Turin Motor Show carrying the name ‘Flying Star II’?

&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;B&gt;Back in 1966, a ‘shooting brake’ implied muddy fields, gundogs and winter mornings spent in the English countryside. How different, then, was Carrozzeria Touring’s special one-off bodywork on a Lamborghini 400GT, the car displayed at that year’s Turin Motor Show carrying the name ‘Flying Star II’?&lt;/B&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Very. In fact, the ultra-low roof and crisp lines of the two-door with hatch-back GT are strangely modern, pre-dating - as they do - the strikingly angular designs of the 1970s. The car looks as up-to-date now as it did then – even more so with its successor, Touring Superleggera’s modern Bentley Continental-based Flying Star, in the background. After the Turin Show, the Flying Star II was sold to French writer Françoise Sagan’s brother, Jacques Quoirez. It has always been French-registered - though it spent much of its subsequent life in the USA and United Kingdom. It was fully restored by Touring Superleggera's restoration department in 2009.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;div class="center"&gt;&lt;img class="Image img__fid__59463" typeof="foaf:Image" data-cke-saved-src="http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_full/public/import/articlesv2/images/_de/7850/lamborghini_flying_star_II_touring_02pop.jpg?itok=t6QO2bzt" src="http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_full/public/import/articlesv2/images/_de/7850/lamborghini_flying_star_II_touring_02pop.jpg?itok=t6QO2bzt" alt="Learning to Fly: The Lamborghini 400GT Flying Star II by Touring" /&gt; &lt;br/&gt; &lt;img class="Image img__fid__59464" typeof="foaf:Image" data-cke-saved-src="http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_half/public/import/articlesv2/images/_de/7850/lamborghini_flying_star_II_touring_03pop.jpg?itok=B0flJOX0" src="http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_half/public/import/articlesv2/images/_de/7850/lamborghini_flying_star_II_touring_03pop.jpg?itok=B0flJOX0" alt="Learning to Fly: The Lamborghini 400GT Flying Star II by Touring" /&gt; &lt;img class="Image img__fid__59465" typeof="foaf:Image" data-cke-saved-src="http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_half/public/import/articlesv2/images/_de/7850/lamborghini_flying_star_II_touring_04pop.jpg?itok=Js4k3Aub" src="http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_half/public/import/articlesv2/images/_de/7850/lamborghini_flying_star_II_touring_04pop.jpg?itok=Js4k3Aub" alt="Learning to Fly: The Lamborghini 400GT Flying Star II by Touring" /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;!--{cke_protected}{C}%3C!%2D%2D%20%2F.center%20%2D%2D%3E--&gt;&lt;br/&gt; We caught up with the two Flying Stars and Louis de Fabribeckers, Head of Design at Touring Superleggera, at this year’s Salon Privé, London’s exclusive motoring lifestyle event, when the models were just part of an impressive line-up of significant cars bodied by the great Milanese coachbuilder.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;img class="Image img__fid__59466" typeof="foaf:Image" data-cke-saved-src="http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_full/public/import/articlesv2/images/_de/7850/lamborghini_flying_star_II_touring_05pop.jpg?itok=7ioESBH-" src="http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_full/public/import/articlesv2/images/_de/7850/lamborghini_flying_star_II_touring_05pop.jpg?itok=7ioESBH-" alt="Learning to Fly: The Lamborghini 400GT Flying Star II by Touring" /&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt; This short video features de Fabribeckers discussing the finer points of the Lamborghini’s design, its relevance to his styling work on the Bentley and, most important of all, what it’s like to drive.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;table width="540" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#c8c7c3;"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt; &lt;font size="1"&gt; &lt;b&gt;For further information, see&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt; Touring Superleggera: &lt;a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.touringsuperleggera.eu/en/home.asp" href="http://www.touringsuperleggera.eu/en/home.asp" target="_blank"&gt;www.touringsuperleggera.eu&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt; Salon Privé: &lt;a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.salonprivelondon.com/" href="http://www.salonprivelondon.com/" target="_blank"&gt;www.salonprivelondon.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt; &lt;/font&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Text: &lt;a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:editor@classicdriver.com?subject=Lamborghini Flying Star II by Touring" href="mailto:editor@classicdriver.com?subject=Lamborghini Flying Star II by Touring"&gt;Steve Wakefield&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt; Video: Nigel Swan&lt;br/&gt;Photos: Jan Baedeker &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;