Technical specification The Citroën SM Opera:

Technical specification Monteverdi 375/4:

Technical specification Monica 560:

At the beginning of the 60′s, Maserati started development of a new kind of car: a 4-door sportscar in line with the newly introduced Facel Vega Excellence and Lagonda Rapide. There was a new market for this type of automobiles because of the rise of motorways throughout Europe. The Quattroporte is acknowledged as the first car specifically designed for autobahn usage. The speed came from a new Maserati 4100 cc powerplant (a detuned race-engine) and Frua designed the handsome and sleek body. The Quattroporte I was launched at the 1963 Turin Motorshow and Maserati claimed a top speed of 230 kilometers per hour, a huge acchievement in that year for such a car.

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte I Series 1:

Lamborghini never really considered a 4-door car, but focused on fast sportscars and 2+2 sportscars such as the 400 GT 2+2 and the Espada. Based on a Espada S2 from 1970 (serial number 8224), Pietro Frua designed the first and only 4 door sports saloon for Lamborghini (except for the recently launched Estoque Concept in 2008). The spectacular car was launched on the 57. Salone internazionale dell´Automobile in Turin as the Frua Faena or Lamborghini 400 GT2 Espada 4P. It’s a stunning looking car with a lot of details of the donor car Espada, such as the rear side and interior. The front of the Faena is however completely new and pretty modern for it’s time with with twin headlights each mounted in a pop-up unit. Why the car wasn’t a success isn’t clear. Probably because it didn’t fit in Lamborghini’s strategy (same as for the Ferrari Pinin 2 years later). Pietro Frua was a bit disappointed because he wanted to build this beautiful four door car in smaller numbers for special clients. It remained at only one prototype car as seen on the picture here.

Technical specification Lamborghini Faena:

Technical specification Lagonda Rapide:

Technical specification Iso Fidia:

The de Tomaso Deauville was launch in November 1970 at the Turin Motorshow as de Tomaso “Modena” at the Ghia stand. The presented car was a bit different from the first production car e.g. the square versus round head lights. Within a couple of months the Deauville was ready to be shipped to the first owners in 1971. The first series had a leather and velours interior with declining headrests, full leather interior was an option. Standard the de Tomaso Deauvillle featured airconditioning, power steering and electric windows. Outside the Deauville had Ghia badges on the side panels and a rectangle de Tomaso Logo in the grille.
The 1st series Deauville was produced roughly between 1971 and 1974 and can be recognised with the last 4 serial number digits between #1000 and #1220. Before the early Series 2 came onto the market.

Technical specification de Tomaso Deauville Series 1:

Technical specification Facel Vega Excellence Series 1:

After an absence of almost 10 years, Aston Martin reintroduced the Lagonda name at the 1974 Earls Court Motor Show in London. This time not as brand name, but as type-indication of their newest sports saloon. Based on the DBS, this long-wheelbased, four-door version of the Aston Martin V8 was an elegant design. The design itself was already five years old as David Brown already drove the Series 1 Prototype since 1969, but it had to wait until Aston Martin was taken-over and Mr. Brown left the company. The very moderate success was probably due to the late launch, the oil crisis and also the steep price of more than 14,000 Pound Sterling. This exclusive model -even by Aston Martin standards- was catalogued until June 1976, by which time only seven had been made. Chassis numbers ranged from ’12001′ to ’12007′, while a further example – chassis ’12008′ – was sanctioned at a later date. Most of the Lagondas were delivered with a 3-speed automatic.

Technical specification Aston Martin Lagonda Series 1: