Lamborghini Jalpa (1982)

Evolving from the Urraco, Jalpa was the cheapest Lamborghini in the 80s intending to compete with Ferrari 308 / 328GTB. It looked unique, if not really beautiful. Powered by a 3.5-litre V8 (with 2 valves / cylinder only), it had similar performance to match with the Ferraris. Handling and roadholding were also up to Ferrari’s league.

In fact, this car was larger than the Countach in all dimensions bar width. Besides, since it was built as a monocoque structure rather than spaceframe, it did not have the wide and high door sills as featured in Countach. Therefore cabin room was rather generous for 2 occupants. Furthermore, fine leather trimming, Targa roof and large storage space enabled it to attract more mainstream customers.

Nevertheless, it still lived under the shadow of Ferrari 328GTB, since the latter was marginally better in nearly all aspects. As a result, production terminated in the late 80s.

Specifications

Model
Jalpa

Year of production
1982-88

No. produced
410

Layout, gear box
Mid-engined, Rwd, 5M

Chassis
Monocoque

Engine
V8, dohc, 2v/cyl.

Capacity
3485 c.c.

Power
255 hp

Torque
231 lbft

Weight
1410 kg

Top speed
144 mph

0-60 mph
6.2 sec

Lamborghini Urraco (1974)

Urraro was an ambitious project. Ferruccio Lamborghini wanted this car to be sold at a rate of 2,000 units per year, which made Lamborghini the Porsche of Italy. However, hit by the energy crisis, Urraco found itself born in the wrong time. The project failed completely.

In technical view, Urraco was quite interesting. It was a mid-engined sports car, but simultaneously had 2+2 seating layout. That made it the first 2+2 mid-engined car in the world, even earlier than Ferrari 308GT4. The original car was powered by an underpowered sohc 2.5-litre V8, then upgraded to dohc 3-litre V8 and the new car was called Urraco P300 (compared with the original P250).

P300 was an excellent GT, with sensuous handling accompanied with excellent brakes. Between 1974 and 1976, only 776 Urracos were made, which was well below Lamborghini's expectation. After that, it was modified to Silhouette (more like a Urraco with Targa roof) and eventually became the 2-seat Jalpa. What a pity a good car died in this way.

Specifications

Lamborghini Espada (1968)

Espada was the only 4-seater that Lamborghini had ever produced. Based on an all-new semi-monocoque chassis, it was long enough to accommodate 2 more adults with comfort, that made it the roomiest GT.

Apart from space, its drivetrain also gave it advantages over rivals from Ferrari and Maserati. Engine came from the familiar 400GT, which displaced 3.9 litres and mounted in front rather than rear as the prototype. In debut, 320 hp was available, but a couple of years later it was improved to 350 hp by raising compression ratio from 9.5 to 10.7 to 1. Power transferred to a slick changing ZF five-speed box. As a whole, these combinations provided a healthy 52:48 front-to-rear weight distribution. Therefore the Espada was praised for powerful, relatively easy to operate and had a good road manner, while the only drawback was the Italian-styled driving position.

Espada was the second most successful classic Lamborghini in terms of sales. 1,217 Espadas were built between 1968 and 1978. If not hit by the company’s financial crisis, it would have survived longer.

Year of production

All series: 1968-78
Layout, gear box
Front-engined, Rwd, 5M

Chassis
Central monocoque + subframes

Engine
V12, dohc, 2v/cyl.

Capacity
3929 c.c.

Power
350 hp

Torque
290 lbft

Weight
1685 kg

Top speed
150 mph*

0-60 mph
6.9 sec

Lamborghini Miura

Launched in 1966, Miura was probably the best Lamborghini of all time (though some choose the Countach). First of all, the beautiful Bertone (M. Gandini actually)-designed body was one of the best-looking in automotive history, with sexy curves and perfect proportion. Countach might be more appealing, but Miura looked far more comfortable and was more practical.



Then we are going to examine its chassis structure. Although central monocoque plus tubular sub-frames structure was not the most advanced then, it had an extraordinary layout: mid-engine, which was first ever used in a pure road car (Porsche 550 Spyder and Ford GT40 were built for racing purpose first). The chassis was designed by Italian chassis expert G. Dallara under the inspiration of GT40. To obtain better weight distribution, Dallara requested a very compact V12 plus transmission to be installed transversely behind the cabin and completely in front of the rear axle. So the engine men created a 3929 c.c. 4 cams V12, upgraded from the 400GT, whose sump incorporated with the 5-speed transmission. Maximum output was 350 hp and 278 lbft.

This original Miura called P400 (means approximately 4 litres). Having a superb look, technology and performance, it immediately became the favourite supercar of the riches. Like the earliest Porsche 911, P400 still need some more tuning to become a perfect machine - serious drivers criticised the lack of chassis rigidity and high-speed instability caused by aerodynamic lift. These problems did not stop it from selling well, since few millionaire customers were serious drivers. But if it had to become an all-time classic, it should receive more rework ...



In 1969, Lamborghini finally did it. The revised version, P400S, received structural reinforcement, fatter tyres, ventilated brakes and 20 more horsepower by means of faster cams and larger carburettors. Autocar magazine recorded 172 mph for the P400S - the fastest ever recorded for a road car !

But it was still nothing when compared with P400SV, which was launched 2 years later. SV was the peak in Miura's life. It was benefited from the racing technology gained in developing the Miura Jota race car, especially was aerodynamics. P400S did not cure the high speed lift problem, leaving SV to solve it by lowering the nose slightly while raising the rear end. More chassis reinforcement made it a really rigid car. Again, the V12 was further tuned up to 385 hp and 294 lbft. Finally, for the benefit of racing, the lubrication system of engine and transmission was separated. All these modifications resulted in great handling and performance that people will never forget.

Miura had a rather short life compare with Countach. Production stopped in 1972, not because of slow-selling but because it should give road to the new Countach. In fact, during its life, Miura was so popular that demand was always greater than the supply. A total of 764 cars were built.

Specifications

Lamborghini 350GT / 400GT (1964)

Today, Lamborghini is famous for producing exotic sports cars. However, back to 1964, its first car 350GT was actually a Grand Tourer (GT). In order to establish the reputation of the new company, Ferruccio Lamborghini was serious to adopt as much sounding technology as possible in his first car. Therefore, all-independent suspensions, aluminium body and quad-cam V12 were incorporated in this car, thus gave it an advertising advantage over contemporary Ferraris.

Surprisingly, 350GT was more refined and quieter than the Ferraris, if not faster or wilder. Production was very limited, only 120 cars were made. Since the aluminium panels were more complex and costly to produce, they were replaced by conventional steel panels 2 years later. This added 150 kg so that the engine had to be enlarged to 3.9 litres. As a result, it was renamed to 400GT. Although less advanced than its predecessor, 400GT was even more refined and practical, at least it got 2 tiny rear seats instead of the strange 2+1 layout in the 350GT.

Both 350GT and 400GT were far from being the classiest Lamborghini, but they really helped Ferruccio Lamborghini's dream came true : beating the Ferrari.

Model

350GT

Year of production started
1964

Total no. produced
120

Layout, gear box
Front-engined, Rwd, 5M

Chassis
Space frames

Engine
V12, dohc, 2v/cyl.

Capacity
3464 c.c.

Power
280 hp

Torque
232 lbft

Weight
1150 kg (dry)



Year of production started
1966

Total no. produced
273

Layout, gear box
Front-engined, Rwd, 5M

Chassis
Space frames

Engine
V12, dohc, 2v/cyl.

Capacity
3929 c.c.

Power
320 hp

Torque
261 lbft

Weight
1300 kg (dry)

History of Lamborghini

Before founding his own sports car company, Ferruccio Lamborghini was already a successful tractor maker. His business had already expanded to oil burners and air-conditioning units. Having owned the best examples of luxury cars including American and Ferraris, he had his own idea of what an idea GT was.

He always had much respect for Enzo Ferrari. However, it is said (and himself did not really deny) that he had trouble with his Ferrari and went to Maranello to complain. However, he did not receive the respect he expected, therefore he decided to build his own GT cars to beat the Ferrari.

Lamborghini was highly motivated. He poured countless money into his new advanced factory in Sant’Agata and employed some ingenious engineers and designers, these including Giotto Bizzarrini (who designed the engine of Ferrari 250GTO), Giampaolo Dallara (chassis engineer and the founder of Dallara Racing), Paolo Stanzani (who was going to serve Lamborghini for more years, during which created Countach) and Bertone’s rising designer Marcello Gandini. With these people and the funding by Lamborghini himself, the first car, 350GTV, debuted in 1963 Turin motor show and immediately became the star of the show. In a few years’ time since then, the Sant’Agata factory created a lot of world-class supercars, such as 350GT, 400GT, Miura, Espada, Islero, Jarama, Countach and Urraco. In particular, the Miura and Countach were among the all-time greatest cars.

When Lamborghini's future seemed to be promising, it was actually suffering from continuous loss, because of high cost for supercars as well as oil crisis. F. Lamborghini’s enthusiasm cooled down quickly and finally sold the factory in 1972. As a result, production ceased for 2 years. Since then, the control of the company shifted to different hands many times and financial instability remained unchanged.

In 1987, it was taken over by Chrysler and enjoyed sufficient fund again. Most money was put into the Diablo project, which made it better developed than any previous models. Besides, an unknown amount of investment was put into the Formula 1 engine program, which saw some potential but finally ended when Chrysler pulled out. Anyway, the US giant maker sold Lamborghini to Megatech, a Malaysian company, in the early 90's. Meanwhile, the owners became Malaysian company Mycom Setdco and the Indonesian company V'Power. In the new owner's hands, Lamborghini started to find its momentum and strengthening itself. In 1998, Volkswagen group bought the supercar specialists via its subsidiary, Audi. Given the financial strength and the ambition of the German empire, hopefully the future will be brighter.