It took Pietro Frua 8 months to create his four door Lamborghini, he stretched the standard Espada chassis 178 mm (7 in) to accommodate the rear seats and ended up with a car totalling 4586 mm (18 ft) in length which added 200 Kg (440 pounds) to the total weight, the wheelbase went to 2830 mm, with a width of 1900 mm and a total height of only 1250 mm, the Faena really looked impressive.

This ‘special’ was revealed on the 57th Salone internazionale dell’Automobile, in Turin during the spring of 1978, it was shown again to the public on the 1980 Geneva Auto Show. The car’s lines looked clean at the front, with big headlights mounted in twin pop-up units, but the rear design spoiled the car, it did however include a sliding sunroof unlike the weird looking glass panel found on one specific Espada.
The Frua Faena didn’t prove a success, although it was very nicely built, and Pietro Frua hoped it could be produced in small quantities, but this show car was the only one ever produced.

After the Geneva Auto Show the car was sold to Lambo-Motor AG in Basle who sold it to a German collector. He still owns the car, but it remained registered in Switzerland.

In 1996 the Faena could again be admired at the Pullicino Classics in London, the car was in very good condition although it wasn’t restored yet.

This ‘Special’ remains the only four-door Lamborghini in existence, if you don’t consider the radical LM-002 as a high-speed sportscar, however Bertone did have a completed design ready for a four-door Espada, but it remained in the archives, and was never even put into prototype form.

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