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Back in the day, this SUV – the Rambo Lambo – was one of the craziest vehicles on and off the road… and it still pretty much is. Damiano Barbuscia of Franco’s European takes Jay for a ride.

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Keep in mind the LM002 had no competition whatsoever back in 1982, this four-wheel drive uber-SUV was 185cm (72.7in) tall, put down 2,700kg (5,954 lbs) on four stupendously expensive Pirelli Scorpion tires … and still managed to reach a top speed of 210 Km/h (130 Mph) thanks to the 450 bhp V12 in the front.

Admittedly the Lamborghini LM002 isn’t a beautiful car, but it was the ‘Rambo Lambo’ from the Eighties, nothing would be able to come even close to this dune buggy, add to this the chilling exhaust note and the fact this beast didn’t care about fuel consumption too much and you just know not too many were sold in those days … most of them heading out to the Middle East with some going to the United States, Europe and the Far East.

Today the LM002 is still considered as one of the highlights in the production of Automobili Lamborghini SpA, only about 300 were built between 1986 and 1992 and not too many of these remain in driving order today … and those that can still be driven are hardly used anymore because of the very high costs of these monsters … fuel is one thing, but getting a spare tire is a totally different story altogether.

Lamborghini Hong Kong is proud to have one of these amazing off-road Raging Bulls on display in their Pop-up museum as of now, finished in a beautiful dark red metallic over what we think is a black leather interior, this late model LM002 features the optional OZ lightweight wheels and the small ‘bumper’s which on this car are color coded to the body (on the LM American these bumpers would be chromed and side sills would be installed).

The fact this is a later model LM002 is visible in the shape of the large box in the center of the engine cover, the early LM002 had a very ‘boxy’ shaped cover because of the V12 Quattrovalvole engine with six dual carburetors … later models received fuel injection and didn’t need the large ‘box’ anymore. Even if a Lamborghini LM002 would ever get stuck in the sand or mud, the big winch up front will be able to pull out the almost 3 ton of Raging Bull.

The Lamborghini LM002 still holds the title of being the only Lamborghini SUV in history, sure the Urus concept might succeed her in the future, but most likely the latter will not receive the massive V12 engine, so in the end the LM002 will remain a unique Bull … now on display in Hong Kong.

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The third strike was a giant step in the right direction however, Lamborghini developed a completely new chassis design and mounted their famous V12 engine in the front of the car, it was taken from the Countach LP500S model at that time and turned the LMA002 into a viable option for dune hopping, the actual prototype was shown to the public at the 1982 Geneva Auto Show.

At this time the interior was kept very simple as they intended to sell these ultra high performance off-road Lamborghinis to armed forced in the Middle East and the United States, but that didn’t quite go as planned.

As usual, things don’t always turn out as intended, and when military forces didn’t warm up to the idea of tuning six double-barrel carburetors in a war zone Lamborghini decided to take a totally different route with their impressive off-road model.

The basic layout of the LMA002 prototype remained, with a steel tubular chassis, heavy-duty suspension and a big V12 engine at the front, this time borrowed from the new Countach Quattrovalvole, albeit with a lower compression ratio for the LM002 to allow the use of 94 RON fuel.

The 1982 LMA002 was carefully perfected over the next years and a much improved production prototype was unveiled as the Lamborghini LM002 on an early 1986 Brussels Auto Show in Belgium, the final production version was shown at the Turin Motor Show later that year by the end of 1986 a total of 23 units were delivered to happy customers.

The Lamborghini LM002 was unlike anything on the market in the late Eighties so it drew a lot of attention, both good and bad as usual, orders for this over the top off-road Raging Bull slowly started to arrive in fact the very first production unit of the LM002 was delivered to H.R.H. King Hassan of Morocco in late 1986 while famous race driver Keke Rosberg ordered one too.

Soon deliveries started to go out steadily to a handful of famous owners, Sylvester Stallone owned an LM002, as did Tina Turner and Van Halen while well known Malcolm Forbes ordered one finished in his traditional ‘money green’ shade. As the LM002 was so incredibly strong both on the road and in the sand it also attracted a lot of attention from more infamous people Uday Hussein bought one, as did Muammar Qadaffi, Mike Tyson, and Pablo Escobar to name a few.

Just about every single LM002 was made to order in those days, from the basic factory model up to heavily armored versions people driving this kind of car liked to feel safe, even under less than perfect circumstances. At least one of the LM002 was equipped with the L804 engine a 7.2 liter V12 normally intended for offshore powerboat racing, but it would fit nicely in the LM002 too, aptly named LM004 in that case.

Over the seven years the LM002 was in production it became a decent success, in total 301 would be built today these cars are at least 20 years old and several have been lost over time which makes them a rare sight, hence no matter where you drive a Lamborghini LM002, you will still be admired. Back in the Eighties, a journalist for a well know car magazine nicknamed an LM002 the Rambo Lambo and that name still hangs on today, probably because of its military looks and huge power, much like the character in the famous Rambo movies if you think about it, the Lamborghini LM002 looks meaner than Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone combined.

Remember we are talking about an era years before the Hummer H1, BMW X5, Audi Q7 or Porsche Cayenne were even being developed, in the Eighties a car standing 1.89m tall and 2m wide was very impressive and whenever a Lamborghini LM002 would appear in your rear view mirror, it was time to make way for it. Chances were this 2,700 kg mammoth would pass you by at high speed in a cloud of dust and fuel fumes, this was a solid brick of steel that would reach 100km/h in less than 8 seconds and reach a top speed in excess of 200km/h on-road, and off-road (although off-road it would ‘only’ do about 180km/h) in a time we considered a Golf GTI to be fast naturally fuel consumption was something to worry about behind the wheel of an LM002, and many owners actually ran out of fuel in their LM002.

The Lamborghini LM002 was never intended to look sleek or even aerodynamic, aesthetics were meant to intimidate ‘the enemy’ not to improve fuel economy or CO2 emissions in this day and age, the LM002 could be described as a Dinosaur a blast from the past might suit it even better as the sound from those two massive exhaust pipes can only be described as the most amazing sound on the planet a pure, very deep and utterly raw animal howl!

The Lamborghini LM002 standard equipment list included just about every luxury item available in the Eighties, four leather seats, thick color-matched carpeting everywhere, air-conditioning, tinted power windows, an Alpine stereo system mounted in a roof console and looks that could (or would) kill perfect for the wealthy customer Lamborghini had in mind the person who had everything already but LM still stood for Lamborghini Military, so the idea of selling these V12 dune buggies to armed forces was still slumbering.

Rumor had it the Saudi army ordered 40 of them for their own use, to be equipped with machine guns, another rumor talked about a vast order from Libya, but neither was ever officially confirmed in fact some sources state the Lamborghini LM002 was never even made in any form of military trim, although some of them were delivered with a custom made roof panel holding two trap doors, which opened above the rear seats, probably for those armed bodyguards.

On the early models the large center bulge on the hood accommodated an equally huge air cleaner casing, mounted directly over the six Weber carburetors, the fuel supply system was equipped with two filters, in-line and in-series, and the carburetors were set to burn far less than perfect fuel. An oversized radiator with two high-speed fans kept the ‘hot’ engine cool, even while traveling through the hot desert.

Later on, the carburetors were replaced with a fuel injection system that didn’t require the large air cleaner anymore so the engine hood was modified, the angular boxes became more rounded and more importantly didn’t stand so high anymore, which improved visibility behind the steering wheel.

The LM002 was fitted with massive 325mm wide Pirelli Scorpion tires which offered unmatched road holding capabilities on both tarmac and sand, in fact Automobili Lamborghini SpA had Pirelli develop them specifically for the LM002, subsequently they offered these tires in two different tread designs, one for ‘mixed’ use and one for ‘sand’ use only.

While being rather expensive they were the only option available for Lamborghini as these were the only tires on the market that could be run virtually flat without risk and still handle the desert heat, the weight load and the high speed a Lamborghini LM002 could inflict on them.

Back in those days the Jalpa wasn’t built at the Lamborghini factory, final assembly yes, but the paint and bodywork were executed externally, the same method was used on the LM002, in fact the Irizar factory produced the bodywork and interior (located in Ormaiztegi in the Basque Country, Spain) with final assembly onto the chassis and engine in Sant’Agata to turn it into a real Lamborghini Raging Bull.

We all know the late Ferruccio Lamborghini was set against racing his cars, but by the time the LM002 was in production he already sold the car company, hence the road to competition was open and a Lamborghini LM002 actually participated in the sixth Rally of the Pharaohs, which ran in Egypt from October 18 to October 28 in 1987, as a lead car. Another LM002 was entered in the same race driven by Sandro Munari, but he decided not to start after the team leader had a deadly accident behind the wheel of an offshore powerboat. In the 1987 off-road Rally of Greece, Sandro Munari again entered with an official factory, rally-prepared LM002, co-driving with Mario Mannucci, but this rally had its share of problems and in the end a high speed section was removed from the rally, a track the LM002 would surely win, therefore Sandro decided to withdraw from the race. Before he withdrew from this race although, the Lamborghini LM002 obtained very good results in the sessions it did compete in.

Over the years the idea of an off-road Bull never completely vanished, at first an UK based company did some preliminary drawings of what would become the LM003, later on, Zagato even made concept designs for an LM003 Borneo or Galileo which in 1997 even made it into a mockup but none of these designs reached a production stage.

Do note that a Lamborghini LM003 did in fact exist at one time, in fact on the outside it was nearly identical to the LM002 production model, but on the LM003 prototype, Lamborghini installed a 5 cylinder turbocharged diesel engine from VM Motori. With a displacement of only 3,600cc and a power output of only 150hp, the task of propelling 2,700kg of steel was deemed too much and the project was shelved indefinitely the LM003 never left the rolling prototype stage.

It would take nearly 20 years after the last LM002 left the factory gates in Sant’Agata for Lamborghini to show a possible successor on April 23. 2012 the Urus was unveiled in Beijing as the next generation Lamborghini SUV model and a possible third model in the lineup next to the Aventador and the Gallardo (most likely its successor, however). Engine options for the Lamborghini Urus could include a V12 high-end sports edition and a more economical Hybrid version talk about a diesel engine surfaced again too as both the Audi Q7 and the Porsche Cayenne offer a high power diesel too.

Lamborghini already confirmed the Urus will not be entering production any time soon, rumors of an introduction in 2015 have already been declined, and 2017 has been quoted recently before we are bound to see anything close to a successor of the legendary LM002 to leave the gates in Sant’Agata.

By then it would have been 25 years for the LM002 production to have come to an end in 1992, with little over 300 units to be built, a final run of 60 LM002 were called the LM American, these came with special chromed bumpers, unique striping on both sides, upgraded leather interior, special side moldings underneath the doors and modified vents on the engine hood and on the side, also custom alloy OZ/MSW wheels were mounted, these were an option towards the end on the regular LM002 too by the way, in the final year of production a total of 12 LM002 American left the factory.

The total production is estimated between 301 and 328 units, exact numbers have been lost over time unfortunately, but it is safe to state less than 300 LM002 remain today, with prices still at a decent level a second-hand, late model fuel injected LM002 will take around $110,000 to acquire, earlier models in less than perfect shape could be yours for less than $40,000 however.

Just don’t think you can afford the Lamborghini LM002 too quickly, buying it is only half the story, think about maintenance and parts the latter being rather difficult to find after 20 years for instance, the Pirelli Scorpion tires are next to impossible to find, sure you can go for the more recent Scorpion Zero tires, but even those aren’t produced in the required 325/65 or 345/60 17 inch size all the time.

But one thing is for sure if you can afford one, and you can find the color combination you like don’t hesitate and buy it! If you talk about milestone Lamborghini models there are only a handful of them around, the Miura being one but the LM002 is surely another one, the massive off-road Lamborghini didn’t have any competition back in the Eighties and even today it has very little that can even come close to it.

Sure it is expensive to own, fuel consumption is totally ridiculous, but imaging pulling up in an LM002 next to an X5 or a Q7 and dump the accelerator pedal the sound alone will make that modern SUV next to you leave in tears. Driving an LM002 today would be so utterly inappropriate and pointless it has become essential to get one, the LM002 was years ahead of its time the competition has only just caught up with models like the Mercedes G55 AMG, sadly filling that massive fuel tank of the LM002 might put a serious damper on your enthusiasm.

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When Ferruccio had left the car company and after several owners stepped in it was time for a new, young approach and under the Mimran reign we saw the first official attempt at using a Lamborghini as a race car or a rally car to be more precise as in the mid-Eighties it was deemed the right time had come to enter the notorious Paris Dakar rally using the only model in the lineup that could finish the powerful four-wheel drive LM002.

Work began on chassis number HLA12047 to convert this regular 455hp V12 Lamborghini into a rally specs edition pumping out over 600hp, an open race exhaust was installed and a lot of excess weight was removed from the standard LM002, the sound from this highly tuned competition engine must have been very brutal, almost animal like sound when flooring the gas pedal.

A full roll cage went in the stripped down interior, only two seats remained up front boasting multi point seat belts that would strap the occupants down nicely, the dashboard got scattered with special rally switches, timers and positioning equipment as required for the big rally Paris Dakar.

Naturally the suspension was also upgraded to cope with the constant pounding of high-speed desert driving while the glass was replaced with lighter Plexiglas; the front side windows even featured small sliding part like on most race cars.

None other than rally legend Sandro Munari would be driving this factory prepared LM002 Rally edition unfortunately it was never actually driven in a Paris Dakar Rally, she was entered in the Rally of the Pharaohs in 1987 (October 18-28) but didn’t start the race after the sponsor had a deadly accident in an offshore powerboat.

The LM002 Rally re-appeared in the 1988 off-road rally in Greece, when Mario Mannucci was the driver with Sandro Munari as the co-pilot, sadly the Lamborghini didn’t finish the rally, but it did manage to hold the third position at first. After this short life in competition it is believed the engine was replaced by a more ‘standard’ V-12 and the car was sold to a collector however recent information mentions LM002 number HLA12047 is back to full factory rally specs and still part of a Lamborghini collection.
So this factory original LM002 Rally didn’t really make it into the Paris Dakar, but in 1988 a Raging Bull was entered Swiss based World LM Racing Team entered a bright red LM002 in the grueling Paris Dakar competition, and while some sources state they had to retire the race, other sources list this car with starting number 519 did actually finish in 10th position in the Marathon category.

This red LM002 was driven by Concet and Kurzen, P.A. Burnier was the owner of the World LM Racing Team while Maregrande from the Lamborghini factory was appointed as the designated mechanic and none other than Sandra Munari was a technical advisor on this car so while not an official factory entry into the Paris Dakar it still had some direct linkage to Sant’Agata.

Some specs on this 1988 LM002 Rallye (they called it Rallye instead of Rally): 5200cc V12 engine, 475hp, 3200kg in full rally load, 600 lite fuel tank with a fuel consumption of 68 Liter/100km resulting in about 900km on a full tank while reaching speeds of up to 200km/h on the street and an impressive 180km/h in the sand, with the special tires this LM002 was even able to reach speeds over 100km/h with a flat!

Another LM002 was prepared for the Paris Dakar rally by a private party, some sources state this was in 1989, other sources state 1996 one this is certain however, this orange finished LM002 was once again factory build, finished in bright orange over black I saw it parked at the Belgian importer in the Nineties, apparently bought by Hubert Siegez in 1993 (who owned the dealership in the Gossetlaan in Groot Bijgaarden, Belgium at that time). The orange LM002 was still wearing its full Rally dress, it was later sold to a Japanese collector who according to the Lamborghini Registry, still drives it with the original open exhaust system today.

So we are looking at three different LM002 that have been linked to the famous Paris-Dakar rally and the rally adventure wasn’t over yet in 1996 a heavily modified LM002 with chassis number HMA12046 was entered in the Prototype category, note that this specific LM002 was once owned by Mrs. Mimran .. back in the Eighties the Mimran family owned the entire Lamborghini factory, history is told Mrs. Mimran received the LM002 as a gift.

Famous race driver Andrea Barenghi bought the car from Mrs. Mimran in the mid Nineties and spend over a year preparing this LM002 for the toughest race in the world the Dakar! Rumor has it Garage Burnier in Switzerland took on the work of converting this LM002, the engine was taken out of the car and received a custom made injection system, the factory standard catalyst were removed and both cooling and lubrication were modified and reinforced so the car would be able to withstand anything the Dakar desert would throw at it.

Front brakes were replaced by AP units and a massive 800 liter fuel tank was mounted to increase the action radius of this rather thirsty V12 unit with more than 600hp based on a Countach unit with 455hp normally the added horsepower and the fact over 500kg was removed from the original LM002 resulted in some impressive performance figures. Do note that the original chassis of the LM002 turned out to be so structurally strong it wasn’t even necessary to modify it for the race very impressive to say the least.

So LM002 chassis number HLA12046 was officially entered into the 1996 Dakar race and received number 246, the Bull kept up with the competition very nicely, both on the flooded roads of Spain as on the African desert sand unfortunately one oversight roared its ugly head.

The LM002 was no lightweight to begin with, and the massive Pirelli Scorpion tires didn’t help keeping weight down either, hence a combination of high speed driving on bad roads and impressive jumps took their toll on the suspension. In a matter of days the team went through no less than 24 shock absorbers and had to forfeit the race due to a lack of spare parts.

Afterward the car changed hands again, it was sold to Gildo Pallanco Pastor, owner of Venturi Automobiles, who wanted to turn this final LM002 Rally into a high performance fun car to enjoy on the roads around Monaco. Pastor had the car shipped to a Lamborghini specialist who had the entire engine rebuilt, starting with a standard Countach engine once again but the project got cancelled at some time and the car was left abandoned still mostly in its Dakar race specs.

Other information mentions HLA12046 was auctioned by Poulainlefur in Paris in 1998, at that time the car still had the Swiss title. In 2008 it appeared again on the radar when it was for sale at less than 30,000 Euro as it still required a lot of work to get back to full Rally specs, apparently the engine came with two ECU, one with a 7,500rpm max and another with a 7,800rpm redline both releasing over 600hp from the V12. The owner did have a lot of work executed on the car but in the end still offered it for sale again as a project car.

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Ultimately MTI would be in charge of selling the Cheetah in the United States while it would be built in the factory at Sant’Agata, Lamborghini didn’t want to spend time on the design of an off-road vehicle so they had MTI do the development work on it, the resulting design did show a lot of similarities to another military intended model, the XR311 from FMC. This resulted in threats of legal action by FMC against MTI and Lamborghini when the final prototype was presented to the people on the Lamborghini stand during the 1977 Geneva Auto Show.

So the first Cheetah prototype was designed and built in San José, California, not in Sant’Agata Italy, it was finished in a satin desert sand shade after completing the off-road concept MTI shipped it to Sant’Agata. Lamborghini had the Cheetah shown to the public for the first time at the 1977 Geneva show, after which the car returned to the United States in late 1977 and was taken to a desert in Nevada where a commercial was actually put together (check out the video below this article).

The Lamborghini Cheetah was never actually tested or even owned by the military, but Mr Pharis did conduct demonstration runs for military personnel note the Cheetah managed to reach top speeds of 105 mph (that’s 170Km/h) in the late Seventies, which was rather impressive for an off-road vehicle.

Due to the well-known financial issues at Lamborghini during development of the Cheetah at one point MTI decided to sell the entire project to Teledyne Continental Motors, including this original prototype at the time Lamborghini was still involved. Teledyne actually started building three more prototypes in the Cheetah project, but when Lamborghini decided to cancel their Cheetah project because a military related customer couldn’t be found, these additional units were left unfinished.

The photos of a dark painted Cheetah prototype show in fact one of the three latter units, this one was the closest to completion, but still lacked rear view mirrors, the front winch, windshield and only two seats were installed instead of the four in the original sand finished prototype which contrary to common believe still exists today!

Back to the dark painted Cheetah, it was originally sold during an employee sale at Teledyne in the late Eighties, a friend of Mr Carl J. Van Raalte (who kindly supplied the photos and information on this additional Cheetah) bought it in 1989 and had it stored in his garage without even doing any research or restoration on it until late 2011.

As mentioned earlier the original Cheetah prototype was sold to Teledyne by MTI, and despite mentioned by multiple sources the one of a kind Geneva show car was never lost in an accident or destroyed beyond repair it still exists today. Rumor has it the actual 1977 Lamborghini Cheetah prototype that was shown in Geneva is now located in the United States in fact we’ve red Automobili Lamborghini SpA is eager to get it back to be displayed at the factory museum in Sant’Agata.

However the Lamborghini Cheetah showed a few flaws right from the start, a massive V8 360 Chrysler engine was installed behind the rear seats, coupled to a 3-speed automatic gearbox and continually driving all four wheels.

Note the Cheetah used a kind of ‘run-flat’ tires back in those days, the outer tire is a ‘low lbs’ version that allows additional traction in loose sand, while a second, inner tube is installed that would allow you to keep driving, even when the outer tire was damaged.

With the engine being mounted so far back on the chassis the weight balance went completely wrong, resulting in rather poor road-manners, especially in curbs. The Cheetah was initially designed to carry four armed people and a driver, sources state the initial prototype had a fiberglass body, however the dark painted car has a full steel body which other sources also state as being mounted on the initial prototype, still with less than 190hp the Cheetah was still too heavy and overall performance was not up to the required specs. The V8 engine was still waterproofed and the radiator was protected by an infrared detection system.

The decision to use an American made engine was naturally made to improve chances of gaining an US Army contract, but it soon became obvious the US Army wouldn’t invest in anything built outside the United States, and the Cheetah was rejected for military use early in the process, many sources state the prototype was tested in various desert runs, and subsequently crashed during one of those test but we now know it was only demonstrated and never lost in a crash.

Still the development and construction of the Cheetah took a lot of money, albeit not done in Sant’Agata the invoices still had to be paid, and unfortunately this was done with money destined for the design and development of a BMW E-26 prototype, which would ultimately become the successful mid-engine BMW M-1, but money ran out too quickly and the production of the BMW couldn’t be started on the agreed date, resulting in the loss of the contract and BMW turning to Baur to build their M1 super car.

Rumor has it the Lamborghini Cheetah would be available for $25,000 and a very nice brochure was put together for it to attract attention for both military use and private use, an off-road Lamborghini could be interesting for customers in the Middle-East that is probably the reason why the Cheetah was shown at the 1977 Geneva Auto Show (without a chassis number mind you), to ‘feel the market’ for a totally different Raging Bull but firm orders never materialized and when Lamborghini finally sent the Cheetah prototype back to the United States without investing any further in the development they already faced some serious financial troubles.

Lamborghini was not able to put together a new model lineup based on the Cheetah back in the late Seventies, the Cheetah got sold to another company and slowly got forgotten but the off-road adventure was far from over for Automobili Lamborghini, the Raging Bull would be back with the impressive LM002.

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This new engine was designed by Alfrieri and used very little parts from the original 5-Litre unit, this 7-Litre unit was actually destined for marine purposes and could be distinguished from the smaller V-12’s by the larger exterior dimensions and the design of the cam cover.

Several other parts around the engine were changed too, the gearbox became mechanical instead of the automatic ones in the first designs, and a special design by ZF was used, taken from the LMA-002.

The suspension was also taken from the LMA, as was the power-assisted steering, but a big difference was the use of drum brakes on the rear axle.

Lamborghini aimed the LM-004 at another category of customers, this was clearly visible on the inside of this car, the seats were changed for body-hugging types like those in the Countach, upholstered in leather, with nice carpets on the floor, a complete dashboard with radio-telephone, VHF radio, stereo system, air-conditioning, refrigerator and a cold-water tap between the back seats.

All this made the LM-004 appear like a giant, upright Countach, and this large, 3000 Kg heavy beast could even reach 200 Km/h.

Only one LM-004 was built, the new 7-Litre engine did not perform well enough to allow the increase of weight against a 5-Litre unit. Therefore, further testing was done with the 5-Litre unit, resulting in the LM-002, which would be commercialized from 1986 on, in almost the same form as the LM-004.

Note that the original LM004/7000 was actually tested by AutoCar in May 1986, perhaps you can still find a copy of this test, unfortunately this rare Lamborghini no longer exists today.

Rumors state however that it was possible to order the LM002 with the 7.0-Litre Lamborghini marine engine fitted into it, naturally on special demand for a wealthy customer, prices for this ‘option’ were never published, but then again, anyone who would order it with this massive engine wouldn’t care about a little extra cost.

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The Lamborghini LM002 or Rambo Lambo as it was called by a journalist in the United States was an SUV like no other back in the Eighties a massive V12 engine up front with a 5167cc displacement delivering 450 hp to all four wheels which in this case were massive 17 inch steel rims covered with stupendously expensive Pirelli Scorpion tires.

It would be almost impossible to get stuck in the sand with this superlative off road Bull, but the money was to be made from army use, unfortunately the Middle-Eastern armies didn’t order large numbers of it, and an attempt to sell it to the United States wasn’t met with the enthusiasm needed to boost sales.

At the end of the production in 1993, the US Importer did create a special LM Americana edition, with upgraded interior, aluminum MSW/OZ wheels and chrome bumpers to the front and rear of the car, presented at the 1992 Detroit Auto Show it managed to sell only 60 units, most of them with the fuel injected Diablo engine.

With only 60 made, thee LM Americana could be considered rather rare, but without a doubt the most exclusive LM002 ever made has to be the one presented on this page, none other than the Sultan of Brunei is believed to have put in an order for an LM002 Estate version at a Turin based body shop owned by Salvatore Diomante.

Diomante created a fully closed version of the Lamborghini LM002, which normally had an open deck at the rear to seat four to six additional men (originally intended to be soldiers in fact). By raising the roof section, stretching the rear overhang and putting in a U shaped bench arrangement in the rear the LM002 Estate could now seat five people behind the driver and passenger.

Naturally full leather hides were used inside for the very luxurious interior, add a small TV set and possibly a VCR and the owner could watch his favorite show while on the road or in the sand. Some sources state the car also had CD and DVD players but somehow I doubt these would be installed back in 1986 as the DVD only came around in 1995, home CD players did get introduced in 1982, if they made it into this LM002 only four years later I can’t confirm, nor deny.

The seats in this very special LM002 did get electric controls while the new roof also had a sliding sunroof installed and the leather interior was upgraded with custom made wood panels, even the dashboard was modified by request of the customer.

Early photographs show a white finished over a tan leather interior, however later on this car has been repainted, one photo exist of it in a bright green color with a UK registration on it, but today this one of a kind Lamborghini is finished in silver metallic over a black leather interior and it is located in Germany, on dealer plates.

In 2008 the LM002 Diomante Estate was valued around €150,000, which isn’t too bad for a car that was nearly 25 years old, today the value is still high as it is without a doubt the most impressive LM002 made, and with less than 10,000 km on the counter it might still be a solid investment.

This specific Lamborghini has been on display at the 2010 edition of Klassikwelt in Friedrichshafen while someone has spotted it in Stockholm as late at April 2012 so it is safe to say the car still exists, and is most likely still for sale right now.

There has been a rumor about a six-wheel version of the LM constructed for a customer in the Middle-East, but I haven’t been able to confirm this yet, would be pretty amazing if you ask me.

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This time it was a Lamborghini V-12, very much like the unit used in the Countach LP 500S. Because the engine was moved to the front, the entire chassis had to be redesigned; now becoming a multi-tubular steel space frame.

In the rear, space was free now for six more passengers, together with the four seats inside the vehicle this added up to ten people.

The suspension and the tires needed further development over those used for the LM-001, mainly because the LMA-002 was about 500 Kg heavier and could carry six more people. A very special naval type navigation system was installed, which used satellite references to locate the car, since it was intended to sell the car to customers who travel in the vast North African and Middle Eastern desserts.

Because the engine was in front the steering became rather heavy, but this was cured by installing power steering, on the inside the LMA-002 was finished very basically, with four simple seats and a small dashboard.

On this LMA-002, which remained a unique prototype, the four-wheel drive was not permanent, it was possible to transfer the power to the rear wheels only, and a ‘real’ five-speed ZF gearbox was installed, replacing the automatic transmission used in the LM-001.

The bodywork still used many flat panels, again to make the armoring easier; the complete roof could be opened, so the passengers could stand up. The LMA-002 was given a serial number, making it the first production LM-002 which appeared in 1982. An LM-003 was also built; in fact, it was an LM-002 with a turbo charged diesel engine (HR/692-HT) installed in it, because the military required diesel propulsion. This engine, supplied by VM of Cento, with 3590 cc displacement producing 150 bhp at 4200 rpm and connected to a ZF five-speed gearbox was too underpowered for the heavy vehicle, and the project was abandoned.

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The injection of fresh funds from the Mimran came at just the right timing, and an expansion of the lineup was desperately needed in the early Eighties, the Countach was still around, and in the same year the V8 Jalpa was shown in Geneva, next to the big LM001.

Performance

If you compare the Cheetah with the LM001 you can hardly call the latter an evolution of the Cheetah, instead it was more a revolution. Sure the engine was mounted in the same location, and it also was an American made V8 but the similarities tend to stop there. This first LM001 prototype had a 5896cc AMC engine installed, but later on the option of putting in a Countach sourced V12, 4754cc unit was taken into consideration the latter would put 375 hp on all four wheels.

The LM001 did however suffer from the same issue that plagued the Cheetah three years earlier, with the engine in this position the front to rear weight balance was less than perfect, the AMC V8 engine offered ‘only’ 180hp, but this still allowed the LM001 to reach a top speed of 160 Km/h just imagine what a 375hp V12 would mean. Taken into account the Countach put about 1,500kg down while the LM001 weighed in at 2,100 kg and didn’t have the same aerodynamic shape I do think speeds well over 200 Km/h would be possible as the Countach listed 300 Km/h as a top speed which might have been a but optimistic however.

But straight line speed wouldn’t be the issue on the LM001, cornering and outright maneuverability were negatively influenced from being tail heavy, some further development and testing was put into the LM001 before Lamborghini decided to turn around the entire concept and put the engine in the front which lead to the LMA002 prototype.

Interior & Exterior Design

If you take a closer look at the design of the LM001 it is very obvious this Lamborghini wasn’t built with sleek looks in mind, but a more practical approach was taken on this concept, a lot of flat panels were used, which would allow armor plating to be executed much easier when required for military use or to protect the wealthy owner of the car.

Up front a pair of rectangular headlights replaced the quartet of round units seen on the Cheetah, while the four doors on the LM001 were meant to stay in place, unlike on the Cheetah which was seen without doors in most photos, still the roof was able to open up, a large canvas section could be moved backwards allowing a machine gun turret to be used.

With the engine in the back some serious looking air intakes were required, these were found behind the rear doors but also in front of the rear wheels on the side sills and additionally large air vents were present at the rear too, because of this extra weight in the back it became apparent the front would become light under fierce acceleration.

It would take a radical change to the initial design of the LM001 to make it viable for sale, and the third attempt was a giant leap forward, the LMA002 was developed with the massive V12 engine between the front wheels this concept would eventually lead to the actual production version LM002 that would impress the world as a real Lamborghini.

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