No One Remembers The Last Front-Engined Lamborghini Car

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The Jarama is the Lambo we keep forgetting.

In the early seventies, Ferruccio's line up was all about the late Miura SVs or the 2+2 gran turismo Espadas, and while the V8 powered Uracco wasn't the factory's greatest creation, even that got more attention (thanks to its mid-engined configuration) than the beautiful Islero's successor. Maybe that's why only 328 were made.

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The Jarama was born because Lamborghini had to redesign the Islero in order to meet the brand new safety and emissions regulations in the US. But instead of a simple facelift, they came out with this. The Jarama was designed by Marcello Gandini of Bertone, which is probably why it reminds us of Alfa Romeo's Montreal or the Iso Lele, another two of his creations from the late sixties.

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It was built on the Espada's chassis shortened by 10.7 inches, and a proper four-litre Lamborghini V12 under the hood. Ferruccio himself used one of the later GTS models, which had 365 horses and power steering. It was the last front-engined Lamborghini car, although they experimented front-mounted engines again with the "Rambo Lambo" SUV.

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Look at it, and imagine one sorted out, a bit lowered, and with at least 320 horsepower left under the hood. Sounds like a pretty good dream to me. The same could be said about a new front-engined Lambo with a V12 which is not a SUV, dear Mr. Winkelmann!