With permission from the Lamborghini Urus, there was a model born on the lines of Sant’Agata Bolognese that was as practical as it was controversial. It had two doors, a comfortable space for four people and its name had nothing to do with a bull, although it did with the world of bullfighting. Today we tell you the history of the Lamborghini Espada.
The Lamborghini Espada was an express request that Ferruccio Lamborghini did to Marcello Gandini, from Bertone: he wanted a true four-seater to expand his range of sports cars and he presented it to the world at the 1968 Geneva Motor Show. It did not go unnoticed by anyone because that model is one of those that generates extreme opinions : Or you love it, or hate it. There seemed to be no middle ground.
An aesthetic controversy
For its design they were chosen very sharp strokes, where the front ones stood out, especially: so much so that it seemed impossible that under that hood there would be room for a V12. Attention was drawn to a resource used, still, today: the split rear window. And what generated the most conversation were its measurements, which for many were completely unbalanced: it was 4.73 meters long, 1.86 meters wide and 1.18 meters high.
We will give you some information to give you a more exact idea: the Lamborghini Espada’s roofline was about the height of an adult’s waist. This complicated things for its occupants and made it easier for the vehicle itself because its center of gravity was very low. If we add to this the location of the wheels, almost at the corners, and their independent suspensions, we will have a (real) four-seater sports car with excellent performance.
An interior with four seats
The interior of the Lamborghini Espada was synonymous with waste in terms of qualities and finishes: there was no lack of leather, wood, Alcantara upholstery, the most luxurious materials… and some formulas that surprised at that time and are common today. The driving position was fully oriented towards the driver: a part of the instrument panel could be rotated and the controls were a generous size.
But that was not what called attention when you managed to access the cabin of the Lamborghini Espada. Having overcome the obstacle of entering a car that was 1.18 meters high, you ran into four royal squares, which were integrated into the chassis floor. The reason? It was necessary to leave room for the gearbox and the transmission shaft that moved the rear wheels. Thus, the two rear seats are separated by a central tunnel rare in that row.
The particularities of your V12
This use of the interior space was also possible thanks to the mechanical scheme of the Lamborghini Espada: it was powered by a 3.9-liter V12 that started developing 325 CV and came to deliver 350 CV reaching 11,000 rpm. It could easily reach a top speed of 250 km/h and these features made it, in 1968, the fastest four-seater vehicle in the world.
The Lamborghini Espada’s engine was located longitudinally on the front axle, but, as we anticipated before, its power went to the rear axle. With this bet, in Sant’Agata Bolognese they managed a distribution of weights that was practically 50:50. And, by the way, they could conceive a cabin in which four people could travel comfortably… as the boss had requested.
Another of its particularities was the power supply of that V12. The Lamborghini Espada had two deposits and each of them had a capacity of 47 liters: imagine what it would mean to go through the service station with this sports car today. There was a nozzle on each side of the car, but the tanks were connected, so one of them could fill both: an operation that could take up to 20 minutes.
ten years of history
With a total of 1,227 units, the Lamborghini Espada became in the best-selling model of the house during its ten years of production: from 1968 to 1978. During that decade, both the interior and the mechanics evolved: the bodywork, however, remained intact. They didn’t want to touch it because it represented the spirit of Italian GTs… and because it caught the eye from the start: for better and for worse.
