The story of the Lamborghini LM002 #blogpost

The Lamborghini LM002 was a major departure for Lamborghini, and still is, since everyone knows of Lamborghini as a producer of some of the most jaw-dropping supercars ever seen. However in a way it went on to help define Lamborghini in the future. It was the first AWD vehicle they ever made, and AWD has been used to great effect by Lamborghini since the mid-nineties (on the Diablo VT). It was also used pretty much as a status symbol - as most Lamborghinis are today, to be honest. But why was the LM002 made?

Work on the project started when American defence contractor Mobility Technology International (MTI), asked Lamborghini for help to build an all-terrain vehicle with military applications. The product was unveiled at the 1977 Geneva Motorshow as the Cheetah, featuring a rear mounted 5.9 litre Chrysler V8, but it unfortunately looked nearly identical to another all-terrain vehicle built for military applications, the FMC XR311. When FMC threatened legal action, the Cheetah was promptly abandoned. The XR311 went on to become the HUMVEE.

At roughly the same time, Lamborghini had been approached by BMW to help build a mid-engined supercar that would enable BMW to go racing in Group 4. Thanks to a lack of funds, BMW soon took the project over themselves, and the car eventually became known as the M1.

The two projects tarnished Lamborghini’s reputation, and the business nearly went bankrupt.

In 1980, Lamborghini was bought by Swiss brothers Patrick and Jean-Claude Mimran, and they started the process of nursing Lamborghini back from the brink. The Cheetah was developed into the LM001, which was shown at the 1981 Geneva Motorshow, and by the year after the first LM002 had been built. It featured a V12 from the Countach, this time in the front as the rear-engined layout was not ideal for off-road driving. A viscous centre differential and the 345 Pirelli tires made it rather capable off-road.

Since the car was too complicated to be used by the military, it was decided that the car would be developed for the civilian market instead, and as a result featured a leather interior and air conditioning, along with other luxuries. The car was aimed at Middle Eastern Sheiks, to be used for whatever Middle Eastern Sheiks do in the desert. It is said that the car was the ideal tool for scouting for oil fields.

The car was owned by many famous people: King Hassan of Morocco, Keke Rosberg, Sylvester Stallone, Tina Turner, Van Halen, Malcolm Forbes, Mike Tyson, Uday Hussein, Muumar Qadaffi, Pablo Escobar…

There was also a prototype, called the LM004, which featured a marine-derived 7.0 V12, but it didn’t perform brilliantly well compared to the standard 5.0 V12 when weight and development cost was considered so no more examples were ever built.

The Sultan of Brunei also commissioned an estate version, which was built by a Turin workshop owned by Salvatore Diomante. The car was now able to seat five people behind the driver and passenger, and as a result practicality was greatly increased

In 1988, a LM002 was sent to be modified to be entered into the Paris-Dakar rally. The car was stripped of unnecessary weight and the engine tuned to over 600 hp. It ran in an off-road race in Greece, where it failed to finish. Due to a lack of funds the car never raced again.

However, a LM002 was entered into the 1988 Paris-Dakar rally by World LM Racing Team. With 475 hp and weighing 3200 kg, sources claim that the car came either 10th or retired.

A LM002 was also entered into the 1996 Paris-Dakar rally, this time by racing driver Andrea Barenghi. This car featured a 800 litre fuel tank and over 600 hp. However the car went through twenty four shock absorbers in a matter of days (thanks to the weight and the condition of the terrain), and had to retire from the race because of a lack of spare parts.

This is my first blog post in a while, and is serving as revision for my English exam, so please comment with any writing tips :) And if anyone has more information on the LM002 then please do comment as well.

Thanks for reading.

(Most of the information was taken from http://www.lambocars.com/lambonews/ and Wikipedia)

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Comments

Dan Dominé

Nice post ! I never would have thought they tried to do the Dakar in this heavy monster.

05/14/2016 - 08:22 |
12 | 0

Thanks :) and yeah I agree. I suppose if you’re going to do the Dakar you might as well start off with a vehicle very capable off-road

05/14/2016 - 08:24 |
2 | 0
Dat Boi

What were Lamborghini thinking when using a V12 for a military vehicle, those weber carburettors would have been a pain to do maintenance in the field

05/14/2016 - 08:40 |
8 | 0

That’s exactly why it wasn’t used much by an army! Lamborghini didn’t have much experience with military vehicles and they probably thought that the power would be useful

05/14/2016 - 08:42 |
1 | 0
Andrei Mihai

Great post !!! Nice to find out new things about the LM002 !

05/14/2016 - 09:35 |
1 | 0

It was definitely a surprise for me when researching this! I never knew that their was this much to the story :)

05/14/2016 - 09:40 |
1 | 0
[ Insert Name Here ]

I laughed way to much at “The car was aimed at middle eastern sheiks,to be used for whatever middle eastern sheiks do at the desert.”
Neverthless, great post, and good luck with the grades :)

05/14/2016 - 11:08 |
1 | 0

Nah mate, yours is a little clearer in some places. Great article!

05/14/2016 - 12:19 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Well that makes no sense,
I want to build a heavy and strong military vehicle, I should ask jaguar for help
The article is very good though :)

05/15/2016 - 16:17 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I know it does seem a bit stupid 😂 and cheers :)

05/15/2016 - 20:36 |
0 | 0