The Lutteral Conahue - customer spec before it was cool

Lutteral was a company set up by Juan Carlos Lutteral that modified the Argentinian IKA Torino. The company modified the cars externally, but also changed the mechanics and the interior. A big part of the company was to produce a car for the customer. There were four different versions, offered with different gear ratios, colours, engines and interior trims. Aerolastique air suspension was also developed for this car, which enabled the car to rise or lower by up to five centimetres, and there were also different ride quality options.

The first cars were made in 1968, with the straight-six tornado engine from Jeep. It produced 220 hp at 5400 RPM with a compression ratio of 9.5:1 in the highest version, the GTA-220. This car featured the fastback styling and was came standard with a different gear ratio from the other three (all three gear ratios were available on all four versions)(3.07:1, 3.31:1, 3.54:1).

The lower version, the GT-195 had 195 hp at 5400 RPM and a compression ratio of 8.5:1. This car featured a slightly different fastback from the GTA-220, and came standard with a a gear ratio of 3.31:1.

Then there was the Coupé-175, featuring 175 hp at 4800 RPM and a compression ratio of 8.5:1. This car lost the fastback styling, but still remained a coupé.

Finally, there was the Safari-175, with the same engine as above, but based on the four door version of the Torino.

In 1970, updated versions were released with minor upgrades. Production reached 10-12 units per month and many famous Argentinian people bought the car.

In 1972, the TT was released, featuring a new dovetail design.

The cars weren’t updated until 1977, apart from an engine upgrade giving 205-240 hp. In 1977, a new car was revealed, called the Comahue 1980, as it had pieces of technology that would only arrive in the next decade. There were two versions, the SST-TT and the SST-GT. The headlights were concealed and came up automatically when it got dark, new seats, and many other things that Google Translate couldn’t translate properly. However the biggest new feature was the optional digital dashboard, only a year after the Aston Martin Lagonda. All the engine functions were displayed, along with a digital clock. There was also a semicircular steering wheel.

By 1979, the economic situation in Argentina led to the demise of the company, with only 1000 cars ever made.

These cars explored something forty years ago that supercar manufacturers like McLaren are only exploring now: the idea of the customer being a part of the design process. But even now these companies are not doing it to the extent that Lutteral did. Even the idea of personalisation only became apparent within the last decade with cars like the Fiat 500 and the new MG range. I believe that Juan Carlos Lutteral is one of the true pioneers of the automotive world.

Thanks for reading.

#blogpost

Also, here are some of my other posts about Argentinian cars:
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/w9jp2o2/
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wqm4qoq/
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wvl8e88/