An elephant in a bull's stable: Lamborghini LM002

Italian exotic carmaker Lamborghini recently launched the luxurious Urus SUV. While the "Super Utility Vehicle" is the most recent SUV from the Italian garage, it is certainly not the first. That title goes to the LM002, which is a rugged SUV built between 1986 and 1993.

Popularly known as the ‘Rambo Lambo’, the Lamborghini LM002 was built with the sole purpose of being sold to the military, as well as oil exploration and production companies. The rugged, boxy SUV was developed with Mobility Technology International and was first named the Cheetah. The production version was powered by a 5.9-litre, V8 engine which was sourced from Chrysler. It made 192PS of maximum power and was mated to a three-speed automatic gearbox.

However, the SUV was plagued with poor handling as the rear-mounted engine, and 2042kg of kerb weight shifted its centre of gravity against the LM002’s favour. Lamborghini shelved the project and handed over the SUV to General Motors, who went on to develop the legendary Humvee.

But Lamborghini was not a quitter and restarted the LM002 program, this time remedying its mistakes. The new LM002 was powered by a front-mounted, 5.2-litre V12 engine. This motor made 455PS of power which was enough to propel the massive SUV. This engine was also shared by one of its siblings and one of the earliest supercars, the Countach.

Lamborghini offered the SUV as a proper luxury vehicle; complete with air conditioning, leather upholstery and tinted power windows. However, with an increasing demand for the SUV, Lamborghini borrowed a bigger 7.2-litre, V12 motor from a powerboat and installed it in the LM002. It even got wide 325/65 Pirelli Scorpion tyres which had a run-flat tread pattern.

Lamborghini halted the LM002’s production in 1993 after just 328 units were manufactured. Lamborghini focussed solely on high-performance, exotic hypercars thereon, till the advent of the Urus.

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