The Legend of Lambo-Rambo

Initially, Lamborghini did not intend to develop a civilian SUV, as they believed that wealthy customers were not interested in such a car. The Italians were trying to grab a much bigger piece: an order for the United States Army that would guarantee financial well-being for the sports car manufacturer for decades to come. 


At this time, the American army was looking for a replacement for the unsuccessful Ford M151 MUTT Jeep, which had a tendency to roll over, because of which there were relatively many fatal accidents with this "Military Utility Tactical Truck" in Vietnam. One of the contestants was Mobility Technology International, which, with the participation of Lamborghini, built a prototype of the Cheetah. 

"Lambo: First Blood"

The car was presented at the 1977 Geneva Motor Show, at the Lamborghini stand. The wide buggy with giant wheels was truly spectacular! However, the military did not like the handling of a rear-engine vehicle, and it also turned out that the Americans were not interested in a vehicle manufactured outside the United States. 


Lamborghini's hopes to cash in on army orders have collapsed. The losses caused by the development of the Cheetah were covered by the money received from the Germans for the development of the BMW M1, which meant that there were no funds left for the development of the Bavarian supercar, and the Germans had to continue the work on their own. Lamborghini's attempts to sit on two chairs led to a bad reputation for the company from Sant'Agata Bolognese, and ultimately to bankruptcy.

The era of the Mimran brothers

The Lamborghini factory was bought for $3 million by the "sugar kings of Africa" ​​- the brothers Jean-Claude and Patrick Mimran. Thanks to their investment, the factory's financial situation improved, and the Italians introduced the LM001 (LM stood for Lamborghini Mimran), which was essentially a modified Cheetah. 


The car remained virtually unchanged: the 5,9-liter V8 developing 180 horses was still located in the rear of the car, but doors appeared in the new body. However, the concept turned out to be a dead end: the rear-engined LM001 was too slow and almost uncontrollable.

Birth of LM002

Lamborghini started working on the next version. The engine was installed in front, and the most powerful available: a 5-liter 48-valve V12, from the Countach LP500, which produced 426 horsepower. Lamborghini LM002 was presented at the Brussels Motor Show in 1986, and by this time the Mimran brothers decided that the production model should be! 


Since the car was reoriented to the civilian market, it was equipped with a luxurious leather interior and air conditioning. In terms of dynamic performance, the Italian “brick-shaped cheetah” accelerated to “hundreds” in 8,1 seconds, and the maximum speed was 201 km / h. Later, with a 455-horsepower, 5,2-liter engine, the dynamics improved: the acceleration time to hundreds was reduced to 7,7 seconds.

Lamborghini LM002 specifications
✅ Price: $120.
✅ Engine: 5,2 L V12, 455 horses
✅ Transmission: 5-speed manual
✅ Acceleration to "hundreds": 7,7 sec.
✅ Maximum speed: 190 km-h

Lamborghini also offered a variant with the 8.2-liter "Marini" V12 L804 engine, which developed 720 horsepower in automotive specification (940 in marine spec), developed for Offshore Powerboat Racing boat races. But not a single such car was ever built - there were no madmen in the world who dared to order a "seven hundred strong flying brick."  


Also, the Italians planned to build the LM003, with a five-cylinder 150-horsepower VM Motori turbodiesel for the military. But the engine turned out to be too weak for the huge mass of the body, and things did not go further than the plans. 

Owners of Lambo-Rambo

The first copy was purchased by King Hassan II of Morocco. In general, at different times, Lamborghini LM002 cars were owned by such world celebrities as: 

✅ Formula 1 world champion Keke Rosberg
✅ Sylvester Stallone - why the car got the nickname Rambo-Lambo
✅ Singer Tina Turner
✅ Boxer Mike Tyson
✅ Rock musician Van Halen
✅ Malcolm Forbes (Forbes magazine)
✅ Stuntman Alexander Inshakov (car from the Brigade) 

But there were other, less "noticeable" owners: the Sultan of Brunei, Muammar Gaddafi, Pablo Escobar (the king of cocaine), Uday Hussein (the son of the president of Iraq), and, according to rumors, Boris Berezovsky.

Lamborghini LM002 in racing

Powerful and fast SUV with its characteristics attracted the attention of the former Formula 1 driver and four-time winner of the 24-hour Le Mans marathon Henri Pescarolo. The Frenchman invited the brothers Jean-Claude and Patrick Mimran to test the "superjeep" in the Paris-Dakar rally raid. Unlike Ferruccio Lamborghini, the Mimran brothers had nothing against motor racing, so they gave the project the green light.   


Development tests were commissioned to be carried out by the 1977 rally champion Sandro Munari. During an intense test program, Drago raced the beast along the Taro River bed to test its stability on a rocky bed, then on sand to find the right tire pressure. By and large, the rally LM002 differed little from the road version: the car was equipped with racing seats (with five-point belts), an improved navigation system, plexiglass windows, a roll cage, and a 455-horsepower V12 was boosted to 600 horses. The suspension and brakes have also been upgraded. And that's all the changes the Italians made to the LM002, Lamborghini's first factory race car.

In 1987, Lamborghini was scheduled to participate in the Rallye des Pharaons in Egypt, but at the last moment refused to start, due to the death of one of its largest sponsors. The following year, Mario Mannucci entered the Greek Rally, but the LM002 failed to make it to the finish line. Meanwhile, the Mimran brothers sold Lamborghini to the American concern Chrysler, and the factory racing team had to be forgotten. But private owners appreciated the potential of the Lamborghini LM002, and took matters into their own hands. In 1988, the World LM Racing Team privately entered the Paris-Dakar Rally in the LM002 Rallye. Officially, the bright red car with racing number 519 on the doors was not related to the company from Sant'Agata Bolognese. However, in the race the car was accompanied by a Lamborghini mechanic and a technical consultant named... Sandro Munari! 


The last time a descendant of the Cheetah was seen at the 1996 Granada-Dakar rally. A white Lamborghini LM002 with the number 246 kept a good pace both on the flooded roads of Spain and on the sands of the African desert, but trouble began in the following days. Driving at high speeds through the dunes and over rocks, combined with the car's gigantic weight, created an increased load on the suspension. After 24 shock absorbers were replaced, the team was forced to retire due to a lack of spare parts. With this, the racing career of the Lamborghini SUV ended.


"Lambo-Rambo" did not succeed either in the army, or in racing, or in civilian life. But despite the failure, LM002 still helped Lamborghini. After all, it was the first all-wheel drive car of the brand, and subsequently four-wheel drive was successfully used on the Diablo VT and Murcielago.  

Before production ceased in 1993, 328 LM002s were produced. The main reason for the failure was, of course, the starting price of $120, which in 000 was a gigantic sum. Adjusted for inflation, a Lamborghini LM1986 would cost $2020 in 002. But, I believe, if this car was produced today, then they would have paid a seven-figure sum for it! True, there would be more competitors: after all, we live in a time of fashion for productive mega-SUVs.