Lamborghini Espada: Gandini art part 2

Since I have nothing to report from the Paris Motor Show (I wasn't there), let me present another Italian 70's sports/super car to you. Designed by the same person as the car from the previous post.

Lamborghini Espada in Rosso

The Lamborghini Espada was the most sold Lambo before the Countach. When you think most sold car remember which manufacturer we're talking about. They made and sold an overwhelming 1,217 Espadas during its ten years in production (1968-1978). This was huge for Lamborghini since they only sold a couple of hundred cars per model at that time. And for you classic car buyers, this also means that there are many Espadas out for sale today at quite a reasonable price - for a classic Lamborghini at least.

The 928 next to it looked like and SUV

As revealed in the title it was designed by one of Bertones greatest designer Marcello Gandini. The styling is sleek and... well, long. The long lines at the sides and the bonnet emphasize the length of this four-seater. Espada is Spanish and means sword. This charactarizes the cars sharp look. I just wonder if the name was invented after it was designed or the other way around. The cars other dimensions are as extreme as its length. It's under 1.2 meters high and close to 1.9 meters wide. Lamborghini had come a long way from the tractor dimensions. Some Gandini styling details are the NACA ducts on the bonnet, which I believe are functional. They better be, for the good of the engine lying beneath. 

NACA ducts give some depth to the king-size - large bonnet

The wheels are copied from the Miura

This vast car needs a powerful engine to hurl it forward. Luckily Lamborghini only makes engines with more than a few cylinders. The Espada has a version of Lambo's 3.9 litre V12 also seen in the Miura. Power output changed over the years from an initial 330 horsepower to 350 in the series II. Weirdly, for the series III the power was reduced to 325 HP. There were also ugly US-spec bumpers added to the series III which made it less desirable. That meant the series II sold the most and is the most wanted Espada today. 

The fuel filler is behind the plastic ducts

What comes to Italian supercars this may not be the most striking but it has an enormous amount of road presence. It is usable too with a large boot and two very usable backseats. Jay Leno talks about his Espada being his only car for some time. This is obviously possible only in a country where fuel prices are so low that it's almost viewed as a human right.