LM002 – Lamborghini’s Heavyweight

The concept of the sports utility vehicle, or SUV for short, is one the masses seem to have picked up and run with. Ask some industry experts and they’ll put the Nissan Qashqai of all things at ground zero. SUV genesis, if you will. The same experts will also tell you that the Nissan became affectionately known as the ‘Cash Cow’ given how it flew out of dealerships with minimal effort from sales staff. But what, you may be wondering, does this have to do with Italian purveyors of automotive lunacy, Lamborghini? 

Well, look at the current Lamborghini lineup and you’ll be greeted with the usual suspects; the Aventador and the Huracán. Low-slung, two-seat supercars that exist to thrill petrolheads. Traditional Lamborghini stuff. But then there’s the oddball, the newest model to wheel into the Lamborghini stable – the Urus. A Lamborghini SUV. 

The Urus is a bizarre creation, but one that seems to be working for the Italian company. And this is, strangely, a legacy of the Nissan mentioned earlier. The Urus is a response to a new need from the motoring public. The days of the traditional saloon, hatch or estate are dying. The market wants to be up high, it wants to be big, it wants to have a whiff of off-road ability (even though it’s often completely absent). The Urus, like the Aston Martin DBX, the Porsche Cayenne and whatever Ferrari is currently working on are not cars the manufacturers wanted to build, they’re cars they had to. 

The Urus, however, is not Lamborghini’s first swim in tall, off-road waters. Back in the ‘80s, there was the car you’re looking at here, namely the Lamborghini LM002. A curious machine of positively Brobdingnagian proportions, this was Lamborghini’s answer to making light work of the roads less travelled back in the ‘80s. But unlike its modern Urus cousin, the LM002 wasn’t a car Lamborghini needed to make. It was one it wanted to. And not because of pressure from the market, but because of a question posed by the money men of the military world. 

The story starts back in the 1970s when Lamborghini was approached by American company, Mobility Technology International. Responsible for supplying the U.S Military with mobility solutions, MTI wanted to team up with Lamborghini to develop a semi fast-attack military vehicle that could move troops and enough guns and ammunition for a Die Hard-esque shoot-out. 

It might seem strange to approach Lamborghini for such a vehicle, but let us not forget that Lambo’s heritage was in agricultural vehicles such as tractors and bulldozers. This heritage tied with the company’s successful advance into performance made them a more than perfect partner for MTI. And in the late ‘70s, Lamborghini proved it with the Cheetah. A tall, off-road machine with a Chrysler V8 wedged in the back of it. Sadly, it was terrible. And it was also a blatant rip-off of the American-built XR311. Lawyers got involved. MTI hid under a cushion. It was all very messy. Only one Cheetah was built. Some sources say it was destroyed in a crash, while others say it lives on in private hands. 

Despite the project being a disaster, and nearly crippling the company, it still pumped the creative juices of Lamborghini’s team. As such, they went back to the drawing board and in ‘81 unveiled the LM001 – Lamborghini Militaria in case you’re wondering. And again, it was pretty hopeless. The 5.9 Chrysler was in the back, which made the handling somewhat… unpredictable. One was built before the project was given a ‘at least you tried’ trophy. 

Now you’re expecting us to tell you they made the Lamborghini LM002 and that was that. But we’re not, because before we arrive at the car you’re looking at here, there was the LMA002. This vehicle, of which only one was built (shocker, right?) was an important step, as Lamborghini opted to put the engine in the front. This made it far more stable. It also made it more versatile. It could transport five people inside, and thanks to the engine not being in the way, another six could ride in the bed. This made it a more attractive proposition for the military. Well, almost. The fact Lamborghini put a V12 in it made it a bit, well, daft. Though history says the Saudi military ordered 500 – 1000 LMA002s, but the deal never came to fruition.  

By now, you’d think Lamborghini would have given up. But it didn’t. Instead, it unveiled the LM002 at the 1986 Brussels Auto Show. but it was no military special. Lamborghini, tired of chasing contracts from men in camouflage, made it as a road car. For normal people. Like, um, Sylvester Stallone. And thus, the name ‘Rambo Lambo’ was born. We’re not making this up. 

While Lamborghini did still have hopes of a military contract, it would never come. The LM002 was too wild even for them. As a consumer vehicle, it also somewhat missed the mark. Lamborghini did its best, filling it with leather, air conditioning, Pioneer stereo and power windows. It also had decent road manners, thanks in no small part to the Pirelli Scorpion tyres that were made specifically for this vehicle – run-flat tyres, no less. Oh, 345/60 R17 in case you’re wondering. 

The LM002 had it all, really. It was capable off-road thanks to the power from the 450hp V12 (which could be upped to a 7.2 marine V12 for the completely loony) and the locking differentials, high and low ratio gears and high ground clearance. It was fast, too, and could provide brave drivers with thrills when knocked into rear-wheel drive. Especially as the LM002 was only ever fitted with a 5-speed manual transmission. And you could drive it forever, thanks to the 290-litre tank. Though you’d have to sell a kidney to afford said fill-up (about £400). 

In reality though, the LM002 was just too wild, it was too much of an oddity. Lamborghini was known for building the wild and the unhinged, but the LM002 was perhaps a step too far even for them. At least, it was at the time. The years, we think, have been kind to the LM002. Now the car carries with it a hard-earned enigma and mystery. In today’s automotive landscape of ubiquity, the LM002 is perhaps a reminder of what can be done when the rules are thrown away. It’s even more wild than the Urus, the only Lamborghini to succeed the LM002 in the SUV segment. 

Only around 300 LM002s were built and sold between 1986 and 1993. Though, the number will be less now. We know for a fact the American military, somewhat ironically, discovered one and, not knowing what it was, they blew it to bits to observe the effects of a car bomb! It was only after the shrapnel settled that they realised what it was – as it turned out, it once belonged to Uday Hussain, son of Saddam!

To find one today is near impossible, yet that’s exactly what we’re presenting you with here. The car pictured in this piece could be yours. It’s not got the marine V12, but that’s just fine. It’s for sale with Bell Sport and Classic and, well, just look at it. It’s got a rugged, oddly beguiling charm about it. It’s balshy and big, but it knows it and wears it well. This Lamborghini LM002 in particular has been restored recently by the talented team at Bell Sport & Classic, and with just 13,000km on the clock, it stands as one of the purest, most original examples out there. At £285,000, it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But for the special buyer who does take the plunge, they’re getting more than a car. They’re getting a slice of history, a vehicular reminder of how brilliantly bonkers things once were. And more importantly, they’re getting something far more interesting, far more exclusive and for more captivated than a ‘run of the mill’ Urus.

Credit to the talented Scott Pattenden (@scottpattenden) for the photography on display here. And thank you to Bell Sport & Classic – the classic dealer that currently has this Lamborghini LM002 available to buy. Also the same people who carried out the careful recommissioning work.