What is the first thing that pops into your head the moment you hear "Lamborghini?" That's right. You imagine this sleek car with aggressive styling, tons of power, and a jaw-dropping 0 to 60 run time. Well, that is not it. TheStradman just got himself a new (scrap that, it's old!) Lamborghini LM002!
James Lucas Condon, known online as TheStradman, bought a Lamborghini, but it is unlike any Lamborghini on the road today. It doesn't look sleek; it has no aggressive styling and no tons of power for some breathtaking run from 0 to 60. It is an SUV. Nope, it's not the Urus. It's the first Lamborghini SUV.
Long before rolling out the Urus and many of its sports cars, for that matter, Lamborghini used to build tractors and, yes, the Italians even built an SUV. It came into the world bearing the name LM002, with the "LM" lettering standing for "Lamborghini Military."
Lamborghini introduced the LM002 at the Geneva Motor Show in 1982, in an era when little did the market know about SUVs. The story went way back, starting with the codenamed Cheetah military vehicle from 1977.
But the project was never greenlighted, so Lamborghini stopped before it even began. The only finished prototype was never actually tested by the US military. Later on, Lamborghini came up with the LM001, which was built around what used to be the Cheetah and powered by an AMC V8 engine. But it just didn't work out for them with this one, either.
However, Lamborghini was determined to roll out an SUV, even if it would have sent the company down the bankruptcy slope, and started working on the LM002. The LM002 got a brand-new chassis and the V12 from the Countach installed at the front. The "Rambo Lambo" was unveiled in 1986.
Photo: TheStradman | YouTube
The military version of the LM002 had minimal equipment on board, but the civilian vehicles had a built-in radio, AC, a premium stereo in the roof console, and seats wrapped in leather. The model rode on the then-newly developed Pirelli Scorpion tires with a custom run-flat tread design. It was the high-rider that paved the way for the off-roaders to come.
It was a truck with a sports car personality. It was capable of climbing a 120 percent gradient and doing 130 mph (210 kph) on the highway. That same engine made the Countach a land rocket by the standards of the era, running from 0 to 60 in just 5.3 seconds. The SUV needed 7.7 seconds for the same run.
The V12 pumped out 444 horsepower (450 metric horsepower) and 369 pound-feet (500 Newton meters) of torque, while it stopped at only 348 horsepower (353 metric horsepower) and 319 pound-feet (433 Newton meters) in the Countach.
Lamborghini built 301 such examples, and only 60 of them, labeled as the LM/American, were sold in the United States. The one that TheStradman bought is one of the sixty. In fact, he has another one at home, one painted in black. He's made the Yin and Yang combo in his garage.
James got pulled over while driving the vehicle home on a road in Utah just two minutes after he unloaded it from the trailer, because the Lambo was not registered. "I am just driving it home," he explained. He also told the officer the story of the unusual SUV that he was driving. That must have convinced him to let him get away with driving an unregistered vehicle.
Photo: TheStradman | YouTube
TheStradman had bought the SUV for quite a while, but he kept it in Ohio, where it underwent repairs, which made the carbureted V12 purr like a kitten, he says. Eight months ago, when he made the purchase, he paid $400,000. He wanted to drive it home, but things did not go according to plan.
First, he ran out of gas because the fuel gauge did not work. He called an Uber driver to take him to the gas station, he jumped over a barbed wire fence, and he returned with gas, but the truck still wouldn't start.
His friends came to save the day, but while working on it, the Lambo caught fire. They put it out on time and made it work, but realized that was just the beginning of a lot of issues that had to be fixed.
The LM002 still needs a lot of attention, and getting parts for a vehicle that has been out of production since 1993 is not exactly the easiest thing to do.
The high-ride Lambo is perfectly functional and looks impeccable if you don't start fault-finding. James was planning to drive it all the way home again just like he tried to do eight months ago. But July weather would be the end of it. The V12 might overheat, so there is really no reason to take that chance.
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