In 1970,
Lamborghini introduced the Urraco at the Turin Motor Show. Like many other
Lamborghini cars, its name reflected Ferruccio
Lamborghini’s fascination with bullfighting, as Urraco was the name of a bull that killed a famous toreador. Designed to compete with the Ferrari Dino, the new Lamborghini was an affordable alternative to the Miura sports car. Designed by Bertone’s Marcello Gandini, the 2+2 coupe was, in
comparison to other
Lamborghini designs, somewhat conventional in appearance. Heretics might say that it resembled AMC’s Javelin.
Under the skin, Urraco was Italian to the core. It was powered by a 182-horsepower 2-litre V-8 mounted transversely midships in a cost-effective, stamped-steel unibody chassis. Fully independent, coil-spring suspension gave it the requisite handling capability of a true sports car. Engine displacement was increased in subsequent versions of the Urraco, and the car’s final 3-litre powerplant delivered a healthy 265 horsepower. Only 791 Urracos were built, and the model was discontinued in 1979.The Geneva Motor Show of 1981 introduced the successor to
Lamborghini’s affordable sports cars.
Named
Jalpa after a notorious breed of fighting bulls, it was built on the same unibody chassis as Urraco and Silhouette. In show trim, the car was fitted with Silhouette’s 3-litre V-8, but the production model hit the ground with a 3.5-litre powerplant. Similar in appearance to its predecessors, the
Jalpa differed from them only in its larger fender flares and a more pronounced hump on the rear engine cover.
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