See how the Lamborghini LM002 paved the way for off-road vehicles today
These days it is not too hard to imagine Italian supercar icon Lamborghini making a more practical vehicle with the first super SUV, the Lamborghini Urus being a common sight but not too long ago, imagining a Lamborghini as anything other than a coupe was virtually impossible. Yet, it did exist.
In 1982, Automobili Lamborghini unveiled its LM002, the first true off-road Lamborghini and it officially began production in 1986. It was based on the previous LM001 project and Cheetah. While this four-door pickup truck looking thing didn’t resemble any other Lamborghini at the time, it had the same raging bull soul.
Moreover, the Lamborghini LM002 also came equipped with an earth shaking V12 and all-wheel drive setup which allowed the much heavier car to achieve a top speed on par with some of the brand’s supercars at the time, a staggering 210km/h and accelerate to 100km/h from standstill in just 7.8 seconds.
The truly astonishing part, though, is that the Lamborghini LM002 managed to do all this while also being able to climb a 120 percent gradient. A Pronounced hood scoop and air intake next to it were the defining features of the car and they certainly also made the entire vehicle look more imposing.
The Lamborghini LM 002 was equipped with a rock-solid aluminium and fiber-glass body to ensure it could handle any terrain with ease. Its tyres were also specially developed by Pirelli with the goal of providing maximum grip and performance on a variety of different and difficult terrains.
On top of that, aerodynamics and lightweight principles were put aside in order to build the Lamborghini LM002, making it able to “intimidate the enemy.” The interior was also designed to reflect this, but of course, leather upholstery and air conditioning were among the options for customer comfort.
Looking back, now we can clearly see the influence the LM002 had on the design, chassis, performance and overall aesthetic of the popular Lamborghini Urus SUV. This record breaking SUV has been single handedly responsible for a major chunk of the brand’s sales and it is not hard to see why.
Clearly, success takes time, and Lamborghini’s success today began, without a shadow of a doubt, when it unveiled the LM002 in 1982 so now the brand is very confident in its abilities and rightly so, as something like this was unorthodox for a brand like Lamborghini at the time but, against all odds, they achieved it anyway.
