Lamborghini Jarama GT – The last Lamborghini with a V12 front engine
Automobili Lamborghini celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Lamborghini Jarama GT last year, which was first unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1970.
Lamborghini JARAMA GT – PREMIERE IN GENEVA 1970
The Jarama GT was considered the latest evolution of the proven 2+2-seat GT coupé concept with a four-litre, twelve-cylinder front engine. Named after an area north of Madrid known for breeding fighting bulls, the Jarama was technically developed on the basis of its predecessors, the Lamborghini 400 GT and the Islero. The mechanical structure was carried over. What distinguishes it, however, is the line designed by Marcello Gandini for Carrozzeria Bertone, which with its taut and angular contours is more in keeping with the stylistic standards of the 1970s. The start into the new decade was to be entirely in the spirit of a sporty Lamborghini: The chassis was fitted with a brake system with four large, internally ventilated disc brakes at the front and optimally tuned with a track widened by ten centimetres to 1,490 mm and 15-inch magnesium rims by Campagnolo.
THE LAST LAMBORGHINI WITH A V12 FRONT ENGINE
The engine, powered by six Weber twin carburettors (type 40 DCOE), was the well established V12 unit with twin overhead camshafts per cylinder bank, it produced 350 hp and enabled the car to reach a top speed of 260 km/h. The bodywork of the pre-production models was assembled by Carrozzeria Marazzi in Caronno Pertusella, which had just finished production of the Islero. The production models were built at the Carrozzeria Bertone factory near Turin. The last 100 examples of the Jarama, produced in 1972, were to be a “hybrid” of body parts pressed by Bertone and assembled at Marazzi.
Lamborghini Jarama – THOROUGHBRED SPORTS CAR WITH A COMFORTABLE INTERIOR
Equipped with leather upholstery and air conditioning, the interior was decidedly luxurious. It was respectably spacious for a sports car and also offered a comparatively large boot. Production was extended from the 1972 Geneva Motor Show to include the 365 hp Jarama GTS version, which featured a transverse air intake on the bonnet and two air outlets behind the front wheel arches. Inside, there was a new dashboard with modified instruments and a different design of the front seats for more space in the rear. There were also differences in the wheels on the GTS: the central lock was omitted and the alloy wheels were less elaborately designed. The Jarama, of which a total of 328 were produced, is an important model in Lamborghini’s history: not only because of its light and striking lines, which still have an aesthetic appeal today, 50 years later, but also because it was the last front-engined GT from Sant’Agata Bolognese. After all, apart from the LM002 and Urus super SUVs, Lamborghini had only produced mid-engines since then.
Number of models produced
Lamborghini Jarama GT: 1970-1973, 176
Lamborghini Jarama GTS: 1972-1976, 152
Text Lennart Klein Pictures Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.
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