by Mike –
Introduced in 1967 the Lamborghini Espapa was styled by Marcello Gandini of Bertone and based on the Marzal show car and the Bertone Pirana, a rebodied Jaguar E-type, both Gandini’s designs.
This was Lamborghini’s most successful car to this point with 1,217 produced from 1968 to 1978. It has a great V12 engine designed by Giotto Bizzarrini (with help from Gian Paolo Dallara) and will carry four people in style, quickly.
2013 was the 50th anniversary of Lamborghini and most of the car shows were celebrating Lamborghini. At Monterey Car Week in August 2013 I saw more Espadas in a few days than ever before.
Chassis design is by Gian Paolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani, and Bob Wallace. The Espada uses the same engine as the Miura (also styled by Gandini) and except for the beautiful curvy styling of the Miura, the mid-engine placement in the Miura and the four seats in the Espada they are basically the same car – but today the Espada cost about 10% of the cost of an equivalent condition Miura, depending on the models.
Both the Miura and the Espada were sold at the same time for a while with the Miura being the sexy sports car in the Lamborghini line up and the Esapda being the mature four-seater adult car.
If you drive down the street in an Espada it will get a lot of attention and when you attend a Concours you likely will not see an Espada but there will probably be at least one Miura.
Although the purchase price is a major attraction for the Espada, the repair and restoration costs are probably about the same as for a Miura. So a potential buyer needs to be diligent in the pre-purchase inspection and history check.
This brown Espada shown here was at Concorso Italiano in 2013 in a special display area and is probably the best condition Espada I have seen in person. It had just completed a full restoration and had been driven on a long drive and still looked like new.
I like the Lamborghini Espada.
More Espadas from Monterey are in the slide show below.
Let us know what you think in the Comments – do you like the Espada?
Lamborghini Espada
Has a Espada not the same design as the Iso Lele?
I was told that Iso chancel the contract by the designer because this contract say’s that they must build at least 1200 cars.
Thats why the Espada build was running so long.
Rivolta use the design to create the Lele, like he did whit the Gordon Geeble for the Iso GT .
Simon
Simon,
The Espada and Iso Lele were both designed by Marcello Gandini of Bertone as was the Lamborghini Jarama which looks a lot like the Lele.
Give me a Lele anyday over the Espada, and I don’t care the cost of either one.
Jim,
There are plenty of Leles for sale today.
There is a nice red one in Brussels for sale. They are asking a little less than 100k, then you have to ship it.
Nice car, but way above the Hagerty price guide.
Without a doubt the Espada would rank up there with elite designs like the Aston Martin Lagonda, AMC Pacer, Matador and Gremlin, the Volkswagen Thing and, the Nissan S Cargo, Show me a car with lots of front and rear overhang that looks as wide as it is long and I’ll show you a show stopper.
It has to be the worst design ever by Lamborghini.
Ouch!
There is a Lele for sale on bringatrailer.com for sale now. Unfortunately it is a automatic transmission.
I also own a Lamborghini Espada. My father purchased it new in 1973 and I inherited it 10 years ago. Not many exotics can boast being owned by the same family and even by an original driver for over 40 years. Imagine my fun driving it on a date at age 18!
As for the comment that the car is not aesthetic, I respectfully disagree. This was an innovative design from Bertone for what was at the time, the fastest 4 seat exotic in the world. There were none like it. I can fit suitcases and golf clubs in the boot and drive this V-12 beast for hours up to a max speed of 155mph.
It was designed as a grand tourer and go all day on the road at 90mph.
My car still turns heads whether the car is parked or on the road. That is the definition of a classic!
Great car, very cool look and unfortunately, not many left. I show my car every year at the Pittsburgh Vintagr Grand Prix. It’s always got a crowd around it.
By the way, my car only has 18,000 miles on it. Yes, it’s a very cool car to own!
A car that absolutely polarises opinion on design. It is “love it”, or “hate it”. Seems to be no middle ground.
For me, it is subtle design and so understated for a Lamborghini. Adorable car, I LOVE it.
I’m fortunate enough to own an Espada and a Miura. They are quite different cars.
The Espada is elegant, swift, roomy and my best description for driving it, is that it “swoops” down the road.
Effortless pace and a comfortable long distance drive.
The Miura is a shorter wheelbase and handles so differently, a slightly edgier engine tune (cam and carbs?) and much noisier with the integrated gearbox. A great and easy enough driver, but certainly less restful than the Espada.
Both have very compliant suspension and with the tall sidewall tyres, quite comfortable cars to ride in for long hauls.
The New Zealand Lamborghini Register has 6 or 7 lambos taking a drive next weekend to celebrate Ferrucio’s 100th. Will try and send some pics of the tour.
Thanks Tony, it is great to hear from someone who drives both an Espada and a Miura.
Please send in photos!
In the grand scheme of things this is trival but I’d kill for those seats in my Rivolta.
Getting a 6 foot tall, 220lb guy in the back of the Espada while another 6ft 4″ , 230lb mate was in the front , and the 4th guy at 5’10 and 240lb could have been a disaster, but there was enough room for all and we just settled in for the ride, everyone enjoying a turn at the wheel for a 400km round trip.
Only glitch was one driver didn’t realize the 100 on the speedo was mph, not kph (160kph!). Our limit here is 100kph with policing and fines for speeding brutal.