With Extra Time On My Hands I Reviewed My Lamborghini Espada Service Records

by Mike Gulett –

Because of the stay-at-home situation due to the coronavirus I have some extra time on my hands. I recently dug out all of the documents that came with my 1971 Lamborghini Espada (No. 8155) which I acquired in March 2016. I decided it was time to review and organize them, one of those tasks I have wanted to do but have never had the time until now.

The seller was the daughter of the long time owner E.P. (Chuck) Charlton II who passed away a year before I bought it.

Chuck Charlton loved this Espada and drove it from his home in Hillsborough to essentially every car show in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years, plus Monterey Car Week. He was the second owner and bought it in 1973 from another SF Bay Area man who lived in Boulder Creek, which is in the Santa Cruz mountains.

On the purchase agreement when Chuck bought the car from the first owner on June 26, 1973 the mileage was listed at 25,224 miles. The mileage 43 years later when I acquired this Espada was 49,855 miles. A little more than half of the miles were put on by the first owner in two years; it must have been his daily driver. If the first owner drove the Espada down from the mountains to go to work in the valley everyday that would explain the mileage.

In sorting through the documents I noticed that Chuck kept what seems like nearly all paperwork associated with his Lamborghini. I started sorting the service documents into chronological order and separating them from the other papers like Concorso Italiano sign up documents and California DMV registration documents. I found a service receipt for a Jaguar, which I suspect was his daily driver at the time.

Various Brochures

I have service records for this Espada from 1973 because, as I said Chuck seems to have kept the paper work, which I love. In trying to sort the service records into chronological order I could not help reading what the service was for and noting the mileage recorded on each receipt. I wish that service managers wrote in more legible handwriting in the old days before computers forced them to type in the information, which appears to have happened in the mid ’90s or so for my records.

A large stack of service documents

In reading the service records and noting the date and mileage recorded I get a feel for the life of this Espada: how much it was driven, what regular service was done and what went wrong creating a need for special service, parts and repair.

Now that that is done I have to decide what to do tomorrow. I think I will take the Espada out for a drive.

Espada Owner’s Manual

Let us know what you think in the Comments.

Recent and old photos of Espada No. 8155 are at this link.

E. P. (Chuck) Charlton’s badges for Lamborghini Espada No. 8155

Summary

Article Name

With Extra Time On My Hands I Reviewed My Lamborghini Espada Service Records

Description

I started sorting my Espada service documents into chronological order and separating them from the other papers like Concorso Italiano sign up documents and California DMV registration documents.

Author

Mike Gulett