Espada a spaceship on wheels

0 0 June 24, 2025 Edit this post

Not only did 1968 see the birth of Australia's Monaro, it also witnessed the manifestation of Lamborghini's amazing four-door supercar -- the Espada.

The Espada was the first series production four-seater in the history of the marque as well as the first to offer an automatic transmission -- a three-speed Chrysler Torqueflite unit.

The name Espada is Spanish for sword, a reference to the sword the torero uses to kill the bull at the end of a bullfight.

I, for one, was blown away by the car when I saw it for the first time on the cover of Wheels Magazine.

Back then it was a virtual spaceship on wheels and I wanted one -- desperately.

Of all the marque’s historic cars, the Espada boasts one of the highest number of units produced -- 1226 during its 10-year production run.

The lines were the work of Marcello Gandini for Carrozzeria Bertone.

The car sits very low to the ground, at a little less than 1200mm, but is quite spacious inside.

Espada was powered by a longitudinal, front mounted 3.9-litre V12, with dual overhead camshafts and six twin-barrel Weber carburetors, delivering outputs ranging from 242 to 260kW, depending on the series and technical specs.

Top speed was about 245km/h.

The auto, of which only a few were sold, featured unusual gearing, with three ratios: first, drive and reverse.

The car featured a monocoque steel body, with fully independent suspension -- double wishbones, coil springs, hydraulic shock absorbers and anti-roll bars.

It had four-wheel disc brakes from Girling.

Series I and II Espadas were originally fitted with Pirelli Cinturato 205VR15 tyres (CN72), while Series II cars used 215/70VR15 Cinturato CN12 tyres.

The car had twin fuel tanks that held 93 litres, with fuel caps that were hidden behind a black cosmetic grille in the C-pillar.

Espada was produced in three series: Series I (until January 1970), consisting of 176 units, Series II (until 1972), consisting of 578 units, and Series III, the last (until 1978), with 472 units.

Series II saw a Miura-spec engine fitted, bumping power from 242 to 260kW, and introducing vented disc brakes, restyled grille and a (thankfully) revised dashboard.

Power steering was introduced with the Series III in 1972 and the Fiat 124-sourced tail lights were replaced by units from the Alfa Romeo Berlina.