The Espada was Lamborghini’s brilliant follow-up to the Miura, almost equally ground-breaking and influential. It showed that Lamborghini was not just a one-trick pony, and was a force to be reckoned with. Just like the Miura pioneered the mid-engine supercar, the Espada essentially created a new genre: a full four-seater (not just a 2+2) ultra-high performance coupe with leading edge designer styling. Not surprisingly, both were styled by Marcello Gandini, at Bertone.
Given its unique qualities, able to sit four in reasonable comfort, it’s not a stretch to apply the Personal Luxury Coupe (“PLC”) moniker to it, which is more commonly applied to American coupes. But I have a specific reason for doing so, as this review will be immediately followed by a review of a genuine American PLC in the same issue, one that cost one quarter of the Espada’s lofty $21,000 ($150,000 adjusted). It will make for an interesting comparison; it’s too bad R&T didn’t make it back then.
Before we get into the review, the Espada and Gandini’s 1967 Marzal concept (above), on which the Espada was based, were the two cars I most obsessed on at the time of their arrival in 1967 and 1968. I was fifteen, and followed new cars from all over the world religiously, but these two simply blew me away.
Why more than the mid-engine supercars? Precisely because these were legitimate four passenger cars, and in my mind, infinitely better looking than the pony cars at the time (Why couldn’t the ’67 Camaro look like this?), and the new flock of PLCs that arrived in 1969, starting with the Pontiac Grand Prix. (Why can’t the GP look like this?).
And I’ve been asking myself that ever since. Well, obviously the Espada had some influence (along with a few other Italians at the time) on the second generation of pony cars. Not so much so on the PLCs, needless to say. Or sorry to say.
So on to the review.
R&T notes that the Espada “seating package is roughly equivalent to that of an American pony car, but flattened and stretched”. And its interior was of course vastly more seductive than the rather spartan pony cars, but that’s where some of the big bucks go to.
Looks a lot more inviting than the black cave of a Mustang fastback’s rear seat.
But R&T was disappointed in the poor workmanship of many details, given the lofty price.
Of course it wasn’t just styling that differentiated the Espada from American pony cars and PLCs. Under its long hood resided the 4 liter V12 rated at 390 hp @7000 rpm. 390 hp wasn’t exactly earth-shattering in the US in 1969, although from engines typically more like with 7 liters, and at 5500 rpm, or so.
Performance was good, with a 0-60 of 6.5 seconds, and the 1/4 mile in 15.0 @100 mph. Right in American muscle-car territory. or even a well-endowed PLC. And the 1/4 mile was only a half second slower than the Miura, due to a faster-shifting transmission. Of course top speed was another matter, as the Espada’s was well over 150 mph, although not confirmed in this test.
R&T sums up that the Espada was a reasonably practical family car, considering its pedigree, although the quality lapses (and less than stellar brakes) did diminish the overall experience.
So what did Detroit offer that was most closely comparable to the Espada?
Related reading:
CC 1972 Lamborghini Espada S2: An Exotic Blends In With The Locals JPC
Concept Classic: Lamborghini Marzal – The Espada’s Inspiration and My Heartthrob of 1967 PN
When I was in elementary school, I would pick up books on Lamborghinis, and I really loved them all at the time. The Miura, in my opinion, is still the best looking car ever made, but the Marzal is out of this world!
I lost interest after the Countach, but it’s still fun for me today to see the “non-poster” models. It’s obvious where the ’71 Mustang got its inspiration, but I don’t think that’s Detroit’s closest competitor. The ’70 1/2 Trans Am would be my vote – it’s fast and good-looking with a good suspension system, and it can fit four in a pinch.
Side note: A 15.0 quarter at 100 mph seems disparate. They must have had a hard time launching or, as you mentioned about the Miura, shifting.
I think that it’s a shame that the clear top panel and louvered backlight of the Marzal didn’t make it to the production of the Espada (even as options!). IIRC, there were some U.S. issues with the clear window above the taillights. That interior is a siren, seducing one into it, and blue is my favorite color! 🙂
The Marzal was my object of lust growing up as well. I had the Matchbox version of the car in florescent orange and yellow tinted windows. I wore the paint off that thing, looking at those magnificent doors and the window inset below the beltline. I was obsessed with sketching American cars with the same detail, but the effect was never quite the same as the original design.
I had the earlier metallic red version. A friend bought a kit of the Marzal (Bandai, IIRC) and got me to build it for him – fun!
I had that one too, it came in the Matchbox twin loop superfast racing set which I recieved for Christmas in 1970 or so, I must have been very well behaved that year.
It was matched with a BMC 1800 Pininfarina of all things, surely the only time a BMC was competitive with a Lamborghini.
Oh you lucky guy. I got my twin loop with a stinking Stang and a frog eyed Lotus Europa …
Another Gandini masterpiece and bucket list car for me. So spectacular. And so rarely seen…even more exotic in that respect that a Countach. A local guy has one and it will draw a bigger crowd at the Saturday cars & coffee event than anything else there.
Prices on these have moderated in the last year or so and a decent S1 or S2 (forget the S3 and its hideous rubber baby buggy bumpers) can be had for well under $100K. Almost affordable to mere mortals.
Imagine if Chrysler, instead of dumping tons of R&D money into the Camaro-clone E-body, had, instead, somehow came up with an Espada-clone for 1970, maybe off of the A-body instead of using the B-body firewall of the Barracuda/Challenger. At the very least, the Challenger’s grille would have fit perfectly into the Espada’s front end.
The biggest problem would be that, using the A-body for their new ponycar would mean the same big-block problems as the A-body Barracuda. That, alone, probably would have killed it since using the intermediate B-body would make a Chrysler Espada look way too much like a two-door station wagon.
FWIW, there is something of a precedence, at least with the interior design. The original 1966 Charger had a 2+2 style interior that wasn’t that far off from the Espada’s. In fact, going back even further, one can see a similarity with the old 1963 Turbine Car interior and it’s long console tunnel that extended back from the front seats to the back.
There is something wrong with the acceleration and coasting graph. Clearly for some other car. Look at the Pontiac graph for comparison.
Always loved the Espada – not that I didn’t worship the Miura too…
subsequent Lamborghinis were sort of ho-hum.
Agreed. The P350/400 and Islero are also great. After that, forget it….
I hate the Countach with a passion.
I had an Espada poster on my bedroom wall. Later Lambos lost me.
Oh, come on folks, the original Countach is stupendous. (Agreed that any of the later ones look like incompetent movie props). I’ll allow that maybe it is not necessarily beautiful in the voluptuous sense of the best of the best, but it is gob-smackingly striking.
The similarity in performance to the far less expensive Pontiac is remarkable. I’d attribute the Lamborghini’s greater top speed to its 25% wider ratio spread and much smaller frontal area. One thing that Road & Track didn’t mention is that the Pontiac’s engine might be expected to go 100,000 miles before being rebuilt, while the Lamborghini would have received a rebuild before 50,000 miles and then been retired before reaching 100,000 miles. That the Pontiac equaled the Lamborghini’s fuel economy while carrying a few hundred extra pounds and running fairly short gearing with an open torque converter really points out the worth of American engines during the period.
In the late ‘70s I was working in central Toronto and I would sometimes walk up Yonge Street to a small restaurant (Le Petit Gourmet) for lunch. Across the road there was an elegant old house that had been changed into offices. Unusually for the area, it was set back from the road so there was room for about 4 parking spots. There was always a pale yellow Espada parked there. It is the only one I have ever seen, and it must have been driven to work. What made it more unusual was that the building was the Goethe Institute, which is part of the German government and its purpose is to spread German culture around the world. You would think a Mercedes would be more their style.
46.6” tall. That’s why American PLCs didnt look like this 🙂
Seriously though, this is how “practical” exotic cars should be. The Espada was as exotic and realistically impractical as a Miura, but because of the unique packaging showed a more futuristic automotive Sci fi vision than even the dream cars of the 50s, and they actually produced it. The Urus by comparison is far too conventional and realistic and for the Lamborghini brand, it may as well be a Hyundai SUV. Lamborghini’s should be akin to the experience of finding alien’s spaceship designed for little green men and going for a joyride.
I wish the Espada used the Marzal louvers, front engine be damned. That’s my absolute favorite detail to it, so unique
In Rockford, during the ’72/’73 period, there was often a silver Espada parked in a driveway on Highcrest Road when I would pass by. This was a time when I knew about and had seen the then new 107 Mercedes SL and SLC but those were about the most exotic cars that could have been imagined in Rockford. Yet an Espada was there too.
I knew it was an Espada because I subscribed to R&T and I had (and still do) a great Politoys 1/43 scale model of the Espada. What I remember is how shockingly low the car was. I never saw it driving nor the owner come out of the house to get in the Espada. I remembered that Espada and have seen several others of them in Scottsdale in the last five or so years.
I’ve driven one. Lest you ask for my impressions, I’ll say that my drive was all of one hundred feet, from the workshop to the wash bay. As a first year apprentice one of my jobs was to wash important customers cars.
I remember I drove it very, very carefully!
Hrmm, am I the only one who thinks it looks ungainly? The interior especially the rear looks divine, but the body looks like a Marlin to my eyes. A sculpted, tailored Marlin but a Marlin just the same.
I think it’s the very large quarter windows, Marlin has them as does the first gen Charger. The 71 Mustang fastback reminds the me most of the Espada in profile but the greenhouse is way different, and visually I prefer the Mustang’s(though not as a back passenger)
46.6” tall. That’s why American PLCs didnt look like this 🙂
Seriously though, this is how “practical” exotic cars should be. The Espada was as exotic and realistically impractical as a Miura, but because of the unique packaging showed a more futuristic automotive Sci fi vision than even the dream cars of the 50s, and they actually produced it. The Urus by comparison is far too conventional and realistic for the Lamborghini brand, it may as well be a Hyundai SUV. Lamborghini’s should be akin to the experience of finding an alien’s hidden spaceship designed for little green men to operate and going for a joyride.
I wish the Espada used the Marzal louvers, front engine be damned. That’s my absolute favorite detail to it, so unique
I knew someone who owned one. I sat in it. I was promised a drive, soon, somewhere safe from the city street it was sitting in. But time drifted, as did the acquaintance, and I haven’t spoken to them in years. No falling out or anything, just the drift of life. My loss, needless to say.
They don’t mention in the test that the driving position is awful, with pedals so high that they make your knees block your ears, and a steering wheel (gripped down near your ankles) at an angle from an Austin 1800. (The owner, cruelly, asked me what I thought when I sat in it – then laughed, and said “Yes, it’s bloody ridiculous!”)
The Marzal is one of the most amazing cars ever styled – and remarkably, it’s a runner, see Youtube – but the Espada is not. It is too wide, and has too much visual weight out the back. I’m very glad too to see someone in the time (R&T) picking on the excess vents and baubles that blight the surfaces, as that’s always bugged me about these. It tries to do the impossible job of being front-engined from a design source that was not, and it all goes a bit skewiff. It partially accounts, surely, for them being the cheap Lambos for many years, though one would imagine the execrable Jarama to be even less by that measure.
Still, they’re exotic and eccentric enough that I’d have one. Except I won’t, ofcourse.
Oh well. The one I was going to drive 15 years ago was poo brown anyway.
The Espada looks like an intermediate evolutionary step between the Marzal and the Mitsubishi Lancer Celeste/Plymouth Arrow coupe.
I have seen one of these in the metal exactly once – last fall on a Walmart parking lot of all places. I was been completely unaware of Lambos until Cannonball Run introduced me to the Countach.
Shortly after I saw this car, there was a CC on it here (CC Effect, of course 😉). Unlike some other posters here, I have liked the Lamborghinis that came after the Countach, although I’m not a big fan of the Huracán. And as to the Urus… um, NO. Lambo & SUV/CUV should not even be a thing.
Always loved the shape, as awkward as it is from some angles. Have a look at Harry Metcalfe driving his S2 Espada back to the UK from a Lamborghini gathering in Italy in 2014.
He’s honest about the car’s limitations, but clearly loves it, having had it comprehensively restored in the past year. And the video is worth watching just to hear him wind out the V12.