Lamborghini Jarama

Lamborghini Jarama at a glance

The Jarama belongs to the family of front-engined V12 Lamborghinis that began with the 350 GT; its mid-engined contemporary was the Miura. All models are listed in the Lamborghini catalogue.

History: the Islero's successor

The Jarama replaced the Islero, which Lamborghini had built from 1968 mainly with the American market in mind. The new car was designed to meet US regulations and was presented at the Geneva motor show in 1970.

Its name, chosen by Ferruccio Lamborghini, follows the company's tradition of bull-related names: it refers to the fighting bulls bred in the area of the Jarama river in Spain, not to the Jarama racing circuit near Madrid.

Ferruccio Lamborghini kept a Jarama S for himself, and this car is now on display in the Lamborghini museum at Sant'Agata Bolognese. In a 1991 interview he called the Jarama his favourite model and described it as a compromise between the Miura and the Espada.

Design by Gandini at Bertone

The body was styled by Marcello Gandini at Bertone. It shares several visual features with the Iso Lele, another Gandini design. The car is 4,485 mm long, 1,820 mm wide and only 1,190 mm high, with two small rear seats.

Engine and chassis

The engine is the 3,929 cc Lamborghini V12 derived from the unit of the 400 GT and also used in the Islero and the Espada. It breathes through six Weber 40 DCOE carburettors and drives the rear wheels. The original Jarama was rated at 260 kW (350 bhp).

The chassis comes from the four-seat Espada, with the wheelbase shortened by 272 mm to 2,380 mm. At 1,450 kg dry, the Jarama is heavier than the Islero it replaced, and its standard weight distribution is 53% front and 47% rear. A five-speed manual gearbox was standard. Early cars used centre-lock magnesium alloy wheels like the Miura and the early Espada; the Jarama S switched to five-bolt wheels shared with the Espada Series 3.

Jarama S (GTS), 1972

In 1972 the Jarama S, also called GTS, replaced the original model. A revised exhaust, cylinder heads and carburettors raised the output to 272 kW (365 bhp). Outside, the S can be recognised by a scoop on the bonnet, exhaust vents in the front wings, a changed windscreen position and relocated indicators.

Inside, the dashboard was redesigned with aluminium trim and the switches were moved to the centre console. Lamborghini added more insulation against heat and noise and improved the rear seats and legroom. Power steering became standard early in Jarama S production.

Two options were rare. Removable roof panels were fitted to an estimated 6 to 20 cars, and the three-speed Chrysler TorqueFlite automatic gearbox is believed to have been fitted to only four.

Jarama Rally: Bob Wallace's special

Lamborghini test driver Bob Wallace built a one-off racing version known as the Jarama Rally, or "Bob". He moved the engine back in the chassis to get a weight distribution close to 50:50 and raised the output to 280 kW (380 hp) at 8,000 rpm. An aluminium body saved about 300 kg, bringing the weight down to an estimated 1,170 kg. The car had Miura centre-lock wheels, low racing seats, Koni dampers and a stripped interior, and it was reported to reach about 270 km/h and 100 km/h in about 5 seconds. It never raced; it was later found in Saudi Arabia and restored in the United Kingdom in 1990.

Legacy

The Jarama remained a rare car: fewer than 330 were made in six years. For its creator, however, it was the right balance — in his words, a compromise between the Miura and the Espada. Its story is part of our history of Lamborghini.

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