Lamborghini Urraco

Lamborghini Urraco at a glance

The Urraco was built alongside the V12 Miura and Countach and the front-engined grand tourers. All models are listed in the Lamborghini catalogue, and the story of the company is told in our history of Lamborghini.

An affordable Lamborghini: history

By the end of the 1960s Lamborghini sold expensive V12 cars only. To reach more buyers, the company planned a smaller, less expensive model with a V8 engine and room for four, and it presented the prototype at the Turin Motor Show in 1970. Like the Miura, the new car took its name from the world of bullfighting: Urraco is the name of a line of fighting bulls bred by the Miura family.

Production started two years after the show, in 1972, with the P250. Across the whole production run, Wikipedia counts 791 cars.

Design

The body was designed by Marcello Gandini, then at Bertone, who had also drawn the Miura and the Countach. The Urraco is compact — 4,250 mm long and only 1,160 mm high — with the engine mounted crosswise behind the seats. Despite the mid-engine layout, Gandini found space for two small rear seats, which made the Urraco a 2+2 like the Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 that competed with it.

The later P250 S brought more luxury: full leather upholstery, tinted electric windows and optional metallic paint. About 10 per cent of Urracos were built with right-hand drive; the great majority had left-hand drive. The P250 for the United States, known as P111, can be recognised by its larger front bumpers.

Engines and versions

The Urraco used Lamborghini's first V8 engine, mounted transversely behind the cabin and combined with a five-speed manual gearbox. The first engines had a single overhead camshaft per bank; the 3.0-litre engine of the P300 had a revised cylinder head with two chain-driven camshafts per bank.

The P250 was the first and most common version. A version for the United States, the P250 P111, had larger front bumpers, emissions equipment and less power; 21 were made.

The P200 was built for the Italian market. In Italy, cars with engines over two litres were taxed at a VAT rate of 38 per cent, so Lamborghini reduced the bore to bring the engine down to 1,994 cc. Only 77 were built.

The P250 S, introduced in 1973, added luxury features and, on cars without emissions equipment, Weber 40 DCNF carburettors.

The P300, introduced in 1974, was the most powerful Urraco. Its bigger engine, with twin overhead camshafts per bank and chain drive, produced 184 kW (250 PS) and allowed a top speed of 260 km/h.

The three engines differ mainly in bore and stroke: 77.4 × 53 mm for the P200, 86 × 53 mm for the P250 and 86 × 64.5 mm for the P300. The compression ratio is 8.6:1 for the two-litre engine and 10.5:1 for the larger ones. All three versions share the same body, 4,250 mm long and 1,760 mm wide on a 2,450 mm wheelbase, and weigh between 1,250 and 1,300 kg.

Rivals

The Urraco entered a busy class. The Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, also a mid-engined V8 2+2, appeared in 1973; the Maserati Merak was another Italian mid-engined 2+2; and the Porsche 911 offered a rear-engined alternative. Against these rivals the Urraco was built in small numbers.

Legacy

The Urraco never sold in large numbers, but it established Lamborghini's line of V8 cars. Its chassis and engine were the basis of the Silhouette, which added a removable roof panel, and of the Jalpa of the 1980s with a 3.5-litre V8. That line ended with the Jalpa; Lamborghini's next smaller model was the V10-engined Gallardo (see the Lamborghini Gallardo).

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