c1977 Lamborghini Espada Series III Coupe

Description

Developed from the exotic Marzal show car, Lamborghini's Espada is a unique blend of dramatic styling - in this case by Marcello Gandini of Bertone - with the ability to seat four adults in comfort and swallow a decent amount of luggage. Using the same quad-cam V12 engine from the Miura, albeit mounted up front, the first Espada was built in March 1968 and went on to become the most successful Lamborghini model to date. With the ability to reach a top speed of 250 km/h, the Espada was certainly no slouch and the low-slung, show car lines certainly attract plenty of attention even today. On Series 2 Espadas, the dash layout was revised, along with ventilated brakes and an increase in the compression ratio brought about a lift in power to 325 bhp. For the Series 3, introduced at the Turin Salon of 1973, the Espada underwent further revision with restyled headlights and taillight arrangements. However the big changes were to be found inside, with a new wraparound dash, air conditioning as standard and the option of automatic transmission, using Chrysler's Torqueflite unit. In total there were 456 Series 3 Espadas built before production ceased altogether in 1978, of which just five right-hand drive cars were equipped with automatic transmission making the example on offer here particularly unusual, even by Lamborghini's rarefied standards.