Recently, a set of real pictures of Lamborghini pickup trucks were taken on the Internet. The idea of a Lamborghini pickup truck is still challenging for some, so it was a surprise to many when a Lamborghini pickup truck called the LM002 started going into production, but this large pickup has been in development for many years, and its birth process is also a complex story worth sharing.
In a new episode of Haggerty, Jason Camissa tells the story of "the most fraudulent, vile, despicable, illegal, illegal, blatant scheme to make money by wearing the Lamborghini badge."
Lamborghini became interested in the project in the early 70s of the last century, a time that was very difficult for the Italian supercar manufacturer. In 1974, Ferruccio Lamborghini* took a stake in his car company, and a year later, the company struggled to buy the supplies needed to make the Countach.
As a result, the company is looking for any project that can make money quickly. The first is a BMW M1, and the second is a military vehicle designed by several American designers.
The vehicle that eventually came out in collaboration with American designers was named the Lamborghini Cheetah (pictured above) and was shown at the 1977 Geneva Motor Show. Despite the popularity of the concept car, or perhaps because of that, an American company called FMC opposed it. Because the designer of this Cheetah pickup used to work for FMC, who thought that the Cheetah pickup was nothing more than a rebranded version of the XR311 they designed.
As a result, FMC sued Lamborghini, and the Cheetah pickup ended its short life, and while Lamborghini sent the prototype back to the United States, Lamborghini repurposed the funds it received for BMW M1 production to reverse-engineer the SUV to make its own version. It turned out to be a financially disastrous decision that led Lamborghini to go into receivership and come under the control of the Italian courts.
However, even this was not enough to terminate the project completely. As Lamborghini struggled to survive under the leadership of its new owners, Lamborghini received inquiries from customers in the Middle East who saw cheetahs and wanted a version of them for their army.
Development work resumed, and after Valentino Balboni flipped one of the test vehicles at low speed, it was decided to put the engine in the front, not in the middle. The company put the V12 engine under the hood, lined the upholstery with leather and gave it to wealthy customers after the failed military deal in the Middle East.
Indeed, the idea of the Lamborghini off-road vehicle is that it refuses to die. Although only 301 units of the LM002 were built, its birth story proves that good ideas can survive anything if people are willing to break the bank and try to make it a reality.