LM002: The Most Lamborghini Lamborghini, Even Though It Wasn't a Lambo — Jason Cammisa Revelations
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Published 2024-02-29
It wasn't much of a Lamborghini at the end.
And yet, if it's the job of a Lamborghini to be outrageous, it's actually the Most Lamborghini Lamborghini ever.
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The LM002, nicknamed the Rambo Lambo at the time, eventually made it onto Time Magazine's list of the Worst Cars of All Time. But that had nothing to do with the truck itself.
In fact, the truck itself had little to do with Lamborghini — conceived as a project to keep the Sant' Agata factory running while the company that Ferruccio built fought to stave off bankruptcy. The story behind the development is astonishing: originally conceived as the XR311 by two men while working for Food Machinery Corporation (FMC), they approached the Italian supercar manufacturer for help in building the off-road vehicle as a bid to produce it for a U.S. government contract.
Founding their own company, Mobility Technology Incorporated, or MTI, the men built a prototype in California, which Lamborghini then took to the Geneva Motor Show as a Lamborghini Cheetah.
What happened next was a series of lawsuits, mishaps, misappropriation of funds, and the derailment of the BMW M1 project, resulting in Lamborghini;'s bankruptcy. The company's savior was a 20-something French billionaire, who made the decision to install a Countach V12 and a luxurious interior, and sell the Lamborghini Militaria vehicle to the Jet Set.
And the car itself? It's even more fascinating.
Stay tuned for this incredible history lesson on the astounding story behind the Lamborghini LM002, LM001, LM1, and Cheetah.
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All Comments (21)
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Nothing screams 80s excess like a V12 powered military grade truck with leather seats and a built-in telephone that gets 6 miles per gallon.
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Oh look, Jason shoehorned his Scirocco into another video.
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I saw and admired my first LM002 on the Pacific Hiway (near SeaTac Airport Federal Way, Washington in June of 1993. I was with my friend Benjamin Barr after a D.E.C.A. Competition within our Senior Year of High School. While I was driving my 1978 Metalic Brown Ford Fairmont Sedan, I spotted this beautiful Red Bohemeth parked at a "Drinking Hole" and pulled over... As we were gawking, the owner came out and offered us a personal tour of this fabulous rig with kindness. At the time I had posters of VECTOR, TESTOROSSAS, and 25th Anniversary Countaches on my bedroom walls, but the patience and courtesy this owner had with 18yo boys is still instilled in me. Thank you, random LM002 owner!
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I thought I knew everything about this car, but that Tina went to such lengths to put a slushbox in it, that was a surprise. And you even found footage of her driving it. Wow!
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Jason and Anthony deserve a raise, an Emmy, and while they're at it, should just run for the Oval Office
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I remember as a kid reading that you could order your LM002 with an optional .50 cal machine gun mount in the truck bed from the factory. A badass truck for badass people.
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That license plate frame!!! 😂😂😂😂
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Little-known fact: while engine and chassis were made by Lamborghini themselves, the bodywork was made in northern Spain by a Basque coachbuilder with their roots in bus making, Irizar (you'll see plenty of Irizar-badged buses on the road to this day in Europe). Fond memories of reading about this beast back in the day and drooling over it as a teenager, loved listening to that V12 soundtrack!
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Absolutely adore the Tamiya mentions! Appreciate it!
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The good ol' floppy disk game called Stunts taught me about the LM002 and the XJ220 in the early 90s. Good times!
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Finding out that Tina Turner took the time to yank out a 500E drivetrain into an LM002 is cool as hell ngl
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the "vaffanculo" on the rear license plate holder. Classic. LMFAO.
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A supercar dealer in our town had one of these about 25 years ago. We asked if we could make a small joyride with it as it looked so extremely exotic. He was happy about anybody being interested in the weird thing, so we got it for the afternoon. Back then it was about the price of a new medium engined BMW 3 Series. It drove like a traktor, the stickshift was extremely clunky and the acceleration was very slow (we didn't know about the kickdown back then), but the sound was insane. It was a golden one.
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A friend of mine had a pea green LM, back in 87. It was epic in period. There was nothing like it. I remember sitting in the back of a Ur Quattro that was being driven spiritedly. All I could see in the rear window was the Lambos grill. We couldn’t shake the bugger off!
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The steamed up camera at the end is 😘
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Back in February, 1988, I was working at the Calgary Olympics with Nakiska Ski Resort and the IOC. One day His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Monaco showed up driving the LM002. He was there to compete for Monaco in the Bobsleigh competition. I was lucky to sit in the driver's seat for a few minutes and was enthralled. Several hours later, the LM002 failed to start after sitting in -6 C temperature. It left on a flatbed truck later... I have only seen a couple since at car events, never being driven.
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Jason is my HERO, thx for always uplifting my mood while teaching me stuff :)
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The Range Rover 'ran' so that the LM002 could run. The Lm002 walked so the G-Wagon could run. The G-Wagon ran so that the Urus and its other luxury performance SUV + Crossover buddies could stumble about drunkenly across LA, Dubai, and other Social Media infested dystopic hellholes, ruining motoring by appealing to the lowest common denominator: Social Media Grifters.
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Jason Camissa needs his own movie ASAP, so entertaining 😂
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I'm a simple man. I see a new Hagerty video featuring Jason, I stop everything I'm doing and watch the video.
