In the 1970s, Lamborghinis were the stuff of fevered teenage boy dreams. Glimpses in car magazines next to flowery prose about mid-engines and 5 speeds and flip up lights and exotic sounding names. It was pure madness. I couldn’t believe such machines existed, let alone that people could afford such expensive toys.* Urraco was one of those ghost ships that I never thought I would see in person.
Now I have. Meh. I don’t feel transformed. (How else to explain the 9-month gap between shooting the car and remembering to post it. ) Yes, it still has the look that inspired thousands of study hall drawings. The linear Bertone design appealed to me then. Now, not so much. I guess I am more of a Pininfarina/Zagato fan now.
The other thing tempering my enthusiasm is the ownership experience. In looking at this car, I just see headaches. Maybe the flimsy, confounding experience with my Fiat 500L has leaked out onto the lesser lights of my Italian car lust. If this were a Countach, I wouldn’t be off-put by trying to get at the spare or the battery through that urethane vent thing in front. I wouldn’t mind so much that the front seems to be one solid piece. Glorious in style; nightmarish for maintenance underneath or repair.
If it were a Boxer, I wouldn’t care that the grille under the front bumper was misshapen, or that the driving lights had all the elegance of JC Whitney add-ons. Ir that the engine air intakes don’t seem to fit right. It would be art, right?
Anyway, I’ve now seen one, I am glad that I have, and now I can take it off the win the Powerball dream car garage wishlist.
*I remember an article in Car and Driver (Jan. 1979(?)) by Patrick Bedard, where he suggested you call your insurance agent and activate road coverage when you were taking your Silhouette out, then changing it back to the cheaper storage coverage when you got home.
Lamborghini Urraco: Off the List In the 1970s, Lamborghinis were the stuff of fevered teenage boy dreams. Glimpses in car magazines next to flowery prose about mid-engines and 5 speeds and flip up lights and exotic sounding names.
