With Porsche and Aston Martin both offering low-line four-seaters with exceptional performance, it\u2019s easy to forget that we\u2019ve been here before. The super-sports four-seater surfaces at regular intervals: in the Eighties the Lotus Excel and Renault GTA both allowed you to bring three pals along for a rapid trip, while until it went mid-engined Ferrari usually had a 2+2 in its range. But the mould-breaker was Lamborghini, whose sensational 150mph Marzal concept car could have driven off the set of Thunderbirds. With its glass sides, that exhibitionists\u2019 delight was never going into production, but it sired the Espada, a massive machine that could convey four businessmen to their next meeting faster than a light plane. <\/p>\n
Lower down the range, between Espada and Miura, Sant\u2019 Agata served up the slightly underwhelming Islero in 1968 \u2013 to no great acclaim \u2013 before rethinking it. The result was the Jarama \u2013 two large and two small seats clothed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, in striking angular lines perfect for the 1970s. Retractable headlamp covers gave a cleaner nose without the problems of pop-up lights, and impressive NACA ducts on the bonnet added a touch of aerospace tech. It would be the last front-engined V12 to come from the Lamborghini factory.<\/p>\n
The one in Foskers\u2019 showroom displays all the benefits of the model\u2019s mid-life upgrade, including a sleeker cockpit layout and a 365bhp tweak that pushed the open-road max to 160mph.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the S version,\u201d says Gary Fry of Foskers, \u201cwhich has power steering, better rear legroom, and a big air intake across the bonnet. And it sounds wonderful!\u201d<\/p>\n
Running on a shortened version of the Espada\u2019s floorpan, the Jarama naturally relies on unequal-length wishbone suspension to hold it up, with the glorious 12-cylinder masterpiece nestling low between the front wheels. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s an impressive feat of packaging that would have upstaged most machinery you\u2019d see on the road four decades back. \u201cYou do sit very low,\u201d Gary says, \u201cand it\u2019s not the easiest thing in terms of getting in or out, but the controls are near at hand and there\u2019s a lovely short shift action to the gearlever. And the boot is massive \u2013 you could easily stick a set of golf clubs in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having been restored, this Jarama is in fine shape and shows 45,000 miles on the dial. Only 23 came with the wood-rimmed three-spoked wheel on the British side of the dash, which makes it a rarity, and it appeared on the Cartier concours lawn at the Goodwood Festival. Which is a feather in any car\u2019s cap.<\/p>\n
FACTFILE<\/b><\/p>\n
YEAR <\/b>1966<\/p>\n
ENGINE <\/b>V12, 4.0 litres, 365bhp<\/p>\n
TRANSMISSION <\/b>five-speed manual<\/p>\n
SUSPENSION<\/b> front and rear: double wishbones, coil springs<\/p>\n
TOP SPEED <\/b>160mph<\/p>\n
PRICE <\/b>\u00a3POA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"tags":[167],"issue_decade":[121600],"issue_year":[121675],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/53864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issue_content"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53864"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/53864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223957,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/53864\/revisions\/223957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53864"},{"taxonomy":"issue_decade","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_decade?post=53864"},{"taxonomy":"issue_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_year?post=53864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}