Take a look at our newest merchandise
There are moments in my line of labor that really feel like pure time journey.
You climb right into a automotive that doesn’t simply transport you bodily, however mentally – again to an period when engineering selections have been made with intuition, when design was the product of 1 man’s pencil stroke, and when automobiles didn’t have to scream for consideration as a result of they carried an aura all of their very own.
Right this moment, that automotive is the limited-edition Lamborghini Jarama S (also referred to as the GTS), the facelifted and upgraded evolution of the Jarama GT, and the very automotive that Ferruccio Lamborghini himself described as his private favorite.
Not the Miura. Not the Countach. However this – the understated, front-engined, V12-powerred, 2+2-seat grand tourer that has, for many years, lived within the shadows of its extra well-known siblings, partially as a result of solely 150 examples have been produced.
I do know this as a result of there are just a few old-school Lamborghini craftsmen who labored on these automobiles with Ferruccio Lamborghini himself nonetheless on name on the manufacturing facility in Sant’Agata Bolognese, they usually advised me so.
And I’m driving it the place it belongs: on the Passo della Futa, an epic mountain cross that snakes its approach between Bologna and Florence, by way of the Apennines. A street soaked in racing historical past, as soon as a part of the legendary Mille Miglia, and a real take a look at of any automotive’s mettle.
It’s tight and technical one second, quick and flowing the following, with blind crests and sweeping valley views in between, simply to remind you why Italy stays the epicentre of driving ardour.
Love at first sight
Produced between 1972 and 1976, the Jarama S isn’t conventionally stunning in the way in which the Miura is, neither is it a show-stopper just like the Countach. However stand again from it within the morning mild of Emilia-Romagna, and also you see one thing particular.
Marcello Gandini’s design for Bertone is unapologetically angular, a geometrical assertion of the early ’70s. The proportions are fascinating: lengthy bonnet, large stance, and that sharply minimize Kamm tail.
The partially coated headlights – typically known as the ‘sleepy eyes’ – add simply sufficient menace to a automotive that in any other case carries itself with quiet sophistication.
It doesn’t scream Lamborghini. It doesn’t have to. It is a automotive that was at all times meant for the discerning purchaser, somebody who wished the joys of a V12 and the cachet of the raging bull with out the flamboyance. And that makes it, in some ways, even cooler.
There’s nothing to show right here. It’s a Gandini-designed Lamborghini with a 4.0-litre V12 underneath the bonnet. And it makes a noise extra pleasant than Pavarotti at his sonorous finest.
Fireplace within the stomach
Flip the important thing and the three.9-litre quad-cam V12 churns as soon as, then catches with a metallic bark. You continue to have to pump the throttle (greater than as soon as) to feed the carbies in order to not stall it.
The sound is extra uncooked and extra mechanical than you may count on. It’s exactly at this level you realise this correct Lamborghini steel.
There’s no fashionable polish right here, only a dozen cylinders firing in unison by way of six twin-choke Weber carburettors, the idle looking barely as if desperate to be let loose. It’s simply totally addictive even at idle.
Slip the heavy clutch, slot the chunky dogleg gear lever into first, and also you’re away. The primary few hundred metres inform you all the things you could know: this isn’t a automotive that coddles you.
Each enter requires intention – throttle, brakes, steering. However as soon as you discover the rhythm, it begins to circulation and also you fairly naturally begin to push.
As it could occur on the day, there was a random Porsche 911 up forward, clearly making an attempt to seize dynamic footage of the Jarama on the cross. Solely challenge was we have been catching it – quick.
That’s the factor with this traditional Lambo. It’s very simple to get into the circulation regardless of the physicality required behind the wheel. It’s splendidly confidence-inspiring because of fantastically linear steering and throttle response.
Energy, tempo and a sound for all eternity
On paper, the Jarama S makes 365 horsepower (272kW). That will not sound earth-shattering immediately, however within the mid-Seventies this was critically energy.
Extra importantly, it’s the way in which it delivers that energy. Torque builds progressively, encouraging you to maintain the revs excessive. Push past 4500rpm and the V12 comes alive, racing towards seven grand with an urgency that belies its age.
Flat-out alongside a uncommon straight on the Futa, the Jarama feels each bit as quick as its 260km/h claimed high velocity suggests. The acceleration isn’t neck-snapping, nevertheless it’s relentless.
There’s a richness to the way in which the engine builds, every gear overlapping completely with the following, the five-speed gearbox demanding precision however rewarding it with a way of mechanical connection that fashionable automobiles have lengthy since filtered out.
Drop it into third for a climbing hairpin, and also you’re handled to some of the intoxicating sounds in motoring: a carburetted Lamborghini V12 echoing off stone partitions, snarling on the way in which up, then barking on the overrun as you ease again for the following nook.
It’s pure theatre, however in a approach that feels earned, not contrived.
Chassis and dealing with for days
The shortened Espada platform underpins the Jarama, and that is sensible the second you deal with the primary sequence of hairpins.
Not like the Espada, which was a real four-seat GT, the Jarama is compact sufficient to really feel nimble. It’s nonetheless a comparatively heavy automotive (for its day), tipping the scales at round 1450kg dry, nevertheless it disguises its bulk nicely.
There’s real agility right here. The impartial suspension all spherical retains it flat in bends, whereas the brief wheelbase enables you to pivot the automotive into corners with shocking accuracy.
You don’t a lot fling it as place it, and the Jarama responds with steadiness and poise. Mid-corner steering and throttle changes are met with compliance fairly than resistance – a uncommon trait in GT automobiles of this period.
The brakes, ventilated discs all spherical, are sufficient fairly than spectacular. Greatest you give the brake pedal just a few onerous functions earlier than you get extra critical.
Both approach, you shortly study to drive with foresight, braking earlier and leaning on engine braking to maintain issues tidy. It’s a reminder that, whereas efficiency figures might endure, expertise has moved on.
However none of that detracts from the expertise. Fairly the alternative. It forces you to drive correctly, to assume forward, to turn into a part of the method. And that, in the end, is what makes driving a automotive like this so totally rewarding.
Feelsome steering
One of the vital shocking features of the Jarama S is its ZF energy steering, fitted as normal.
In an period when most supercars left you wrestling at parking speeds, this feels positively fashionable. Round city, it’s a revelation – no have to manhandle the automotive into tight areas.
However the actual take a look at is right here, on mountain switchbacks. Would the steering be too mild, too numb? The reply is not any. There’s nonetheless suggestions, nonetheless weight once you lean right into a bend, nonetheless a way of the entrance tyres biting into the tarmac.
It’s not Miura-direct, nevertheless it’s communicative sufficient to encourage confidence. You understand what the automotive is doing, and that’s half the battle once you’re hustling one thing this uncommon and precious.
Cabin vibes
Inside, the Jarama S displays Lamborghini’s distinctive method to luxurious within the Seventies. The dashboard was redesigned in contrast with the sooner Jarama GT, with clearer devices and extra cohesive ergonomics.
Switchgear is scattered in usually Italian trend, however all the things you want is inside attain.
The driving place is barely offset, as was widespread on the time, however you adapt shortly. Seats are broad and supportive, trimmed in wealthy leather-based that also carries the scent of its period.
The rear seats exist, technically, however they’re higher suited to baggage or very small companions. In actuality, this can be a two-seater with additional storage – however that was sufficient to justify its 2+2 billing.
It’s an area that feels purposeful fairly than indulgent. A spot for driving, not lounging. And that fits the Jarama completely.
The spirit of the Jarama
Maybe the best USP of the Jarama S is its sense of id.
This isn’t a automotive that tries to be one thing else. It isn’t chasing Ferrari glamour, nor Maserati polish. It’s unapologetically Lamborghini: unconventional, left-field, a bit of eccentric.
And that’s why Ferruccio himself cherished it. He wasn’t eager about constructing automobiles that regarded good on posters for youngsters. He wished automobiles that he may drive – correctly drive – by way of the countryside, with baggage within the again and a soundtrack underneath his proper foot. The Jarama S delivered that steadiness.
It marked the top of an period, too. After this, Lamborghini wouldn’t construct one other front-engined V12 GT till the outlandish LM002 off-roader a decade later. That makes the Jarama S the final of its sort, the swansong of a philosophy that started with the 350 GT within the mid-Sixties.
CarExpert’s Take
The Lamborghini Jarama S won’t ever be essentially the most well-known automotive to put on the raging bull badge.
It’s going to by no means command the values of a Miura or the awe of a Countach. However on a street just like the Passo della Futa, you start to grasp its understated brilliance.
It’s quick sufficient to thrill you, refined sufficient to tour in, and agile sufficient to deal with roads its dimension suggests it shouldn’t. It’s good-looking in a brutalist approach, luxurious with out being ostentatious, and uncommon sufficient to ensure you’ll in all probability by no means see one other one.
Most significantly, it connects you to the very coronary heart of Lamborghini – to Ferruccio’s personal imaginative and prescient of what a grand tourer must be.
And once you’re sitting behind that V12, with the Italian countryside stretching out earlier than you and the exhaust observe bouncing again from mountainside cuttings, you realise this was by no means about being essentially the most flamboyant Lamborghini.
It was about being essentially the most genuine – and in that, the Jarama S succeeds brilliantly.
MORE: 1990 Lamborghini Countach evaluate
MORE: Discover the Lamborghini showroom
