My favorite friend and enabler and I were talking theoretical cars today and got on the subject of V12's since neither of us has ever driven something with a V12 much less owned one. One thing led to another and I learned about the Lamborghini Espada. V12, seats four in comfort, memorable styling. I think I'm in love.
Every time I think I know cars, something amazing like this pops up on my radar. I love this hobby.
My friends dad had one...then their garage burned down.
It never ran in the time I knew of it, but it was a really cool car. Magnesium wheels on a production car. The thought of tuning a carbed Italian v12 almost gives me the heebyjeebies.
I've always loved those.
I passed one on the highway once. It was odd...
Lancer007 wrote: My friends dad had one...then their garage burned down. It never ran in the time I knew of it, but it was a really cool car. Magnesium wheels on a production car. The thought of tuning a carbed Italian v12 almost gives me the heebyjeebies.
I read that they only had two carbs. How bad could it be?
In reply to mazdeuce:
One carb for every two cylinders.
Just a pic I found on the internet but this is what the engine looked like.
Oh.....
Well, I suppose if you're going to spend a lot of time messing with them, they might as well be beautiful. I fixed the carb on a go kart last weekend, I could probably handle these.
mazdeuce wrote:Lancer007 wrote: My friends dad had one...then their garage burned down. It never ran in the time I knew of it, but it was a really cool car. Magnesium wheels on a production car. The thought of tuning a carbed Italian v12 almost gives me the heebyjeebies.I read that they only had two carbs. How bad could it be?
Was the garage burning down in any way related to the car? I seem to remember a news story about that. I am pretty sure they actually have 6 carbs too. I have read a bit about them, it seems like some people have them for years and they don't need much work, but if they do it seems only slightly simpler and cheaper than WWII airplanes lol.
I believe someone who posts here sometimes used to have a jarama also.
In reply to Travis_K:
No, it was due to a welding ember that found some small dust ball in a corner and smoldered for a while before growing. By the time they noticed it was too large to extinguish before everything was a total loss.
mazdeuce wrote: My favorite friend and enabler and I were talking theoretical cars today and got on the subject of V12's since neither of us has ever driven something with a V12 much less owned one. One thing led to another and I learned about the Lamborghini Espada. V12, seats four in comfort, miserable styling. I think I'm in love.
FTFY
Classic and Thorough bred Cars had a story last year about a guy who bought one new and still drove it regularly, so they can't be that bad.
You can't fit a tuba in there... 
The former editor of Evo, Harry Metcalfe, has one, and there's videos of him driving it through Europe on Youtube. Well worth the watch. His Countach was recently featured in the last episode of James May's 'Car's of the People' series.
Lancer007 wrote: The thought of tuning a carbed Italian v12 almost gives me the heebyjeebies.
If by "heebyjeebies" you mean a chubby, sure.
There's one of these at our local Alfa dealership (Tacoma). It was "lust at first sight" for me as well
Unfortunately the sign on it said "Not for sale"
One of the more "traditional" (read: one whose readership tends toward the less-broke or cheapassed demographic, like most of us) car mags had a column a while back about the many soul-crushing qualities of the Lamborghini Miura, owing mostly to its rarity and the impossibility of sourcing parts. I imagine an Espada wouldn't be far behind. Still, I dig it.
Lambo Espada parts aren't impossible to find. They might be impossible to fund, though (FSM help you if you need to replace any gaskets ).
https://www.lambostuff.com/xq/asp/year.1968-1978/themodel.Espada/Model.Espada/Market.usa/mode.section/show.all/themode.SelectMarket/qx/OnlinePartManual.htm
Make what you can't find.
It's hard on the wallet for sure but if that's what it takes...
I've got an appointment with the foundry next week for exhaust manifolds.
Hungary Bill wrote: Unfortunately the sign on it said "Not for sale"
Everything is for sale.
If the nose was a little longer and the tail a little shorter, it would be a perfect alternative to my one true love: The 71-73 Ford Mustang
amg_rx7 wrote: You can't fit a tuba in there...
Almost certainly not true. I can fit a tuba in the back seat of the 911 and the Espada is considered to have great back seat room. Now, you probably can't fit a tuba and more than one other person, but even I probably wouldn't make school runs in a Lambo. Chances of my finsind an Espada are slim. They seem to be thin on the ground. Even if I found one, chances of Mrs. Deuce thinking that I should buy one are even slimmer. A guy can dream though, and my current dream is Espada.
Three observations:
1) Those Lambo drivelines are absolutely, stunningly lovely. Everything is finned and angular. I'd get rid of my dining room table if I could just have one on an engine stand in the middle of the dining room.
2) These cars now cost $100,000. That's a lot of cheese for something that, while amazingly cool, is still a four seater with a highly complex engine. Hagerty Price Report
3) For a third of that you can be driving a Ferrari 308 tomorrow. Most of them have Bosch K-Jetronic and are actually pretty reliable when driven with any degree of regularity. Italian supercars don't have to be a crazy pipe dream. I have been tinkering with mine and am having a ton of fun tinkering AND driving. (Yes, driving, not sitting in a garage waiting to get the courage up to tune six sidedraft Webers!) Downside: it's a lowly V8--just like an F-150, right?
I knew a guy in Columbia SC back in the mid 80s that had one. This guy was a liquor store owner/kindofa loan shark. He was so proud of the car, but most people thought "its no Ferrari"
The real question is whether I can find a Ferrari 400 with a manual. For me that's the real competition. I know I'm weird, but I like them. I can't figure out if any USA cars were manual though. Something about odd exotic Italian four seaters.
What about a Jaguar XJS V12? It isn't as sexy as a Ferrari 400 or Lambo, is a LOT cheaper (both parts and buying one), maybe more reliable (at least as reliable).
I have heard the steering in the Lambo is very heavy and the Ferrari 400 has no head room if you are tall.
If it doesn't have to be a V12, what about a Bentley Turbo R to make your wallet busting parts dream come true? 
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