Lamborghini P140 prototype. P140 photos by Ronan Glon.
[Editor’s Note: Here, Ronan Glon of Ran When Parked tells the story of Lamborghini’s attempts to replace its entry-level Jalpa.]
Lamborghini needed to replace both the Countach and the Jalpa in the late 1980s. While the Countach was a range-topping, V12-powered flagship, the Jalpa was positioned as an entry-level model that was smaller, easier to drive, and more affordable. It was evidently less important than its bigger brother in terms of image, but it played a sizable role in bringing new, power-hungry customers to the brand.
Lamborghini’s research and development department began working on the Jalpa’s successor in the late 1980s, shortly after Chrysler took over the brand. Called P140 internally, the car was supposed to be similar to the Jalpa on paper but it needed to adopt a more striking look to set itself apart from the competition, and a more powerful engine.
The exterior design was ultimately outsourced to Marcello Gandini, the famed designer who had worked closely with Lamborghini for decades. He penned a two-seater coupe with a removable targa roof that borrowed styling cues from both the Jalpa and the then-upcoming Diablo while retaining a look of its own. It wasn’t a carbon copy of an existing – or upcoming – model, but it was unmistakably recognizable as a member of the Lamborghini lineup.
The cabin was markedly more modern than the Jalpa’s, which looked quite dated by the time production ended in 1988. The P140 featured a slightly curved dashboard that emphasized its width, rectangular air vents on the center console, and a series of round analog gauges. Interestingly, the lights were controlled not by steering column-mounted stalks but by switches sandwiched between the air vents and the radio.
Lamborghini developed a naturally-aspirated 4.0-liter V10 engine rated at 370 horsepower for its new, aluminum-intensive car. Hailed as the company’s first-ever ten-cylinder, the fuel-injected unit was mounted directly behind the P140’s passenger compartment, and it spun the rear wheels via a manual transmission. A four-wheel drive model was considered but never built.
Lamborghini’s records show that three or four P140 prototypes were assembled. Painted orange, the first one was fully functional, and it was the only example ever tested out on the open road. Notably, it hit a top speed of 183 mph on the famous Nardò Ring in Italy.
The second one was painted red, but it remained a rolling chassis that was never fitted with an engine. Finished in white, the third one was built in 1991-1992 and later crashed. Details about the accident are murky at best, but the coupe was completely rebuilt and it’s now on display in Lamborghini’s official museum in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy.
While the P140 never made it past the prototype stage, it’s important to note that Lamborghini was completely serious about bringing it to production. The company’s archives indicate that, in the summer of 1990, executives planned to launch the car in a couple of years’ time with a base price of about $125,000. In comparison, the Diablo cost $211,000 in 1990, its first year on the United States market. That same year the most expensive Porsche money could buy was the $77,800 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet, while a Ferrari Testarossa cost about $160,000.
Lamborghini believed it could sell roughly 1,000 examples of the P140 annually all around the globe, a figure that would have made it the most popular entry-level Raging Bull ever. That figure was ambitious, but in hindsight it was realistic.
Lamborghini shelved the P140 project in the early 1990s due to a lack of resources, and a general downturn in the supercar market. However, the company didn’t abandon the idea of replacing the Jalpa with a model positioned below the Diablo and designed to run alongside sports cars built by Porsche and Ferrari, among others.
Lamborghini Cala prototype. Cala photos courtesy Lamborghini.
Italdesign Giugiaro showed a new design study dubbed Lamborghini Calà during the 1995 edition of the Geneva Auto Show. Visually, it broke all ties with the P140 and instead adopted a much softer, more rounded look. It was equipped with the exact same 4.0-liter V10 that propelled the first P140 prototype to 183 mph in southern Italy several years earlier. The Calà was well received by show-goers and enthusiasts alike, and Lamborghini openly admitted that it could realistically spawn the Jalpa’s successor, but it never made the lengthy transition from a concept to a production model.
The Gallardo finally filled the void left by the Jalpa when it debuted in 2003. It used a mid-mounted V10 engine, but the mill shared no components whatsoever with the unit that powered the P140 and the Calà.
See original article at" https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/08/02/the-jalpa-replacements-that-never-were-lamborghinis-p140-and-cala-prototypes/
No comments:
Post a Comment