The All But Forgotten Lamborghini Jalpa V8 Is Over 40 Years Old

The All But Forgotten Lamborghini Jalpa V8 Is Over 40 Years Old

It was the Geneva show in March 1981, some 40 years ago, when Lamborghini presented the Jalpa for the first time.

But now it seems that the Jalpa isn’t the poster child that the Countach is, probably due to the fact that it was developed in the shadow of the iconic car. I saw one when very young on a stand at the London Motor Show and thought it was amazing. You could even get the huge rear wing on it.

Road tests were enthusiastic in the period, the handling and roadholding was complemented and the car’s general road manners too.

So why hasn’t it gone stratospheric with a ridiculous price tag? After all its rare, the last of its line and rather cool in a 1980s sort of way.

Lamborghini Jalpa Turns 40

A long standing Lamborghini tradition, with the exception of the Countach, was to name the cars after a breed of fighting bulls. Jalpa comes from the Jalpa Kandachia and it’s also the last of the V8 mid mounted cars.

Being the final development of the Urraco and the Silhouette, the car retained the general architecture but gained a larger 3.5 litre engine.

Lamborghini Urraco, A Celebration Of 50 Years Since The Launch Of Their First V8

French designer Merc Deschamps of Carrozzeria Bertone, who was the style director from 1980, penned the lines of the car with the Targa type open to. Technical director and general manager Giulio Alfieri also had his influence on the car.

Lamborghini Jalpa Turns 40
The All But Forgotten Lamborghini Jalpa V8 Is Over 40 Years Old

The 90° V8 is the final evolution of all aluminium quad cam engine first seen in the Urraco. The bore was increased to enlarge the engine to the new 3.5 litre displacement, 3485 cc, and came with four Weber 42 DCNF twin carburetors and a compression ratio of 9.2:1.

The new engine produced a maximum power of 255 bhp at 7000 rpm, right on the money when pitched against the Ferrari 308 and later 328. The top speed was 155 mph, or 249 km/h. Lamborghini claimed the 0 – 60 time was 6 seconds, but Car And Driver achieved a time of 5.8 seconds even though the US got a slight power reduction, 250 bhp.

Lamborghini Jalpa Turns 40 Interior

The prototype unveiled at the show was based on an unsold Silhouette. It went back to the factory and was used to develop the new model, the bronze show car from Geneva 1981. The car had a few features that didn’t make it to the production version.

Another Lamborghini tradition of reusing prototypes and other vehicles and not keeping a vast collection of development vehicles, this was a small automotive company back then.

Lamborghini Jalpa Turns 40 Interior

Entering production in 1982 the Jalpa featured a semi-supporting steel body, black bumpers and air intakes with horizontal rear lamps. 16″ alloy wheels, taken from the Athon prototype, were shod with Pirelli P7 low profile tyres.

The interior was luxuriously finished, copious amounts of leather and carpet was used to coat every surface. The opening roof was designed to be easily removed and stored in the space behind the seats.

Lamborghini Jalpa Turns 40

1984 saw the second series Jalpa with some styling changes. The bumpers and air intakes were finished in the same colour as the body, the rear lamps are rounded off and the interior seeing a bit of a revamp.

The production of the Jalpa ended in 1988 after just 420 cars. You’ll be luck to see one let alone own one, but when they come up, they don’t command vast sums of money, but they aren’t quite being given away, or are they…

 

1985 Lamborghini Jalpa At Auction, The Rare Alternative To Ferrari’s 308 & 328

Thanks to Lamborghini for the images,

Simon

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