1968 Lamborghini Espada

Last updated on August 17, 2022

Today’s car is a 1968 Lamborghini Espada grand touring coupé. It is finished in Blue and the interior is finished in Red leather over Blue carpet. It is powered by a 325 hp, 240 cu in, 3.9 Liter, v12, with 6 Weber carburetors. Transferring that power to the rear wheels through a 5-speed all synchromesh manual transmission with 4.09:1 final gear ratio. Helping slow this beauty down are vented disc brakes, 11.7 inch diameter in the front and 10 inch diameter in the rear. The fully independent front and rear suspensions are double wishbones, coil springs, adjustable Koni shocks and anti-roll bars. The Campagnolo 15 inch magnesium alloy wheels are a perfect match for this car. The Espada has two black painted grills on each side of the car which covers the gas tank fillers so you can fill the two interconnected tanks from either side of the car.

The name Espada is the name of the swords that were used by the bullfighters to kill the bull. The original MSRP was $21,000.00. Today one in this condition could sell in the $200,000.00 range. There were 1217 Espada’s built from 1968-1978 with 186 built in 1968, the inaugural year.  The Espada was the first four-seat vehicle built by Lamborghini and was its biggest selling model for years. In 1968 it was the fastest and lowest 4 seater ever produced. The published top speed was 150 mph with a 0-60 mph time of 8.0 seconds.

This is a great car that represents the European market for the 4 seat grand touring sports cars. This car will draw car enthusiast at any car show or Cars and Coffee event or just a brisk ride up the coast with like minded friends on the weekend. Thanks for riding along. Frank

Do you see the Espada sword?
Engine photo credit RM Sotheby’s.