Model featured:

Lamborghini Jalpa

The Jalpa was a development of the earlier Silhouette, but was rather more successful. It was intended to fill a role as a more "affordable" Lamborghini, being much cheaper than the Countach. Instead of the big car's V12, the Jalpa was fitted with a transversely-mounted 3.5 litre V8 that developed 255 hp.

The bodywork was designed by Bertone, and built by Bertone.
The name Jalpa came from a famous breed of fighting bulls, Ferruccio Lamborghini having a liking for bulls and being a Taurus he gave most Lamborghini cars bullfighting-related names.

Compared to the Countach, the Jalpa was much easier to drive, having better visibility and being more tractable in heavy traffic and at slow speeds. At night, however, there were many distracting internal reflections (a common curse of the Italian low-volume car).

Originally the plastic components (bumpers, air intakes and engine cover) were black, and the car carried over the rectangular taillights of the Silhouette. In 1984, however, the plastic became body-colored, and round taillights were fitted.

In 1988, after falling sales, the new owners, Chrysler, decided to end Jalpa production.

 

Performance

1. power: 255bhp
2. top speed: 233km/h | 145mph
3. 0-100 kmh: 6.5 seconds

Engine

1. capacity: 3480cc
2. cylinders: 8
3. configuration: V8

Other

1. production dates: 1981-1989
2. total produced: 421
3. variants: –