Lamborghini Jarama

Marcello Gandini needs no introduction. He has tens of models to his name and many of them have achieved legendary status. Now, three of his creations, namely the Lamborghini Jarama, the Lancia Stratos HF Stradale, and the Alfa-Romeo Montreal will be up for sale at an upcoming auction by Stratas Auctions. Collectively, they are expected to fetch north of $800,000.

The Lamborghini Jarama made its way into production in 1970 as a replacement for the Islero and proved to be the Italian supercar manufacturer’s last front-engined V-12 grand tourer. While shorter than the Espada, the Jarama still offered seating for four and had the same engine.

By the late ’60s, Lamborghini was a bivalent company: it was both offering an out-and-out supercar, the tremendous Miura, and a couple laid-back grand tourers built with comfort, luxury, and practicality in mind. When it came time to replace the smaller of the two tourers, namely the Islero, Lamborghini decided to turn from Carrozzeria Marazzi, who’d been behind the Islero, to Bertone.

The car that resulted was a strange thing: it sat low and wide but was also quite short. It came with Miura-style magnesium wheels but it was way heavier than the mid-engined supercar due to its all-steel construction. The first batch of cars was dodgy at best, in typical Italian fashion, but the Jarama S turned out to be an enjoyable highway runner.