Lamborghini To Revive Rambo Lambo. In China

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Volkswagen’s Lamborghini division, along with Bentley, could be following Porsche and bring out a pricey SUV. At the 2012 Beijing Auto Show in April, Lamborghini should show an SUV study to Chinese customers, Bloomberg writes. A production version is expected by 2016.

A year earlier, Volkswagen’s Bentley is anticipated to sell its luxo-SUV. A study should be shown at the Geneva Auto Salon next month.

Lamborghini had a short-lived fling with its own SUV, the LM002 (pictured). Introduced in 1986 and quickly nicknamed the “Rambo Lambo,” the car was discontinued in 1993 after a bid for the military market had fizzled.

By showing the Lambo SUV in China, Lamborghini targets one of the hottest markets for upscale 4x4s. Most of Porsche’s sales in China are Cayennes. Chinese customers wait up to a year for their pricey imported car.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Bill mcgee Bill mcgee on Feb 22, 2012

    I remember seeing exactly one of these one time only driving in heavy traffic in Houston sometime in the late eighties/early nineties . Naturally I was gaping at it as was every other motorist around it- probably it stood out even more in those pre-Hummer days . Obviously I had only seen it in Car and Driver or whatever. In person it looked much classier than your photo but as I recall it was widely panned in the media as a ridiculous,overpriced mediocrity.

  • JEC JEC on Feb 22, 2012

    I heard that you can still special order a LM002 (built on request only). I wonder if there is any truth in it (probably not). Nothing will ever compare. It was a product of its own time, a glorious time of magnificent excess and poor decision making. I forsee a dull corporate product along the lines of the Maserati Ka-boom, or whatever they call that hideous fish-faced atrocity. I always liked the LM. And I'm not a truck guy. But all things being equal, if I wanted a ridiculous slap-in-the-face to environmental weenies, I wouldn't drive an H1, I'd drive a 002. Why? Because **** you, that's why. That's the 80s way.

  • Aristurtle Aristurtle on Feb 23, 2012

    Wasn't some early version of this in competition against AM General for the HMMWV contract for the US military? I think I remember hearing about Lambo's then-owner Chrysler showing up for the competition with an off-road vehicle powered by a Countach V12. The Army probably thought that was pretty funny.

    • 1000songs 1000songs on Feb 23, 2012

      "Wasn’t some early version of this in competition against AM General for the HMMWV contract for the US military?" Seriously. Aris - it's only a 8 sentence article! "the car was discontinued in 1993 after a bid for the military market had fizzled."

  • Svenmeier Svenmeier on Feb 23, 2012

    The Lamborghini LM002 and Cheetah were the most pointless cars ever created by the brand. I don't see the appeal of a V12-powered SUV that had a fuel consumption of over 50 L / 100 km. A military vehicle has to provide range and both the LM002 and the Cheetah concept utterly failed at that. Even if they were aimed at the Saudi military, I don't think their voracious appetite for fuel would have impressed military advisers, generals and so forth (despite the cheap gas prices in that country).

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