Lamborghini LM002
I know, I know. When you’re thinking of toughest SUVs, of course, the first thing you think of is Lamborghini. Italy has always been known for their bruising vehicles that are hoping to go overland, instead of around a track.
The LM002 took a little bit of time to create. Lamborghini wanted the LM002 to feel like a Lamborghini. That meant they wanted to put the engine in the rear of the vehicle as so many of their own vehicles have it. After a lot of testing, they realized why off-road vehicles have their engines in the front. The ride off road was simply dreadful and the characteristics as it bounced over objects was wild and seemingly random at times. Due to that, they chose to place the engine in the front eventually.
So the engine is in the front now, but this is Lamborghini. What engine are they going to be put in it? They aren’t going to place just any old engine into the LM002. The base engine was the Lamborghini Countach V12! Now admittedly it might not be the most reliable engine, but that’s a hell of a way to get around when it works. What was crazy is that it wasn’t even the most powerful engine available. The most powerful engine was actually a 7.2 liter V12 that comes from a powerboat! Talk about low key!
You might be thinking to yourself right now… “But wait a second. Those V12’s are some of the least fuel-efficient engines of all time. What was the range of these vehicles?” The LM002 included a huge 290 liter specially made fuel tank to allow it to have enough juice to get around and do what needed to be done.
The LM002 was originally thought of in the way the Hummer was. It was intended to be a military vehicle capable of transporting and scouting. However, it didn’t really catch on. Perhaps the thought of relying on a Lamborghini V12 was a bit scary to them.
