This 1972 Lamborghini Espada has a Countach 5000QV motor under its modified hood, and is claimed to be the world’s fastest example of the model. Originally equipped with a 24 valve, 4.0 liter version of the classic Giotto Bizzarrini-designed Lamborghini V12, this car would have had 350 HP from the factory. The later 48 valve, 5.2 liter version of that motor now fitted puts out an estimated 500 HP… quite an upgrade. Purists won’t like it, but they don’t usually like Espadas anyway. Find it offered here on eBay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The HRE wheels might look better swapped out for a set of Italian alloys, and the engine has us wondering if some kind of gold Countach wheels could be made to fit. Not much is said about the car’s physical or mechanical condition, but based on the photos provided by the seller it looks pretty clean and well-built. We like that this car is void of the massive bumper guards that are fitted to some of these cars. That hood scoop would take some getting used to, but seems like a requirement for all those carbs.
The seller says it’s very fast, which we have little reason to doubt, and quite reliable to boot – the latter claim isn’t beyond the realm of possibility, but we’d nevertheless plan for a high-maintenance relationship with any older multi-cylinder Italian exotic, let alone a heavily modified one such as this. Whether there are equivalent suspension or brake upgrades isn’t mentioned, but we’d certainly hope there’s heavier duty dampers and bigger front discs at minimum – if not, it’d be necessary to budget for immediate upgrading before really enjoying the car at anywhere near its newfound performance thresholds.
Inside, there’s the typical Italian approximate build quality of the period, a carpet dash cover likely hiding cracked or peeling leather, and modern, black cloth Sparco sports seats ill-suited to the character of the car, not to mention the tan hide featured throughout the otherwise unmodified interior – we’d swap these out for something more appropriate right away. Starting with a stock-looking seat and upgrading the bolstering would seem like a much better idea.
These early, carburated four-valve V12s sounded absolutely incredible, and this one features custom headers and a 3″ exhaust – of course, the seller says it makes a great noise. With upgraded Electromotive ignition, it should prove a lot easier to maintain than the traditional twin-distributor set-up. While far from perfect, we love the concept of a hot rod Espada, especially one with a proper Lambo V12 and not another SBC swapped example. This car’s shortcomings could easily be corrected, and you’d be left with one seriously cool and unique car.