You’ve probably already seen some of the coolest cars from the 2024 New York Auto Show, but there’s one celebrity-owned machine that deserves some extra attention: Michael Strahan’s 1990 Lamborghini LM002. In a world mad for SUVs and at a show a little light on exotica, the V-12 powered truck best known as the “Rambo Lambo” would stand out even if it weren’t fire engine red. For many show goers, it’ll be the first time they’ve ever seen one.
Michael Strahan's 1990 Lamborghini LM002 is one of three he's owned. The chrome bumpers and huge OZ ... [+]
The LM002 is a mysterious beast, and it illustrates how truly exotic Lamborghinis were when it was new. Just 301 were made in eight years, which is less than a month of Urus production today. The people who owned them new were often equally exotic. What do Malcolm Forbes, Tina Turner, Keke Rosberg, Sylvester Stallone and Muammar Gadaffi have in common? They all bought LM002s.
NFL star-turned-TV-personality Strahan is just slightly too young to have bought one brand new (he was in college when production wound down), but he’s a serious car connoisseur. In addition to a host of obscure exotics like a De Tomaso Guara, he’s owned three LM002s.
Strahan’s trio of display cars (the others a La Ferrari and a Tedson Daydream, an electrified Porsche 911) also happened to be exactly where Lamborghini’s own stand was at the Javits Center back in 1990. That being the case, it seemed like a good time to re-tell just how the Italian company came to build this bonkers SUV in the first place.
The Lamborghini Cheetah (foreground), is the original prototype that later spawned the production ... [+]
The Cheetah And Bankruptcy
The LM002’s “Rambo Lambo” nickname, derived in part from its association with Stallone, is well-deserved. Its unmistakable shape is a visual of brute force; it has all the ingredients of off-road invincibility including tires designed for sand running. That’s all thanks to the fact that this machine sprang from repeated attempts to build a military off-roader.
The story begins in 1977 with a vehicle called the Cheetah, a collaboration between U.S.-based Mobile Technology International (MTI) and Lamborghini, then owned by Swiss businessmen Georges-Henri Rossetti and René Leimer. At first, it was an idea for a new U.S. Army all-purpose off-roader. At the time, the U.S. Army’s vehicles were fairly dated, and in 1979 the Army announced an RFP for a proper new all-purpose truck to replace its collection of aging Jeeps.
In the end, that vehicle became AM General’s HMMWV (Humvee). But before that could happen, MTI was one of many prospective companies bidding to impress the Department of Defense (DoD). Rodney Pharis, MTI’s American boss, designed the Cheetah, powered by a mid-mounted Chrysler V8, which was to be produced by Lamborghini.
At the time, Lamborghini was struggling. After Italy’s economy began a long contraction, his tractor business floundered, and OPEC destroyed sales of fuel-hungry sports cars, founder Ferruccio Lamborghini sold off his businesses one by one. Rossetti and Leimer were left with empty factory space and financial coffers, and building the Cheetah could help fill both. Automobili Lamborghini’s need for cash led to a similar deal with BMW to build its M1 supercar.
If the company could get these products into production, it could then get more government funding to tide it over. There was still plenty of interest in Lamborghini’s cars at the time, but it didn’t have the funds to build them in large numbers or necessarily certify them for sale in the U.S., the largest market for such vehicles.
The Cheetah had many flaws, however. Its mid-mounted Chrysler V8 made for poor balance, and one of the other RFP participants sued the company, alleging that the Cheetah had copied its design. But its biggest problems were the Italian factory and a lack of capital. The DoD required U.S. manufacture and Lamborghini just didn’t have the resources to put the Cheetah into production. Both projects went nowhere and, after BMW refused a request for a loan, the company went bankrupt in 1978.
The Mimran brothers led Lamborghini's factory back to success. Countaches and LM002s are seen here ... [+]
Lamborghini Mimran, Lamborghini Militare
Since nobody wanted to preside over the end of the company, the Italian Government, Rossetti and Leimer worked hard to find new owners. They found them in 1980, in the unlikely form of French brothers Jean-Claude and Patrick Mimran, who invested $3 Million and arrived at the factory in 1981.
The brothers, both under 40 with no car experience, were heirs to a Franco-African sugar cane fortune. The two would run Lamborghini for a probationary period of three years, and only then would they buy the firm. Fortunately, the Mimrans proved highly adept managers, launching the Jalpa, modernizing the Countach, increasing sales and salvaging what they could from the Cheetah.
Largely shepherded by younger brother Patrick, the Cheetah was redesigned into the LM001 prototype in 1981, now with a rear-mounted American Motors V8. The rear-engine idea didn’t handle any better, so it was redesigned again into the LM002 prototype, with a front-mounted Countach V12 and a new tube-frame chassis. All of these prototypes were four-wheel drive, and they were all meant for the kind of desert dune bashing one might associate with a Humvee or today’s Ford F-150 Raptor.
When the LM002 prototype broke cover at the 1982 Geneva show, there were rumors of a Saudi military order, but no Army ever did end up taking delivery. Instead, the truck went through another round of major engineering changes and bowed as a high-end exotic SUV at the 1986 Brussels show.
The LM002 went into production in 1986, packing a 455-horsepower V12. It's seen here at the 1989 ... [+]
Building The Lamborghini LM002
While no military buyers were ever serious about it, in the LM002 the company had created a wild PR machine. It had the heart of a Countach, the capability of a Humvee, and was arguably more exotic than either. Even today, it’s quite disconcerting to hear one running. SUVs usually make deep bass sounds from torquey engines, and the Giotto Bizzarini-designed Lamborghini V12 is a comparatively high-pitched symphony.
It could supposedly run over just about any terrain, and its specially-designed Pirelli Scorpion tires could be deflated and handle desert conditions. Lamborghini’s 700-horsepower marine-spec V12 (often seen in exotic Riva powerboats) was an option if the regular 455-horsepower version didn’t have enough power for prospective buyers, and it came with a 45-gallon gas tank. Its interior was functional, but buyers could have any ultra-luxe fittings they wanted.
LM002s were popular in the Middle East (the very first was delivered to King Hassan II of Morocco), but exceedingly rare almost everywhere else, which only contributed to their mystique. By the time volume production had begun, the Mimrans had sold Lamborghini to Lee Iacocca’s Chrysler in 1987. Since the LM002 was a slow-selling, virtually hand-built machine, the new owners didn’t change it very much over time.
The truck (most LM002s are pickups with very short beds, though some wagon-bodied versions were built to special order) continued in production until 1993.
Technically speaking, almost all LM002s are pickup trucks with a tiny little bed and jump seats in ... [+]
Whatever Happened To The LM002?
By 1992 Chrysler was actively seeking to offload Lamborghini. A global recession and a bit too much absentee landlording had seen its value shrink despite launching the Diablo supercar in 1990.
The LM002 was out of the picture by the time Chrysler found a buyer, a Bermudan company named Megatech that acted as a front for Indonesian buyer Tommy Suharto (son of former President Suharto). The company struggled on until 1998, when it was finally bought by Audi (and, by extension, the Volkswagen Group).
VW’s management turned Lamborghini into a highly profitable seller of volume-production exotics, but it did not build another SUV until 2018’s Urus, which is a horse of a very different color than the LM002.
Meanwhile, Strahan became an NFL Hall of Famer and bought his first LM002 while he was still playing. He soon sold it, a move he instantly regretted, and later replaced it with the two he owns today.
Perhaps appropriately, he grew up partly on European military bases just around the time the Humvee was coming into service and learned to drive on Germany’s Autobahns. He’s been into unusual enthusiast machinery ever since and has often remarked on what a unique experience the LM002 is, a big four-wheel drive, five-speed truck with that high-strung engine.
Today, LM002s can fetch half a million dollars at auction, and given their extreme rarity it’s unlikely you’ll ever see one in traffic. But you can catch Strahan’s at the Jacob Javits Convention Center until April 7.
