The Lamborghini LM002 is an off-road vehicle manufactured by Lamborghini between 1986 and 1993. The LM002 was an unusual departure for Lamborghini which, at the time, was primarily known for high-performance, hand-built sports cars. The LM002 was not the first of its kind to be built by Lamborghini. Two prototype vehicles, the Cheetah and the LM001, paved the way for the LM002. Both vehicles used rear-mounted American power plants and were intended for military use, but were not well received. With the idea of using a front mounted Countach V12 to power the LM001 came the next model, the "LM002", which was the first of the three to see actual production by Lamborghini. The LM002 is part of the Lamborghini Militaria series of vehicles.
History
Lamborghini built its first military vehicle, a prototype vehicle codenamed "Cheetah", in 1977. Lamborghini had designed the vehicle with hopes of selling it to companies in the oil exploration and production industry.[4] The original Cheetah prototype had a rear-mounted Chrysler V8 engine. The only finished prototype was never tested by the U.S. military, only demonstrated to them by its designer, Rodney Pharis. It was later sold to Teledyne Continental Motors by MTI and is apparently still in the U.S. This led Lamborghini to develop the LM001, which was very similar to the Cheetah, but had an