Espada thread

Hi,

can you provide the VIN serie of the car ?

here are some pics to locate engine stamp between the top engine banks + Bertone body on passenger side in engine bay near windscreen/wipers engine + VIN plate that must match the number stamped on the frame just behind the radiator/under the ignition cap, hope it helps you !

feel free to contact me by PM if you wish
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Hi Olivier,
My car is #8986 and is a S3. Or what do you mean?

Regards
Leo

 

Leo,
I replied to this post :

 

As you might have noticed from Olivier´s post, the engine number is difficult to locate (and photograph). It is located directly underneath the long water pipe. For inspection you will need a strong lamp and have to glance between the water pipe and the valve cover.

The last digits of the body number (not the chassis number) are repeated all over the car. In my car all the interior trim panels etc. carried these body number digits. Tanks also. Probably a lot of other parts as well.

Specific issues to look at:
- Are traverse chassis members (front and rear) bent in the middle by unappropriate use of a workshop jack?
- Missing parts?
- Correct Boosters? Should be Girling MKIIa in Ser. I and II and MKIIb in Ser. III.
- Coolant weeping out between head and block?
- If Miura style wheels, inspect the serrations carefully
- Wheel bearings
- Pedal bushings. Move the brake and clutch pedal sideways, more than very few mm is not acceptable. Replacement is difficult and very time consuming.

Aside this,all the usual stuff to check.

For quite a lot of valuable information, both, technical and resources, look here: Home - Vintage Lamborghini Garage. Just have a look at the resources, in particular the technical manuals written by Jack, stunning! The forum provides great information as well.

 

I am having the interior of my Espada redone. It is a Ser. II from 1969 (the fourth car of the series). Many details are, lets say of "prototyping" character (e.g. the center console made competely from wood, covered with leather. The center console dash simple plastic crap, that has warped and is crudely made by the factory (see first photo, rear view). I have had the center console dash board made from 2 mm aluminium and laser cut (second photo). Since the price for one was quoted about 80.-- and for ten 200.--, I now have eight too much assuming that someone will be happy to get one for 20.-- (excluding shipping ). Fell free to contact me.

@ Mods: This is definitely no commercial offer, but just my out of the pocket expenses and disregarding my time for measuring out everything, making drawings, converting into CAD format etc.

P.S.: Will fit early Ser. II only (with clock in center console dash). Holes for attachment must still be made by hand, as well as the small notches for the air outlet locking pins (already made in the second photo, see the three notches over 120°).
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Thank you very much. I actually don't have the number yet. The owner is an older guy, out of the country, which is why I'm having to wait around to go check it out. It's frustrating. That's a tough number to locate, huh? I like how that era Ferrari makes this stuff so easy. I assumed the Espada would be a bit tricky. Really glad I asked, thank you.

This is super helpful and greatly appreciated, thanks so much!

I was hoping to go see the car today - looks like it's going to be tomorrow.

 

Hi everyone,

I just came across this Espada that is for sale on Classic Driver:

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/lamborghini/espada/1970/343616

I have no affiliation. But I was surprised by its cloth interior, which appears to be quite old.

It is the first time I see such an application on an Espada, apart from the prototype which was very different. I wonder if it is original or if it is a post-production transformation?

I am a little doubtful as I see no perforation on the front seats' back, but as always, Lamborghini was not known for its germanic rigour at the time...
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I've seen this on a Miura as well, in a red/orange color. Looks a bit 'cheap' imho

 

Congrats! Please do post pics!.

 

Hi Edouard,

Interior was redone

Philippe
7987

 

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/lamborghini/espada/1970/343616

I have no affiliation. But I was surprised by its cloth interior, which appears to be quite old.

It is the first time I see such an application on an Espada, apart from the prototype which was very different. I wonder if it is original or if it is a post-production transformation?

I am a little doubtful as I see no perforation on the front seats' back, but as always, Lamborghini was not known for its germanic rigour at the time...[/QUOTE]
I saw that and wondered about it, too. I personally like the vulgarity of it but I can't imagine too many folks would!

This.

Thanks man, will do as soon as I've paid for it. Will document the restoration process, too.

 

Thanks for the clarification Philippe!

 

Ed,
I inspected it 2 weeks ago while presented at Interclassix Brussels. Like you I was surprised how it could be an original interior, good presentation car.

But knowing it is telaio #8418, I check its original color scheme which was :

verde acqua /senape
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the carpet looks like it came from a boat LOL

on a serious note however Valentino told me , while he was helping me connect with Bruno Paratelli for my perforations in Italy , that the seats were delivered 3 ways on series 2 cars .
Round holes , star shaped holes and NO holes . he says all now can be considered correct .
Still I have no way of knowing if this interior is even partly original .
That said if the build data shows a different color at the very least then we know .

Back to you Phillip ....

regards

Gary
Espada
#8394

 

Sorry to report that they are all that way--at least, all the S1s and S2s. Plastic that looks like it was nibbled by rats, scrap wood from pallets, fiberglass that looks like a grade-school craft project, etc. Interior quality was not one of Lamborghini's strong suits. Even by the low standards of contemporary Italian exotics, the interiors are shade-tree garbage, except for the quality of the stitching on the leather, which is quite complicated (especially S1s). Part of their enduring charm...

 

I would take it for more than 5 euros/dollars (if it's still for sale) and would keep it a memorabilia of an Espada car, and then that would be important that the whole community to know this car is definitively written off (and has never a single chance to resurfaces), hence registries / forums to spread the word.
On another side, as #7924 was RHD / delivered to Australia, does your (French ?) friend has period picture while this car was in France (even wrecked) ?

 

Funny also the perforations on the back sides of the front seats. The guy making those must have been drunk, since he did not manage to make them in more or less straight lines ..... . They are definitely factory original ...

I now am wondering, whether the "overrestoration" of the interior will raise the value of the car or do harm to the value . At least I now know how to distinguish original interiors from remade ones. In the remakes the perforated strips will be properly centered and the backside perforations will be well aligned .

 

If the old interior was trash then restoration is called for. I made a mistake with my first car and threw away a decent interior (the driver's seat was rough and the dash a bit pulled but the rest was okay) because I wanted a different color from black. Now, I would keep it and fix the bad parts, especially since black is an easier color to match. My current car has the original blue interior with similar problems but I cannot fix part of it and leave the rest, the colors will never match.

Changing out the crappy plastic/wood substrates will be unnoticed so I wouldn't worry about that. Still, keep everything. Never throw away an Espada part except for stuff you destroy taking apart, like engine mounts and suspension bushings. I even keep the bearings as you may need them later to help find replacements. And don't change the switches, repair them. Most of the Espadas I see have at least one or two replacement switches or switches from later cars. They scream out and look terrible, but it's the rare car these days that has all of its correct switches.

 

I just visited this morning Bruno Paratelli's worshop... he is a so charming person, and so sensitive ! here is below the machine" making the Espada perforation/holes
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Great to see it! Thanks for sharing. You must have had a great time.

 

yes it was really interesting as you can imagine !

About the leather qualities, I will developp in my book, but I'm going to just mention 1x thing in the DD Countach section to answer to...

 

Absolutely my approach, luckily I have the space to act accordingly. The original leather will be stored away properly.

Indeed, the switches are repaired/serviced quite easily, I just spent a little bit of time doing this with all the Espada switches (since the dash is out anyway). It is quite amazing how much better they work after cleaning and polishing of the contacts. Same with the rheostat (brightness of instrument and control lamp illumination), by the way. But, upon opening of the rheostat, take care to slowly removal of the case, since there is spring load in internal components and this may result in small parts (spheres and others) flying around, if the case gets off in an uncontrolled manner.

 

I mean the internal ones, the switches can be disassembled completely. As a note, the two case components and the rocker fit to one another in one orientation only. For example, the two holes in the rocker axis line have different diameters, just as the corresponding axis protrusions of the front case part. The same with the separate frame, by the way, so watch out to mount the frame to the dash the right way around .

 

To be fair ... that's one hell of a lot of holes to punch by hand in the backs of those seats.
I've never seen an original or restored one for that matter that had them done well. They always had to make some kind of spacing compromise when turning the corners.

Ask Gary about his recent seat backs. They ARE totally authentic looking!

I went around and around with this issue on my seats for over a year and a half and finally just lost patience waiting for my vendor to obtain an automated solution to the problem. I ended up laying out a decent pattern, slightly different than the random, chicken pecking at the ground inspired original one. But I was awaiting the tooling of an accurate punch that could be adapted to his computer controlled machine. The problem was ensuring that the punch never rotated in the slightest else it would look just awful. Which is what happens when done by hand!

Well a week after my seats were completed he finally told me he had gotten a positive reply from the die punch tool maker for his machine ... figures ...

So if anyone wants this done perfectly instead of via the Italian chicken pecking method he can do it. He's also the guy who has been doing the seat face perfs for many years here for the Espada & Countach. Very reasonably priced.

 

That's quite a color and interior change then?

I'm not a fan of the cloth either but it is shown on the early brochure just not quite like that.

What's also interesting is the modified electrics in the engine compartment. The fuse box cover and separately mounted fuses and are those relays? That could all be owner initiated stuff but it looks like very old modifications. There's nothing sacrosanct about Lamborghini electrics from that era. Plenty of worthy modifications such as additional relays to save switchgear and provide better voltage are recommended. Perhaps not quite this visible though.