When it comes to Lamborghinis, the Jarama is possibly one of the least-known and least-loved, and I’m not really sure that’s fair. The Jarama was built for the American market and was designed to be a fast, comfortable, and fairly practical GT car. It succeeded in that, I think, with a 3.9-liter, six-carb V12 making about 350 horsepower, a roomy interior, and a big trunk (that looks like it should be a hatch). The polarizing styling, simultaneously conventional and weird, was designed by Marcello Gandini and evoked the rectilinear fastback look that would define so many 1970s cars. Only 328 Jaramas were built between 1970 and 1976, and there’s one detail about the model that absolutely fascinates me: the radio location.
Over the course of the Jarama’s production run, four different radio locations were tried out in the car – five if you count not having a radio at all, which I don’t. Four different places for the radio? Why? Why couldn’t they just pick one? That’s like a different radio placement for every 82 cars! What the hell was going through your head, Lambo?
Built on a 10-inch-shortened Espada platform, the Jarama was one of Lamborghini’s slowest-selling cars ever. Despite this, Ferruccio Lamborghini, the company’s founder, liked them so much that he ordered one for his own personal use, and considered it one of his favorites. It’s one of the rarest Lambos, definitely one of the most underrated, and when it comes to radio placement, absolutely one of the most, um, diverse.
I get that a company like Lamborghini, especially in the 70s, was able to enjoy a lot of freedom because of their low-volume production. If a change is wanted, they don’t really need to wait for the next “model year” or anything like that; the way their cars are built allows for changes as they seem right, which must be a factor in the multitude of radio placement options here. Let’s look at all the places the radio ended up in these cars:
Okay, so we have, with the no-radio option, five possibilities here. The first one, with the radio just set into the dash in a position that you’d expect it, is by far the most conventional. Why didn’t they just call it a day with this one? It works, people know to look and reach there for the radio, and we’re done, right? Well, Lambo didn’t think so. Also, these options are not chronological, I should point out. I have no idea when in the production run they tried the conventional approach. Maybe it was at the end?
Oh, by the way, here’s a nice walk-around of one of the ten automatic Jaramas that were built:
The center console options are deeply strange, too. They tried both front- and rear-facing installations here, and while both are awkward, the one where the radio controls are facing away from the hands and faces of the people in the car absolutely baffles me. Why would anyone choose this?
I mean, look how this is positioned:
I crudely put where a person would be in that seat, a dotted line showing their line of sight, and then, in light greenish, you see where the radio controls are. How would you read the tuning dial on that? It’s so awkward; I can’t fathom how anyone would have thought this was an idea that made sense for human beings, the ostensible target market for this car?
Look, even our pal Doug DeMuro finds this radio layout baffling, though he, like me, probably secretly loves it because this kind of crap is so much fun to talk about, exasperatedly:
The rear-facing center console version is a bit better, but still weird, and the overhead one is at least sort of aircraft-cool, I suppose.
But why did Lambo have to try out every one of these options for such a small run of cars? Is this some strange form of perfectionism, just without the burden of the “perfect” part? It’s so strange. I love it.
So I had a tractor with the radio mounted sideways under the armrest with the knobs facing forward, once you memorized what each button did it was easy to use without looking at.
Don’t give VW ideas. Their next interior will probably include this, but all of the controls will be capacitive. 😉
Jamara isn’t only one afflicted with the indecisiveness about the radio: Lamborghini revised the dashboard roughly every two years for its Espada. Series I had radio at bottom of the control panel in front of the gear selector. The radio in Series II was moved to the passenger side, frustrating the drivers (who weren’t built like Italians—long arms and short legs). Series III denied the passengers any access by moving the radio to the left of the instrument cluster. I prefer the simplicity of Series I dashboard.
The position of radio wasn’t only thing Lamborghini struggled with, but Espada had three different taillamps that were taken from other Italian cars (Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina, Fiat 124 Sports Coupé (First Series, 1967-1969), and Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina), depending on what’s available on the order day. The taillamps from Fiat are nicest of all three.
Proof even the greatest car designers have off days.
The early Lotus Esprit had a roof mounted stereo, apparently part of Chapman’s plane obsession. Later ones are dash mounted.
This is so Lamborghini. And it’s not ugly,fuck off Doug.
The proportions are soooo much better than the Espada. I think it looks great in silver
It’s not ugly, I think it looks sinister. I’d drive the shit out of this thing.
Actually the rear facing center console is the dumbest one because only the rear seat passengers can use it. The front facing one probably just needs you to lean in but since there are just two knobs you can adjust them without looking and they are right under your palm. While for the rear facing radio you have to twist your arm awkwardly to reach the knobs if you’re the driver.
Well, if you’re gonna try weird experimental shit it might as well be on a small batch of product.
In this regard I think it makes sense to do that kind of experiments on that car for Lambo.
My father must have consulted for Lamborghini. He was always scolding, “Leave the radio alone!” So the forward facing placement was probably his idea.
Radio dont need no stinkin radio. I listen to the song of the engine.
“How would you read the tuning dial on that?”
It’s a 70s Lambo, you adjust by having your passenger hold the nose candy mirror for you to adjust accordingly.
That’s too weird. When I saw the center console, forward facing mount I assumed it was upside down, which would make a bit of sense. Right side up? That’s just mean.
Does anyone remember people mounting car radios under the driver seat when they didn’t want to tear up the dashboard of an older car or had a car with a beautiful but broken tube radio?
No need to see the radio, why would anyone want to look at a radio anyway?
I never heard of that but I knew a lot of people used to mount them in the glove box.
I installed a radio/tape deck under the driver’s seat in my 2CV. No dash to speak of in that car, plus it was super easy to break in to and I didn’t want it stolen.
I parked next to another 2CV at uni occasionally and one morning came out to find they’d both been vandalised, but the other one had had the roof slashed and stereo stolen, so good call by me.
Ergonomically it worked fine, I could even change tapes while driving.
Huh, never heard of this model. Then again, not a supercar kinda guy.
How many people had to approve layout #2? (really, any layout that’s not #1, but I’ll focus on #2)
Yeah, they don’t need to be model year mass production style changes, but that’s still work.
I like the roof mounted radio because it reminds me of my youth driving tractors.
Did you know the cassette player in the Case Magnum 7110 has an eject mechanism powerful enough to hit you directly in the head if you’re not paying attention?
My 85 Ford Ranger could eject a cassette directly into your right testicle if you hit a bump too hard.
The half-covered headlights is an… unusual treatment. What’s the story behind that??!!
See also: Alfa Montreal
See also: Isuzu Impulse
See also Holden Commodore VL Calais…
See also: Iso Rivolta Lele
I do love the jarama
i went to a carshow saturday afternoon where i saw a factory five mkIV roadster (AC shelby cobra kit-car) with radio mounted in bulkhead behind and between seats at shoulder height.
apparently if you want to listen to the radio, you’re doing it wrong, just don’t.
They did this becase they didn’t care. It’s a Lamborghini – what do you really want to listen to? A radio or that V12? There’s only one correct answer, but nonetheless people often expected a radio, so they WTFed one in there in whatever way struck them at the time.
I kinda like option number two, or at least understand the thought process behind it – rest your elbow on the center console and your wrist lands just beyond the radio, letting your hand fall right on to the radio controls.
It can’t be that much worse than a giant touchscreen!
Was going to type about the same thing. The radio had tactile, physical controls and there wasn’t a lot of features to it, so I imagine one can learn quite quickly what does what, plus it doubles as a (heated?) armrest.
If you look at the placement of modern I-Driveesque controls, the forward facing radio almost makes sense.
Oh god… #2. Center-console mounted, facing AWAY?
This is definitely for the snobs who would claim “Yeah my Lambo has a radio… but I don’t use it because the TRUE music comes from the V12. That’s why it’s facing away.”
In some ways it could be nice at times. Like if you just want to fiddle with the volume or click a radio preset and your hand is on the arm rest, it’s right there and easy to do with minimal movement once you’ve got it somewhat memorized. I’ve seen people do similar setups with a CB radio or a walkie talkie for a work truck. And one less set of lights to bother you for night driving.
But 95% of the time, especially when first getting acquainted with the car, this seems stupid and downright dangerous if you have to turn your entire body if you want to see the radio.
Honestly, anyone familiar with a two-knob radio from the 1970s would know exactly how to operate it without ever looking. On/Off-Volume on one knob, tuning on the other, tone and balance controls on sleeves or tabs outside of the main knobs. AM/FM slider above the buttons, and the buttons set by tuning a station, then pulling out and pushing them in. It was, by and large, a standardized UI that everybody could operate without looking at. You tuned by spinning the knob and stopping on a station you recognized/wanted to hear. Or set up your (un-marked, memorized) pushbuttons and just hit the button you wanted by running a finger across the row and punching the one you wanted. Completely possible to operate without ever having to take your eyes off the road.
Ever watch somebody operate a car radio, or a portable radio in movies and TV of that era? They tuned it/changed volume often without looking at it, somewhere off to the side much like in the center, away-facing setup. In fact, in that setup, you could hold your cigarette in the same hand while twiddling the radio controls and not worry about bumping and marring the face with the lit end. (And, in the 1970s, that probably mattered…)
So yes, it’s definitely weird, but given the incredibly easy eyes-off operation of the radio, it was basically a non-issue and even kind of ergonomic in the front-facing orientation. The complete antithesis of later chiclet-button-encrusted radios of the 90’s and 2000s, and now touchscreen hell.
A great point is your use of the word “punch” re operating the presets! It really did require a surprising-if-you’ve-never-done-it amount of pressure to depress them, as you were moving a mechanical mechanism.
So having the radio mounted backwards would allow the driver to rest his palm on the housing (as mentioned), using it as a brace to more easily depress the buttons…
My feelings exactly, both about the superior design of the 5 button car radio, and the ease of operation without looking at it. Modern car audio systems are useless in the context of something that you would use while driving a car.
I’d totally drive a Jarama with no radio at all. I’d prefer an Espada, maybe with a cassette deck if anyone is considering gifting me a Lamborghini but a Jarama would be fine.
Oh please, today people distractedly drive while playing with their cellular phones.
Maybe they let buyers decide where they wanted the radio in their cars?
#2 would be the worst.
I vaguely recall there’s one car with the radio in the center console, pointing up and aligned with the center tunnel. Can’t remember which car though.
Ferrari Daytona
Citroen GS and CX (upright in between the seats, facing the driver). The CX went through a normal phase (centre stack) between 1979-85 but when they ditched the wacky instruments they restored the radio to its original position in a fit of Gallic pique.
Renault R5
In a backwards kind of way, it actually makes a lot of sense. There are basically 2 knobs, volume/power and tuning, and the mechanical preset buttons. All of those controls now land directly at your right hand while it’s resting on the armrest. Figuring most people aren’t staring at the lil orange needle while they’re scanning for a song, and others will have their faves on the unlabeled preset buttons, there’s not a bunch to look at anyway.
It’s a similar take to a modern Audi, BMW or Lexus, just with a 70’s kit car implementation.
Not saying I like it (I’d take the roof mount any day), just seeing how someone could think it was a good idea.
#5 looks like the radio is mounted facing upwards
That’s an ash tray and two lighters, which were more important than a radio in the 70’s.
If VW had owned Lambo during that time, ze Germans would all have had strokes.
All at once. In an orderly fashion.
I still think I’d rather deal with this than the haptic bullshit Volkswagen continues to subject us to
In height, then alphabetical order
They probably did this as a half assed add on the entire time because everyone knows you don’t need a radio in a Lamborghini. The only soundtrack you need is the V12’s symphony accompanied by generous helpings of the tires screaming in protest. Bellissima!
See comment from Trenton Abernathy above…