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.
it reminded me of Icon vehicles, as much as I love the care they take with design the radio solutions they make are pretty meh, the metal squared box sitting between the seats and other solutions doesn’t fit at all IMO
Talk about tractor design… It’s worth remembering that IH pickups, at least for several years, had the radio mounted overhead.
It must have been a complete madman of an interior designer who thought the radio facing away from the operator is a good idea. They probably also suggested all the IC to be mounted where only the rear seat passengers could see but that was a bridge too far.
Lexus builds a car and they still can’t figure out where to put the glove box…
I vaguely remembered the front facing radio and lol what an insane thought, too much limoncello at the factory that week eh?
The crew at the repair shop got the most radio time out of any given Italian car of the period. When you finally picked your car up, there was still the new ABBA cassette in there. Or Paul Weller.
Option two (Weller) would be a keeper. ABBA is right out.
Perhaps the forward facing unit was designed with blind people in mind? You know, with their outstanding tactile sensitivity. I bet they can drive, right?
Well, what do I know about radios and their placement, I’m deaf anyway.
Gorgeous cars, those Jaramas. Among the few Lamborghinis I’d consider owning.
Seems that Colleen and Doug can’t agree on the proper pronunciation of Jarama. I assume that Doug’s Spanish pronunciation is correct since, as Colleen points out, the name comes from a Spanish river associated with fighting bulls. Can any Spaniards out there confirm?
I do disagree with with Doug and Adrian (see below) the Jarama is beautiful in that weird, quirky, awkward Lambo way unlike truly ugly, designed-by-committee, eyesores, like David’s Aztek.
Doug’s pronunciation is almost correct in Spanish. The “a”s are open, not closed, you pronounce them like in “what”, not as in “car”; and the “r” is made with the tip of the tongue, not the back. The accent is put in the correct syllabe, though.
Gracias, amable señor o señora.
Growing up in San Antonio, it’s really embarrassing not knowing Spanish. Damn my German ancestry!
I have never had anything but disdain for the Jarama’s design – what were they thinking? And what were 328 people thinking?
I have one in 1:64 and I gave it to my 2-yo; every so often I see little bits of Jarama around the house and I don’t mind a bit.
I do like the radio craziness, though!
several folks on here alluding to tractor-esque design which of course, they were a tractor company. And yes it’s butt-ugly