Urraco for sale on Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1976-Lambor...=item43a90e2e92

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1976-Lambor...=item43a90e2e92

Sold for £2601.01

 

 

What sold for 2601.01? The auction is not over yet.

What sold for 2601.01? The auction is not over yet.

My mistake - I thought that this was another car - a RHD P250 wreck for sale on ebay in UK

Are these fun cars to drive, I just looked at a youtube clip and they sure sound great.

Are these fun cars to drive, I just looked at a youtube clip and they sure sound great.

Yes and relatively easy too.

I miss the hell out of mine and would consider another. My fav of all that I had - I know that is hard to believe but true.

 

Joe Frazar

I miss the hell out of mine and would consider another. My fav of all that I had - I know that is hard to believe but true.

 

Joe Frazar

 

Are they relatively easy to work on, Joe?

For the most part yes, parts can be a pain or just expensive. I loved mine and it was a total driver. It was one of the early P250's I took the car on a trip believe it or not and my wife really did not complain at all. One day I will get back on the lambo bus. Currently a garage full of Ferrari's. Joe

Very easy to drive and pretty easy to maintain. I have put over 10,000 miles on my Jalpa and only had to replace the throttle cable, oils changes and that is about it.. tune ups of course.

Very easy to drive and pretty easy to maintain. I have put over 10,000 miles on my Jalpa and only had to replace the throttle cable, oils changes and that is about it.. tune ups of course.

 

I think this is the exception and not the norm. The recent Lamborghini Urraco book that came out said that of all the cars seen, and owners the author interviewed, roughly half of the cars were not running.

 

The V8s seem to be strangely inconsistent. My Jalpa has been a lot of trouble and horribly unreliable, but I have met several owners who hardly ever have the slightest problem. The Jalpa was the last generation of the V8 line and benefited from a lot of sorting and experience on the earlier cars.

 

The Urraco is not a reliable car. They can be pretty good if looked after, but don't fool yourself into thinking they are reliable.

 

The Landsem book is amateurish and useless! The problem with Urracos is that parts are hard to get because there is 0 support from Audighini…unlike Ferrari !

 

People buy the cars cheap because someone else has screwed them up, and then discover that they either do not have the money or talent to make things right!

 

It is absurd to condemn the car as unreliable, when the real problem lies with the previous owner’s lack of ability in maintaining the vehicle.

 

Just because your experience has been expensive and time consuming, does not mean that everyone else is in the same boat.

 

Paul

 

The Landsem book is amateurish and useless! The problem with Urracos is that parts are hard to get because there is 0 support from Audighini…unlike Ferrari !

 

People buy the cars cheap because someone else has screwed them up, and then discover that they either do not have the money or talent to make things right!

 

It is absurd to condemn the car as unreliable, when the real problem lies with the previous owner’s lack of ability in maintaining the vehicle.

 

Just because your experience has been expensive and time consuming, does not mean that everyone else is in the same boat.

 

Paul

 

That's a good point Paul. I like to think that a car is as reliable as someone makes it. If a car is neglected, it can be a problem child for a very long time till someone goes through it to make it right. I've had this experience on several of my Porsches. Every single one of them was ill maintained from prior ownership. I greatly enjoy the challenge of fixing them and making them right. Once fixed, they haven't given me any major trouble, little things here and there and have been giving me smiles per gallon since.

 

I can see how it must be similar with older Lambos. I've noticed after working on a lot of older cars that it seems to be less and less that I see older cars maintained properly. Whether that be due to people leaning towards only working on the newer stuff or whether it be "the old ways" being lost on basic auto technology now being seen as "difficult" or perhaps other factors, I am not sure. Either way... I see it more often than not.

 

But back to your point.. if an owner maintains a car properly, continues upon correct maintenance intervals, spends the money to ensure things are fine a car should be good (in theory) so long as nothing decides to spontaneously fail. I've heard people say "That model of 911 is a headache" or "That year of 914 is horribly unreliable" (which by the way went from "unreliable" to something I drive over the mountain, race, and drive back home without batting an eyelash) or "That model ducati is a pain in the ass to work on and can't be done without specialty tools"... however, I've had none of these experiences. I am also VERY preventative on maintenance and very meticulous when it comes to maintenance time. I do not skimp. I do not let them sit. I drive my vehicles frequently and I stay on top of them.

 

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone as to reliability and maintenance though. The thoughts on the cars still come to me now and then and it's one of those things in the back of my mind that just doesn't stop bugging me. I'm dead set on having one at some point in the next several years once things slow down for me. I'll be looking forward to it.

I guess I am blessed with a well sorted, complete car in great condition.

Last Urraco I saw was at Concorso Italiano and it had broken down on the green. The owner and Valentino Balboni were looking it over trying to get it going again.

 

Most of the threads I read are about issues owners are having.

 

A lot of the cars are see for sale are in rough shape.

 

Maybe I am mostly seeing the bad ones.....

There are plenty of P -250 cars running all over the world with 40,000 miles or more on the clock. They may smoke and have blow-by but they keep on ticking.

 

The most common ailment is problems with the cam drive belts and tensioners, and very often people replace belts and simply can not figure how to get the cam timing back to normal/acceptable…not the motor’s fault !

 

Many worry about the “delicate” sodium cooled exhaust valves…I have managed to break a stem or 2 on the work bench under test, but never under actual operating conditions.

 

There are all sorts of fairy tales and rumors about, started by people who have never even driven a Urraco, let alone owned one. The closest they have ever come is having owned a few body parts or a Fiat X 1/9 or Alfa Romeo as if that was somehow the same.

 

As for the 3.5 liter motor…it simply does not rev as smoothly as the 3 liter motor, and because Alfieri had to make the motor emissions compliant, he greatly reduced CR, and modified exhaust headers etc. hoping that the increased displacement would compensate for the loss of power. I had a brand new Jalpa in 1984, and it was much heavier and nowhere as nice handling as a Urraco, and frankly could not get out of its own way!

 

It did have good legroom and the Targa top but that was not enough. I would also mention that I can think of at least 2 Jalpa engine projects over the last dozen years that lingered seemingly forever, because the guys doing the work simply could not figure out how to put them back together again lacking either imagination or original factory fixtures, again not the fault of the motor!

 

Paul

 

Paul,

 

Your comment about the Jalpa vs. Urraco is spot on. I have owned 3 older lambo's all at the same time for a 5yr run. The Urraco was light, nimble, fun to drive - really a great great car. Super Super easy to work on and very logical. My Countach was big, wide and a very nice drive - I always laugh at the magazine articles that make it sound so ruff and unbearable. Very exciting car. The Jalpa was blaaah. The car never did it for me. It almost was trying to be a compromise between the Countach and Urraco. Your comment about the 3.5 vs. 3.0 I can confirm that the Urraco motor was much better and the Jalpa motor was modified to make it more powerful with less than good results. When I had my Jalpa motor apart and saw the spacer plate between the head and block I was not very impressed. The cyl heads are crap, big heavy things, piss poor design. Regarding the timing belt on the Urraco - Do not rely on the spring in the belt tensioner to set your belt tension you need to adjust this by feel and you can change the belts with the motor in the car.

 

My Verdict is Urraco yes, Jalpa hell no. - 308 much better car for same money. I worked on a local guys 512 last month and I can tell you Countach Vs. 512 - Countach ALL DAY LONG. If anyone knows of one I would be interested. Cell 912-667-1704

 

If any of you need older lambo work in the south I just bought a 10,000 sq ft. 20 bay shop in Savannah, In the final stages of getting it set up. My techs are really good and very reasonable.

 

Joe Frazar

Paul,

 

Your comment about the 3.5 vs. 3.0 I can confirm that the Urraco motor was much better and the Jalpa motor was modified to make it more powerful with less than good results. When I had my Jalpa motor apart and saw the spacer plate between the head and block I was not very impressed. The cyl heads are crap, big heavy things, piss poor design.

 

Joe Frazar

 

your old 2.5 liter motor is much better than the 4 cam jalpa unit? interesting. im puzzled by the confirmation....ever driven a 3.0 liter urraco ?

 

why would you say the cylinder heads are crap? other than the strange cam carriers, and claims porous casting I dont see anything piss poor with the ports or combustion chamber design.

 

btw jalpa drivetrian is roughly 100lbs lighter than a 308 unit i shipped out. you dont hear many complaints about the weight of that motor.

 

the later jalpa block did away with the spacers, i often wonder if they were more reliable.

Just my 2cents. I have not driven a 3.0. But I know my 2.5 is very reliable, so far. Very rev happy and very easy to work on.

I guess the smaller the unit, the more reliable.......

Just my 2cents. I have not driven a 3.0. But I know my 2.5 is very reliable, so far. Very rev happy and very easy to work on.

I guess the smaller the unit, the more reliable.......

 

 

reliable or not, when you drive a 3.0 car it doesn’t even remotely feel like a P250. the motor truly transformed the car. much like stepping up from 924 to a 944 or a alffetta gtv to a gtv6 giving it an extra dimension .

 

please dont take this as a dis to your wonderful early P250... it’s a way cool car

 

rs

Say Rage...the guys here actually own Urracos and drive them regularly...so how... pray tell do you get YOUR information since you are not an owner?

 

Paul

Say Rage...the guys here actually own Urracos and drive them regularly...so how... pray tell do you get YOUR information since you are not an owner?

 

Paul

 

hey bully

 

ive driven a few urracos 3.0 included... yes, own no. how many urracos have you ran across over the years? beside boasting that they can last 40k is kind of comical. can you imagine porsche , period ferraris or other vehicles for that matter being proud of few cars making to 40K? there are plenty of guys here on the forum can tell you how reliable they are and arent. seem like im trying to defend the cars.

 

but what the hell do i know? 3 of them sold for peanuts at auctions. the market has spoken.

 

dont get me wrong im a big fan of the car. thats why im here but if you have a problem with me constantly spouting rubbish then this my last post here so enjoy yourself.

 

over and out

 

A strange dichotomy…you have been badmouthing Urracos for years while claiming to like them!

 

Since you are not mechanically inclined how can you possibly tell if a P 250 can last 40,000 or 1 million miles?

 

As far as difference in performance, it is obvious that the Urraco model with the best power/weight ratio will accelerate fastest…that is usually the P300 assuming that the car is in tune and running right.

 

But the P250 is lighter than a P300 and much lighter than a Jalpa…so it’s handling and braking are quite nice!

 

I personally have about 8000 miles of seat time in P250s and 13000+ in P 300s and about 6500 in Jalpas, so I do have a real-life perspective!

 

Paul

 

Let me add to the information. Try to run a Ferrari 308 for 40,000 without many cam belt adjustments and lots of mantainence and you will see how long your 308 engine lasts.

 

I am not sure if the 250 uses belts, but the 350 does not 16,000 miles later on my Jalpa and I have only checked the tension once and it did not change. 8 years and the only thing my Jalpa has needed besides tune ups and oil changes was a new throttle cable. Not bad in my eyes and probably not bad in most eyes.

Sometimes, with some cars, the motor size is irrelavant.

There are vintage cars with smaller motors than their later variants that are worth quite a bit more.