Start with what the Lamborghini LM001 is: a car with 5.9 L (360 ci) AMC V8, built from 1981, in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Giulio Alfieri.
Where it came from
The Lamborghini LM001 was a prototype off-road vehicle designed and built by Lamborghini. It was first revealed at the 1981 Geneva Auto Show alongside the new Jalpa. Despite the failure of the Cheetah project, the idea of a Lamborghini off-road vehicle was still very much alive, and with new capital from investors, the Cheetah concept was redesigned into the LM001.
Unlike the Cheetah's Chrysler engine, the LM001 prototype had a 180 hp (134 kW) 5.9 L (360 ci) AMC-built V8, with the intention of offering the V12 from the Countach for production models. The LM001 was found to have unfavorable handling characteristics when accelerating. This problem was traced to the placement of the engine in the rear. As a result, the LM001 was discontinued after one prototype was made.
Under the skin
The engine is 5.9 L (360 ci) AMC V8. On the scales it comes to 2,100 kg. The layout matters: the engine hangs behind the rear axle, a layout that gives ferocious traction out of a corner and a reputation to match on the way in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Lamborghini line-up the Lamborghini LM001 has a clear place: it replaced the Lamborghini Cheetah; it handed the line to the Lamborghini LMA002. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Mitsubishi Pajero, the DeLorean Motor Company DeLorean DMC-12, the Toyota Camry. Nearby in the Lamborghini catalogue sit the Lamborghini Calà and the Lamborghini Marco Polo.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Lamborghini LM001 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.