Lamborghini does not build many cars like the Lamborghini Marco Polo: a MR 2+2 coupe, built from 1982 in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. Its designer of record is Giorgetto Giugiaro.
The story
The Lamborghini Marco Polo, or Italdesign Marco Polo, was a styling exercise by Italdesign Giugiaro. Introduced in 1982 at the Bologna Motor Show, the Marco Polo was inspired by the Lancia Medusa concept car designed by Italdesign two years prior. The design was originally intended for an upcoming DeLorean DMC-24 sedan, but DMC ran out of money before the concept was finished. Italdesign then recycled the design into a concept for Lamborghini. The wheels on the Marco Polo are standard DeLorean alloys covered by hubcaps.
The Marco Polo is not a running prototype, rather the design is only a painted plastic model for aerodynamic research. Italdesign said the Lamborghini badge on the nose of the car was not to imply any official design program undertaken with the factory, but that it was instead intended as a homage to the brand. Although Lamborghini has a more exciting image to its products, Giugiaro decided to give this study a less aggressive line, preferring instead to focus on aerodynamic efficiency in order to provide a quieter passenger compartment and higher speed while maintaining fuel consumption. As such, the Marco Polo features a drag coefficient of 0.24, compared to the Medusa's 0.26. The Marco Polo, while a four-seater, has only two gull-wing doors, like the ones used on the Marzal, which can be opened from either the front or back seats.
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a MR 2+2 coupe. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Its place in the line
On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Porsche 944, the Toyota Camry, the Nissan Micra. Nearby in the Lamborghini catalogue sit the Lamborghini Calà and the 147.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Lamborghini Marco Polo 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.