Thursday, December 12, 2013

Lamborghini LM003 Borneo

During the ownership of Automobili Lamborghini SpA by the Indonesian group, a study was made to put a LM002 replacement into production.

The LM002 obviously had flaws but it still was a steady low volume seller, therefore a United Kingdom based company was contacted to design a successor to the LM002, but later this job was handed over to SZ Design, a company based on the remains of the Zagato Design Studio.
This was to become the LM003, named Borneo or Galileo, depending on what market it was sold in. The LM003 name was actually confusing because an LM003 did already exist in the past, it was in fact an LM002 with a Turbocharged Diesel engine installed into it instead of the massive V12, but because the complete car was very underpowered with this engine configuration only one prototype was ever made and never left the factory.

A preliminary drawing was made for the new LM003 project, but an in depth market research study revealed only a small interest would exist in the new LM003. Most Lamborghini customers or future customers were not exactly waiting for a new off roader, a much more wanted car would have been an Espada successor like the L149 project or a new Diablo successor. For that reason the Borneo/Galileo never even made it into the prototype stage. A few drawings by Zagato exist, together with some technical proposals, with which a full scale mock up was created.

The new LM003 Borneo would become a joint venture between Timor, and Indonesian based automaker and Lamborghini. The body shell would not be made in Italy but in the Far East. The LM002 bodywork was in fact made in Spain when it was still in production.


The rumors persist that a new Lamborghini SUV will be produced, and if its anything like the concept that was show it will look amazing! I guess we will have to wait and see...