I’ve noticed that I have this unconscious habit of peering into every open barn, garage, or shed that I come across in hopes of spotting a great barn find. Every once in a while I will spot something interesting or unusual, but typically if there is a car parked inside it is something relatively common. When I came across this Lamborghini Urraco P250 here on eBay, it hit me that I’ve been looking in all the wrong barns! I want to find a truly uncommon and desirable classic parked in a barn, garage, or shed! For the time being I will just have to enjoy reading about finds like this one on the internet.
The Lamborghini Urraco isn’t exactly the most desirable of Lambos, although they are steadily gaining interest. Unlike its predecessors, the Urraco wasn’t built to be an all out supercar, but a more affordable and practical sports car. With rear seats and mid mount engine, it was a car that you could load the kids into for a quick trip around the block while still having the exotic nature of a Lambo. The styling isn’t as striking as say a Miura or a Countach, but the more you study its lines the more it grows on you. I’ve even come to appreciate the basic interior and its Italian craftsmanship.
The Urraco came in three distinct flavors, the P200, the P250, and the P300. This car is the middle of the pack P250, which means its V8 displaces 2.5 liters and puts out nearly 220 horses. While the P300 has an additional 30 hp and is significantly quicker to 60, I would be more than content with this 2.5 liter. It offers plenty of zip to keep up with modern day traffic and the sound of an Italian V8 is a joy all its own. The seller states the motor turns over, but doesn’t say whether any attempts to make it run have been made. This is one engine I would want to go through thoroughly before attempting to start it for the first time.
Now back to the subject of why I never find cars like this. I’m going to guess it has something to do with how few were built and the fact that this one was found in Japan. I’m sure there are still plenty of finds like this left out there, it’s just a numbers game. The more barns you peer into, the more likely you are to find a needle in a haystack. One note to remember though, don’t let your curiosity and passion for the hunt get you into trouble. No one likes a trespasser, so always ask before entering. Oh and if you do happen to come across something incredible, be sure to take lots of photos and share them with us (just make sure to not tell us you were trespassing, that way we can deny any involvement!) We can’t all be out hunting, so we have to get our fix here on the web!
P.S. It would appear that the barn that housed this Urraco was also home to a Maserati Indy 4.9L! Why do some people have all the luck?
Call me boring but I’d rather have something that was TRULY CRAPPY but I know how to work on than something in PRETTY good shape that I have no idea which end is up (and the parts are expensive to boot)…
Good point Mark! The only way I would buy either of these cars is if I knew they were mechanically sound. If the Lambo V8 is damaged, it’s going to get expensive to fix. This Urraco actually looks to be in good shape, but that doesn’t mean the engine and drivetrain are. The missing door panels could be costly to replace, but I’m sure I could make replacements on the cheap. They wouldn’t look the best, but they couldn’t be much worse than the original ones. It really will boil down to the mechanicals though, oh and how badly you want a Urraco!
From the Ebay ad, it seems that the seller is not the owner, but a middle man, or a flipper working to sell someone elses car..
Really fishy, I agree.
A lot of rumbling in the background of the video, but not from this car.
A hasty 2 minute video, while the tow truck already has the hook on it.
Never in a million years would I buy a car for retail ++ price with all the signs, that I am enabling somebody else’s bad habit(s)
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….next
Something smells all kind of wrong with this… doesn’t matter if he can get it here – registering it is a whole nother ball of wax. Without an American title, that might be a little tough to do.
Looks like a red Honda S600 or S800 in the background with the white hardtop.
Personally,
I’d LOVE to find one of these with a blown engine so I could swap in either a LS2 or perhaps Ford Ecoboost V6. more power than stock but with modern power and electrics. Stock, these cars are way crappy by today’s standards and tasteful restomods are the way to go.
The motors in these are not so bad and they sound wonderful. They are also okay to work on after getting over having to reach at awkward angles like most mid engine cars.
Helped a friend keep his on the road. Was a labor of love. It was the little things like not being able to roll the windows up every few months.
They are what you expect from a small company.
sounds like the seller is paying all cost get them to the USA and thru customs. but i too would be more interested in the little honda in the backgroung. nice finds
The laws about the use and maintenance of used cars are so strict in Japan that there are businesses that export good used Japanese cars to the West Coast in No America and also other places.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_used_vehicle_exporting
The funny thing about it that I don’t understand is why so many of the Japanese cars that I see offered are LHD like this Urraco, which doesn’t fit with Japan being a RHD country. Every M3 from Japan that I have seen offered has been LHD….and lots of them were made in RHD for the UK and other RHD countries, so they aren’t exactly unknown in RHD form. Maybe that makes low-mile Japanese cars worth considering.
It’s likely that the engine in this Urraco would be more expensive to rebuild to comply with strict Japanese law than the car would be worth, which might explain why the seller is anxious to offload it with all expenses paid up to the point of delivery in L.A. This listing tells me that the seller has to get the car out of the country and is doing everything possible to facilitate that.
I have seen Urracos at track days, and altho they look good for a ’70s design and have a mid engine placement, they are a bit underwhelming in the performance department. I guess outright speed will be limited by an engine that’s only 2.5 liters even if it is an exotic Italian.
The opening bid price, which hasn’t been hit yet, is actually higher than the SCM Guide price for the car, which is only $15-25K. I would sure want to hear that engine run after sitting for so many years, and take it for a drive to make sure it can run OK. Not sure if these have timing belts or chains, but if belts you’d want to change them before firing it up. Even then, it would make more sense to buy one over here with a known history, if you could get a good one for the cheap money listed in the SCM price guide.
Just like the Americans in the 80ies and 90ies, Japan had extra money to burn.
Back then people would buy cars in Europe and US to invest money, not to drive.
It looks like an over-abundance of vintage cars and/or no demand in Japan today.
They/it must be cheap enough for this guy to go through the trouble of re-importing it and pay customs (on HIS price!!).
Like I said, I would not buy this, knowing I am paying this guy’s vacation and then some……
Driving a LHD car in Japan is a status thing. Seen many a super car crusing the streets of Tokyo at speed lower than walking traffic.
There are a lot of bubble cars in Japan still. High end cars bought during the bubble economy and then no money for the upkeep after the bubble burst.
I like the original blue doors shown in the interior photo.
did nobody notice that there are 2 dif lambos used in the pics
check out the one that just sold
http://www.albionmotorcars.com/forsale/detail/202/lamborghini-urraco-p200-1976
” … It won’t take long anymore until the price of this baby Lamborghini will take off,…”
That is funny, because with this sale if anything near the asking price, they will have taken off……..
OR the seller will have to wait a very long time to re-coup his “investment”…….