Lamborghini P140

Following the Jalpa’s ageing platform in the mid-eighties, Lamborghini needed a smaller, more attainable model to broaden its market. Development cars coded P140 first rolled out in 1987, forming an evolutionary lineage that was nearly production-ready by 1990. The brief was straightforward: lighter weight, lower price, and modern design cues that would keep pace with the upcoming Diablo flagship.

To achieve cost and emissions targets while retaining visceral performance, Lamborghini designed an all-new 3.9-litre 90° V10—the brand’s first ever V10, fed by multipoint fuel injection and compact enough for a mid-rear layout. The spaceframe chassis re-used the Jalpa’s wheelbase but incorporated fresh suspension geometry for sharper handling and torsional rigidity improved by 25 %.

Penned under chief designer Marcello Gandini, the P140’s wedge-shaped body previewed Diablo DNA—flush headlamps, concealed door handles, and pronounced side scoops—wrapped around shorter overhangs and a dramatically raked glasshouse. Only three running prototypes were finished: one in Rosso Alfa paint that toured auto shows, a silver press test car, and an undisclosed mule still kept in Sant’Agata’s museum.

Despite engineering maturity, sales projections sank with the early-1990s economic downturn and Gulf War jitters; high-performance car demand collapsed overnight. Lamborghini shelved the P140 in 1991, diverting funds to the Diablo programme and leaving the Huracán nearly 25 years later to finally fill the V10 junior-supercar niche.