The Lamborghini LM002 is one of the rarest, wildest trucks ever created. This is a military-inspired vehicle sporting the iconic raging bull logo with a V12 engine and the capability to make nearly the whole planet your playground. How can you make such a legend even more epic? Father-son team Jim and Michael Carpenter found out. You take an insanely rare disused LM002, drop a junkyard Cummins 5.9-liter diesel truck engine in it, and then turn the taps up to 600 HP, making something somehow even wilder than Lamborghini did.
This Lamborghini LM002, which some have called the Ramborghini, has been doing the rounds on social media lately thanks to the excellent photography of Jeff Sutton. I’m a lover of all things diesel and I also have a deep appreciation for weird European vehicles. This is pretty much the best of these two worlds. People love dropping Cummins engines into practically everything with wheels, but it’s not every day that you see a Cummins 5.9 installed into super rare trucks that, in mint condition, can fetch nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.
You might think, then, that the Ramborghini is automotive blasphemy. But the truth is that Jim and Michael Carpenter, who run Ferrari restoration shop Italian Design and Racing, actually saved an LM002 that had otherwise been resigned to a sad fate. Now, it’s something unique and epic.
One Of The Craziest Trucks Ever Built
Part of the legend of the Lamborghini LM002 is just how it came to be in the first place.
As the story goes, it was the mid-1970s, and Lamborghini struck lightning in a bottle with the Countach. There was only one big problem, as Lamborghini didn’t quite have the money to even build the cars. Ferruccio Lamborghini had sold his company in 1974, and the new owners were desperate to find anything they could build to get much-needed cash.
The option ultimately chosen by Lamborghini, MotorTrend writes, was to join forces with Mobility Technology International to build a vehicle developed by two FMC Corporation engineers in the 1960s. Back then, the FMC Corporation was trying to score a contract to build the replacement for the M151 military truck. Its entry was the FMC XR311, a project that went nowhere. Bard Johnson and Rodney Pharis had an idea for a similar vehicle, and Lamborghini agreed to help that vehicle become a reality.
The Lamborghini Cheetah was built in 1977, and it was promising. This desert buggy -ish machine sported a rear-mounted 5.9-liter Chrysler V8 that made 180 HP, and the 4,500-pound vehicle was said to hit 100 mph. There was only one problem, and it was that you didn’t even need to squint to see that the Cheetah looked, we’ll say, “inspired” by the XR311. FMC sure thought so, and sued the Lamborghini and MTI venture. Lamborghini responded by canning its relationship with MTI.
The fallout of the Cheetah scandal also meant that Lamborghini was in worse shape. According to Jason Cammisa’s Revelations from Hagerty, Lamborghini then scored a $1 million loan from the Italian government so that it could build the M1 for BMW. However, Lamborghini was stubborn and wanted to make the Cheetah work. So, Lamborghini diverted the BMW M1 funds to its off-roader project. This failed for a third time, and eventually, Lamborghini ran out of money. The Cheetah design went to Teledyne Continental Motors, where it failed yet another time.
Lamborghini eventually fell under the control of Jean-Claude Mimran and found out that there was still a ton of interest in the Cheetah, specifically in the Middle East. Allured by the promise of sales of possibly thousands of units, Lamborghini greenlit the off-roader once again.
First came the LM001 (Lamborghini Militaria 1), an off-roader that was still based on the Cheetah and featuring a 5.9-liter 180 HP V8 from AMC. This was also built to compete for the $1.3 billion contract for the U.S. military’s High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) program. Sadly, the strong rear weight bias meant that the LM001 was known to handle poorly, reportedly rolling end-over-end on famed test driver Valentino Balboni. Just a single prototype was built, and ultimately, the contract was awarded to AM General.
This time, Lamborghini finally figured out why the XR311, the Cheetah, and the LM001 didn’t work. The bones of the Cheetah were finally tossed out, and Lamborghini went with a new front-engine design, creating the Lamborghini LMA002. This was an important moment. For the first time, Lamborghini’s off-road project finally got a Lamborghini engine, borrowing its 332 HP V12 from the Countach.
Unfortunately for Lamborghini, Kuwait pulled out of its plan to buy off-road Lambos. The company didn’t give up, and instead, it filled the LMA002 up with leather, gave it a hotter engine, and marketed it to wealthy playboys. Lamborghini notes what happened next:
With its powerful V12 engine and all-wheel drive, the LM 002 could climb a 120% gradient and reached a top speed of 210 km/h, with an acceleration of 0 to 100 in 7.8 seconds.
With the LM 002, Lamborghini created a forerunner of the high-powered SUVs that only made an appearance a decade later. The LM 002 was equipped with a rock-solid aluminum and fiberglass body. Its tyres were specially developed by Pirelli with a view to provide top grip performance on both soft and uneven terrains. In this model, aerodynamics and lightweight principles were put aside in order to build a real off-road giant, able to “intimidate the enemy.” The interior was also designed according to such formidable principles, however leather upholstery and air conditioning were among the options available for the LM 002.
I highly recommend watching that Hagerty vehicle, because it’s silly just how quick Lamborghini made its 455 HP and 6,780-pound V12-powered super truck. It’s like the famed Futurama quote. It’s built like a steakhouse, but handles like a bistro!
The Ramborghini
Lamborghini built 301 examples and apparently had orders for hundreds more, but canceled the LM002 project in 1993 to focus on other vehicles. Since then, the LM002 has reached icon status, where people will pay anywhere from $250,000 to over $700,000 to get their hands on one.
So, how does an Arizona Ferrari restoration shop find one? How does such a legendary vehicle become the subject of an ambitious engine swap project? I reached out to Italian Design and Racing, and received this response back from Michael:
To start on “the why” we built the Cummins into our LM002, I have to tell “the how” we bought the truck. We heard about this LM002 from a colleague of ours when he was telling us that he bought an LM002 engine for a customer of his in Italy. Once we started asking more questions about the story behind the engine, we found out there was an entire truck available, but his customer just wanted the engine at the time, so we asked if we could get in contact to pursue buying the rest of the project. The previous owner had originally wanted to put a Cummins into it, but the shops that had it weren’t able to do that and put a Mercedes 5-cylinder diesel into the truck instead. From what we were told, both the paint and upholstery shops that it was at went out of business, leaving it with quite a few lost parts.
This LM002 is one of only 48 examples that were converted to U.S. standards. Its previous owner was a California doctor who was inspired by Tina Turner.
Depending on who you ask, either Turner couldn’t drive manual or she had some sort of license restriction. Regardless of the reason, Turner’s LM002 had its factory V12 and manual transmission removed and replaced with a 5.0-liter Mercedes-Benz V8 with an automatic transmission. The doctor figured he could do something similar, and that’s why the V12 was removed.
When the Carpenters’ friend bought the engine, Jim wanted to know where the rest of the LM002 was. It took a while, but in 2017, Jim convinced the doctor to part ways with his Mercedes diesel-powered LM002. Then, the Carpenters decided to turn the LM002 into a hardworking truck, from Michael:
When we got the LM with all of the missing pieces and with a non-Lamborghini engine already swapped into it we decided to go to a complete user-friendly real truck build. We wanted the torque of a diesel, being the LM’s are very heavy to begin with. We actually acquired a prototype GM 4.5L baby Duramax to potentially use on our LM, but pretty much all of the V8 diesels were a little too wide to fit nicely between the shock towers, and being that all of our shop trucks have been Cummins powered, we went with a 5.9L common rail. We did briefly consider putting in our Lamborghini L900 9.4L V12 in ours before fully committing to the Cummins as well (we did end up putting the L900 engine into another LM002 2 years ago). Originally, in 2018, when we built the truck, I had a 6-speed manual in the truck, but the NV5600 didn’t shift smoothly enough for what we are used to with sports car manuals, so we put a built 48RE automatic in it.
We haven’t written about the 4.5-liter Duramax V8 yet, but it came from GM’s late 2000s canceled project to make a smaller Duramax for its half-ton trucks. Running prototypes of the lost Duramax LMK are still out there!
Michael says that the Cummins 5.9 in the Rambo Lambo right now came out of a Ram truck and was found in a junkyard. This engine was a great choice. As we’ve covered extensively here, the Cummins 5.9 is one of the greatest pickup truck engines of all time in part because its platform was originally designed for the abuses of being in commercial trucks and buses. While Cummins’ newer B series engines make substantially more power when stock, the 5.9 remains a favored engine for its impressive durability and ability to be tuned to high levels.
The Carpenters say they’ve done a mild-race build to this Cummins 5.9. They’ve added a 68mm turbo, a Hellmann side-draft intake, a FASS fuel lift pump, a Steed Speed manifold, and other goodies to rack up 600 HP and 1,200 lb-ft of torque. Of course, you can’t just put a Cummins in a Lamborghini without dressing the engine up with a custom valve cover.
Michael continues, telling me what he thought was the hardest part about making an LM002 run on Cummins power:
I would say the hardest part of a build like this is making all of the parts fit and flow together. A lot of people have done various builds and hot rods but it is pretty difficult for all of the accessories to work together between how the car drives, the suspension, the brakes and steering. It all works as well or better than how it left the factory. Whether you are driving down the freeway at 70 or in the dirt at 70 it is in its element, and it handles like a 8000 pound sports car.
We also wanted it to be able to actually tow well, so we had just as special of a tow vehicle as the cars that we tow with it.
Other improvements brought to this LM002 include 3D-printed door handles, King shocks, 16-inch brake rotors, and Wilwood six-piston brake calipers. The Carpenters made sure to do their modifications in a way to not destroy the LM002’s structure. That way, the truck could be returned to stock one day. I like that, because it would probably feel terrifying to butcher a vehicle that’s so rare and so historically significant.
It’s also interesting how this LM002 is hopped-up to make even more power than it did when it had a V12 under the hood. Sure enough, the Carpenters also do exactly as they say they do and use the LM002 as an epic tow pig. I have to wonder if any other LM002 in the world is putting in as much work as this one is.
America really likes putting Cummins engines into things. We’ve now seen Cummins engines in everything from Dodge Chargers to Toyota Prii. But this is something else. The Carpenters combined one of history’s wildest trucks, combined it with one of the coolest truck engines and then put it to work. Maybe next time I’m in Arizona, I’ll have to see this madness for myself.
(Topshot: Jim Carpenter, Cummins)
I want to know more about this 9.4L Lamborghini V12… was this from when they were building powerboat engines?
Yes, that was their larger marine engine for yachts. There was also a higher tuned, smaller displacement version (something like 8L or a little larger) for race boats. I’d love to hear one in person.
Saw the thumbnail and immediately knew which truck this was. It’s relatively local to me, and the owner uses it! Love to see it.
Also hyped that you gave a shout out to Jalopy Jeff! His content is excellent.
I feel like a VW V10 TDI would have been a more appropriate choice than the average redneck’s favorite coal-roller. It would have kept the ownership pain at the original level – bonus!
Where’d the V12 go? If into a car, then all the better. These things are cool as hell, but a higher-revving engine always seemed misplaced in this application. That marine engine sounds interesting, too.
This was not sacrelidge. It kept a valuable rare vehicle on the road and it taught Lamborghini owners what happens if you actually drive your Lamborghini.
I’m old enough to remember when the purists would have killed him to death for doing this. It’s his car, it’s his money, live and let live.
The 6BT is 1000# and the Lambo V12 should’ve been what, 600#? Wonder how it handles and behaves offroad with that all that extra weight in the nose?
Making one of these more reliable and useful sort of defeats the purpose, no?
I mean Lamborghini did start with tractors- this is just taking the brand full circle