Lamborghini's foray into Formula 1 was not one of its most successful motorsport endeavours. As an engine supplier to Larousse and Lotus, its best finish was third, but from then on it got worse. On its own in 1991, Lamborghini could manage no better than seventh. Then back as an engine supplier for both Minardi and Larousse, sixth was the highest points finish before Lamborghini exited stage left at the end of 1993.
Funny how kind time can be though, isn't it? Because here we are, 26 years after this Minardi 191B could do no better than 11th in the Spanish GP, fervently excited about its Polo Storico restoration. Yup, seemingly fed up with road cars as ordinary as the Miura SVJ, Lamborghini's official restoration department has turned its attention to motorsport for the first time. Over the past seven months, Polo Storico has been bringing back chassis #003 to its former glory ahead of competing in classic F1 races.
And why the excitement? The engine, of course. The 3.5-litre 'LE3512' V12 made 690hp - so less than any Aventador ever made - and seemingly revs into eternity, as you can hear in the video. The noise is the kind malevolently melodic howl that only serves to make the current cars sound even more contrived, and makes you forget all about a fairly unremarkable race history.
Having been stored in the Lambo museum for a long time, many of the original components for the Minardi could be restored rather than replaced. Encouragingly, it completed 20 laps in testing without fault, too, so should be fighting fit for whatever competition is lined up for future. Giancarlo Minardi was watching on, suggesting that the V12 noise "still brings back those wonderful times" of manual transmissions and no telemetry. It's hard to disagree...
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