'What this small Lamborghini can do, apart from provide reliable transport, is seduce the slightly disillusioned driver of a more mundane motor car into taking it out purely for the pleasure, and bring him back with a quickened pulse and a new sparkle in his eye.' – Autocar .

A 'small' Lamborghini intended to compete with rivals such as Ferrari's Dino 308 and Porsche's 911 in an important market sector, the Paolo Stanzani designed Urraco was announced in 1970, with deliveries commencing in 1972.

Its Miura predecessor had been named after a breed of fighting bull so the name Urraco (young bull) was an understandable appellation for its smaller sibling.

The Miura's basic mechanical layout was adopted for the Urraco but in place of the former's transversely mounted 4.0-litre V12 there was a 2.5-litre V8, Lamborghini's first such engine.

The latter was unusual at the time in employing toothed rubber belts to drive its single overhead camshafts but despite its simpler specification prod...