'a good urraco is a stunning sportscar that represents fabulous value for money in today's inflated market - a bad one will break your heart.'

I wrote that a year or so ago, and I stand by it. I have owned Urracos for most of the last 25 years. I am on my 5th. I would echo most of the advice given previously on this thread - it is unquestionably more sensible to spend the extra money to buy a good one than to get a 'cheap' Urraco with a view to upgrading it over time. If you can't afford a good one then you certainly can't afford a bad one.

I have watched Urraco prices carefully over the last 10 years. Until a year or so ago, prices were flat as a pancake. Since the beginning of 2007 values have started to creep up, largely in sympathy with the general increased interest in classic Lambos across the range, and in particular as a consequence of rising prices for previously under-appreciated models such as the Jarama, Islero and Espada.

A year ago you could still buy a respectable P250S for £10,000 ($20,000). Now £12-15,000 is more the mark. You can broadly double those figures for the P300.

The Urraco will probably never be the investment that a V12 is, and is probably not the place to stick your money if capital appreciation is your main priority. As a driver's car however, there is nothing that comes close in its price range.

I would offer 3 pieces of advice above everything else (all standard rules for sportscar purchases, but especially relevant to acquiring a Urraco):-

1) NEVER buy a Urraco (or any other Lambo for that matter) without having it thoroughly checked by a true specialist
2) Do not buy a 'project' car. The difference in purchase price between a good original car and a 'running restoration' is a fraction of the cost of bringing the latter up to the standard of the former
3) Do not buy a car with unknown history

I would also strongly recommend paying the extra money for a 3 litre car if you can afford it. It is considerably superior in terms of both performance and reliability. Buy the Coltrin/Marchet book on the Lambo V8 series and digest it thoroughly before you even go to look at any cars for sale. You need to be aware of some of the problems with the early cars (sodium-filled valves, poorly designed cambelts etc) and this book explains the principal pitfalls clearly and succinctly. View as many cars as possible at club meetings and car shows before you put your money on the table. Many Urracos have been modified during their lifetimes and some cars have bizarre alterations from their original specification. For instance, the Australian car referred to earleir in the thread has a botched interior - the seats, steering wheel and dash are all completely wrong.

If you ever need to see pictures of a 'reference car', you are welcome to pm or email me and I will send you photos of my own car which I acquired in Switzerland from the very first owner and is in perfectly correct and original order. There are a few decent shots of the car on the Lamborghini Registry website - chassis no 20128.

Good luck

David Sherman (London)