Nothing refines one's appreciation of the station wagon's unique utility quite like having twelve kids, three wives--and sitting atop a vast oil field all one's own. From the Sultan of Brunei Treasury of Station Wagon Living comes this masterpiece: the world's only[or not! see below] Lamborghini LM002 Wagon . It has been transformed at the factory [or after! see below] from a ridiculously impractical, 4-seat, short-bed, pseudo-truck into a luxurious rolling palace that can accommodate 7 or 8 people--and their alligator luggage. It has been driven just 6300 km since it rolled out of the factory in early 1986, and it just got a new clutch!
Since at least May it has been on sale. Its second owner is/was Dr Bernd Pischetsrieder, the former head of both BMW and VW, because--well, the only explanation I can think of is he's trying to prove that totalling a Mclaren F1 is not, in fact, his most unconscionable automotive crime.
As wagons go, the LM002 is on the larger side--ha, who am I fooling? Just look at that thing. It's the bastard love child of a Countach and a tractor. If that's not a freakin' SUV, nothing is. In fact, it's the SUV to end all SUVs. Now I realize that the deep-down reason I hate SUVs--and Hummers most of all--isn't because they're pointlessly huge, environmentally disastrous, and driven by @#$holes; it's that none of them can measure up to this, the ultimate luxo-exotic dreamtank that lodged itself in my car-crazed teenage brain.
So wake the kids and pack the Vuitton, because we're movin' to Germany to buy a Lambo. Worstcase, we can live in the thing just fine, though we probably can't get a mortgage on it. And we can use our the money we save on health insurance to buy a 76-gallon tank of gas every couple of months.
FACT-CHECK UPDATE
Wait a minute, carblogs cuttin' & pastin' each others' hyperbolic-but-quickly refuted descriptions:
Wikipedia says the lone estate version of the LM002 was modified by noted Torinese restorer Salvatore Diomante and is a 1989 model. But the purported Sultanwagen was registered in 4/1986. But the Lamborghini Registry says the Diomante LM002 estate is mint green and in South Africa. But also that Diomante did the Sultan's conversion, too. And that it holds four adults and six kids! And that it has an even bigger, custom fuel tank!
And this Ferrari message board says the Sultan had Diomante make another one, with an even higher roofline [which the green one definitely has.] Which sounds to me like there are two of these beasts, at least: a silver factory [?] model and a green aftermarket conversion. Or maybe Diomante did do the Sultan's conversions, maybe even on an older, already-registered car.
Call me a purist, but I like a little more uniqueness in my one-off Lamborghini station wagons. Unless Dr. Pischetsrieder is able to total some of these rigs before kindergarten starts, I think we'll stay put.
Lamborghini , LM002 built for Sultan of Brunei For Sale. price on request but it was EUR139,000 in May, including EUR20,000 for the new clutch [classicrallies.com via carscoop, thanks dt reader george]
SoB's Lamborghinis - Photo Gallery [supercars.net]
Having delved in depth into Sal Diomantes antics in the past (he was Bizzarrini's shop foreman), I can with a great deal of confidence say that he'll tell anyone what they want to hear.
"Did you build two or three of these?"
"Two."
"Really? Why does this one have serial #003?"
"Three."
"But you said two a minute ago."
"Two."
thanks for clearing that up! I'll take two. No, three!
www.supercars.net/gallery/129612/976/8
This shows the 3rd version, white car with even higher roof than the green one.