Lamborghini Cheetah

Information

The Cheetah was built on contract from Mobility Technology International (MTI), which in turn was contracted by the US military to design and build a new all-terrain vehicle. The basis of the design came from MTI, and was largely a copy of FMC's XR311 prototype developed for the military in 1970. This resulted in legal action from FMC against MTI and Lamborghini in 1977 when the Cheetah was presented at the Geneva Motor Show.
It featured a rear mounted 5.9l Chrysler V8 matched to a 3-speed automatic transmission, able to make 180hp.
The Cheetah was built in San Jose, California. After initial construction, the prototype was sent to Sant'Agata so Lamborghini could put on the finishing touches. The body was fiberglass, and inside there was enough room for four fully equipped soldiers as well as the driver.
The Cheetah had very bad handling due to heavy weight and rear-engine placement, and the low power output led to overall poor perfomance.
The only finished prototype was never tested by the US military, only demonstrated to them by its designer, Rodney Pharis.