Three Isleros are pictured above together at the Italian Happening in Detroit/USA the first weekend of September, 1999. The Italian happening is an annual event benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation for terminally ill children. Its in its 21st year and was held this year at the Edsel Ford estate. Present here are the yellow Islero (#6198) of Chuck VandenBerg, Jon Hussey's gold Islero-S (#6447), and Lou Herrin's red (#6096). The gold and red cars caravaned across Michigan to and from the meet and a good time was certainly had. Below are two more views of these great cars.

Thank you for your interest in our Lamborghini Islero Website. This site is maintained for the interest of owners and enthusiasts, so any input or suggestions you have are very welcome. You can always reach me by e-mail. ---write me at LuigiDVM@aol.com

1999 proved to be a vintage year as there were two great get togethers involving Isleros. Beside the Italian happening, there was an Italian Car Day at Brooklands, the famous historic racetrack in England. Five Isleros attended including #6036, #6156, #6249, #6435, and #6564. I hope to feature pictures of this event in a future edition.

Also in this edition --- an update of the Lamborghini Isleros known, as several have been located recently. A few technical items are noted, and a historical note is included about Islero chassis numbers. Also a great picture of #6483 near the end and some new links. Be sure to check out Glen Kohut's website as it includes a lot of pictures and Lamborghini history.

Ciao,

Lou

Technical Tips:

• If your car has a mechanical tach drive, it has a grease nipple on the unit where it attaches to the rear of the cam cover. Keep this lubricated as it will dry out if your Islero is not driven much. The consequence is a destroyed worm/pinion gear set and these have not been available parts since the 60's. I found this out the hard way, of course, and offer the following suggestion. The angle drive is 6 teeth to 12 teeth for a 1:2 ratio to drive the tach cable. Alfa Romeo uses a 7 tooth to 14 tooth angle drive that can be adapted to work. Have a competent machinist make a new aluminum housing to contain the slightly larger gears. The shafts will also need to be modified as will the width of the worm gear. This can be done with some effort and perhaps $200-400 cash plus a case of Italian beer. I have tried to cut my own gears and adapt them to the original housing but the effort is enormous and they only last a short time due to lack of exact fit. Next edition will hopefully include a picture of this finished unit.

• The Armstrong shocks on your Islero are rebuildable. this can be done by Leda Suspension. Their service is very professional and efficient. They ship the shocks to England where they are remanufactured to racing standards and refinished. The bushings are replaced with space age materials and they are returned in beautiful condition. I put about 3,000 miles on my set this Summer and am VERY pleased. See the picture below of the shock absorbers when returned from Leda. Contact them at: Leda Suspension Limited - North America, tel: (248) 542-2370 attn: Danny Criss.

Don't forget, the Lamborghini Owner's Club is a great source of information and news. Subscribing to Jim Kaminski's newsletter has certainly increased my enjoyment of my Islero experience. Contact:

Islero-S #6483 which was to be featured in the Lamborghini Museum in Oklahoma. Round front side-markers were used on the "S" cars and also the later half of the 1st series cars instead of the tear-drop shape of the early examples. The "S" cars also had the trim slot behind the front wheels, front quarter windows, air vent behind the rear left window, small flairs over the wheel arches, heated rear window, more prominent air intake scoop on the hood, and fog lights mounted outside the front grill instead of inside it as in the 1st series. Mechanical changes included better rear suspension geometry and the later "S's" may have included some minor engine changes, however, a major increase in power or performance is doubtful. The interior of the "S" includes more trim and could be characterized as typical late 60's/early 70's, where the 1st series was more mid-60's. More on this in the next edition with some pictures to illustrate the differences.