While closest rival Ferrari persists that it will never build a four-door model, Lamborghini is looking closely at launching a high-performance SUV as a spiritual successor to the original LM002 from the 1980s. The Italian marque’s closer integration with the Volkswagen Group ensures access to the advanced off-road platform underpinning the second-generation Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne, and you can bet this is what Lamborghini is planning for its own SUV.

The Lamborghini variant would hardly resemble the Volkswagen and Porsche versions, however, which to the average onlooker can be hard to tell apart. If built, styling influences would almost certainly be taken from the original LM002 as well as the now defunct Estoque four-door coupe, which should guarantee that the vehicle is never mistaken for anything but a Lamborghini.

Also on the cards is a new ‘sub-Gallardo’ model to be powered by a V-8 engine and designed to take on the likes of the Ferrari California and a similar entry-level model being developed at McLaren. Built in the same vein as models such as the 1980’s era Lamborghini Urraco and Jalpa, the new entry-level model would take Lamborghini into a price segment it currently doesn’t enjoy but it still won’t be cheap. Expect the V-8 to be some variation of the 4.2-liter unit currently found in the Audi R8.

No confirmation for either model, let alone a timeline for their release, has been released so any of these details could change.

[Car and Driver]