The LM002, nicknamed the Rambo Lambo at the time, eventually made it onto Time Magazine’s list of the Worst Cars of All Time. But that had nothing to do with the truck itself.

In fact, the truck itself had little to do with Lamborghini — conceived as a project to keep the Sant’ Agata factory running while the company that Ferruccio built fought to stave off bankruptcy. The story behind the development is astonishing: originally conceived as the XR311 by two men while working for Food Machinery Corporation (FMC), they approached the Italian supercar manufacturer for help in building the off-road vehicle as a bid to produce it for a U.S. government contract.

Founding their own company, Mobility Technology Incorporated, or MTI, the men built a prototype in California, which Lamborghini then took to the Geneva Motor Show as a Lamborghini Cheetah.

What happened next was a series of lawsuits, mishaps, misappropriation of funds, and the derailment of the BMW M1 project, resulting in Lamborghini;’s bankruptcy. The company’s savior was a 20-something French billionaire, who made the decision to install a Countach V12 and a luxurious interior, and sell the Lamborghini Militaria vehicle to the Jet Set.

And the car itself? It’s even more fascinating.