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 | The Lamborghini Diablo Prototype. |  |
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| The Lamborghini Diablo P1 prototype. |
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Lamborghini Diablo Prototype
Automobili Lamborghini contacted Marcello Gandini to design the successor to the
Lamborghini Countach, after the 25th Anniversary was created in a hurry, the Diablo
was supposed to be ready by now, but design and testing took longer than expected and
the Countach was redesigned to make it more up to date, hence the 25th Anniversary.
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The Gandini design was very futuristic and aggressive looking, like the Countach was in it's time,
now the engine cover was made in glass, but in the early testing phase this
arrangement didn't cool the engine enough, so the idea was abandoned.
The original Gandini design was later used for the Cizeta Moroder because at this time
Automobili Lamborghini SpA was bought by Chrysler, and they changed the original
design completely, the bottom two images on this page show in fact a rolling prototype that
was half Gandini and half Chrysler designed, this way it was easy to compare both
against each other, also this hybrid was compared to the Countach and a Ferrari
TestaRossa on an enclosed part of the factory parking lot, this way it was easier to
get an overall impression of the new Diablo super car compared to the rival TestaRossa.
Even Lee Iacocca was present at this comparison, the new Diablo didn't quite live
up to the expectations and the Chrysler design was altered again, this time to
something much closer to the final Diablo.
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The famous dark gray P1 prototype pictured here and at the top of this page was the first
real Diablo or P132 as it was called inside the design department, this car was filled
with measurement equipment and tested at the Nardi circuit for thousands of
kilometers before it was retired at the factory where it still is located now, hidden
away from the normal visitors, both orange prototypes are also still at the factory at
this time. The first crash tests of the new Lamborghini Diablo were done with P3, the
third prototype built, finished in a bright blue, it managed the toughest crash tests
without any problems.
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