The Lamborghini Centro Stile was inaugurated ten years ago right next to the production lines at Sant’Agata during the 40th Anniversary celebrations to become the crown jewel of Automobili Lamborghini SpA inside a brand new building that also houses Customer Services, the Historic Car Restoration Centre and the famous Lamborghini Marine Engines department from 2003 on.
Creating an ‘in house design department’ right at the factory had been strongly supported by Walter de’Silva (at that time head of Design at the Audi Brand Group) and none other than Luc Donckerwolke, the Belgian designer that created the Murciélago would be leading the Lamborghini Centro Stile from the day it opened for business in the spring of 2003.
When Luc Donckerwolcke became director of design for Seat in September 2005 Walter de’Silva took over at the Lamborghini Centro Stile for a short time as in 2006 Filippo Perini took over the director position at the Centro Stile … under his guidance we would see new variations of the successful Gallardo but also the limited edition Reventòn and the brand new flagship V12, the Aventador … Filippo Perini together with his team of six designers are also responsible for the Aventador J, the Urus and more recently the Veneno.
It is safe to say the Lamborghini Centro Stile is a breeding ground for some of the most important super cars wearing the Raging Bull badge with proud … and the doors are usually locked for the public … until a special event allows us to get a quick look inside the place where dreams are designed … and built as 3D models … eventually even as a full size prototype.
Behind these closed doors the designers first do lots of research before they put together the first design of what could become the new Lamborghini model … in a few years … from concept to actual production model can take several years in fact, along the way a lot of scale models are created and when the design is nearing the final stages a full size 1:1 scale design prototype will be created and scrutinized in the Centro Stile … out of view of most employees even … you don’t just walk onto the floor at the Lamborghini Centro Stile, not even when you actually work at the factory in Sant’Agata.
When designing a new Lamborghini they usually do start from scratch, but tend to take styling cues from the earlier models, especially the more important milestones like the Miura and Countach … the designers at the Centro Stile even have highly detailed scale models on hand to get a good look at the legacy of Lamborghini while creating the future.
I’m sure the successor to the Lamborghini Gallardo has been sitting on the ground floor at the Lamborghini Centro Stile for hours already while the design was further perfected … at the same time rolling test mules would be on the road, hiding the true design of the new V10 model … only a very select group of people at Sant’Agata will have been able to see the car inside the Centro Stile before the public will be allowed to admire it … the next Lamborghini dream car will remain a closely guarded secret behind the doors of the Centro Stile until they are ready to unveil it.
