If you walk into a Lamborghini dealership, you’ll be in for a very long wait for your new Urus to arrive, which is why the second-hand market is currently very strong, with a serious premium over ordering a brand new one, but as long as there are customers wanting to pay more to avoid waiting for their car, this will not change, even if that ‘used’ car isn’t exactly to your specifications, there is always aftermarket to make it yours, changing the color with a wrap is the least people do, fitting custom wheels is another option, or you go the full route and fit a wide-body aero kit … and if money really isn’t a problem, you can always have the entire interior retrimmed just for you.

But in case you are wondering how these Lamborghini Urus are being built inside the new factory in Sant’Agata, check out the video below that shows the Linea Urus from start to finish:

The post A behind the scenes look at how Lamborghini builds the Urus appeared first on LamboCars.

A major characteristic on the Lamborghini Jarama were the headlights four large round units that were hiding behind nicely integrated covers when not in use, making the front look very clean during the day, and when needed the covers would be folded down to reveal the quad lights a very innovative idea compared to the pop-up headlights seen on the Islero.

And then we discover this pearl metallic blue 1972 Lamborghini Jarama registered in Hawaii back in 2006, chassis #10258 was initially finished in brown, later she was repainted in black and received a black leather interior during a restoration. The exterior rear view mirrors were replaced with more aerodynamic ones before the car was sold in the mid-Nineties, when the front and rear bumpers were removed isn’t clear however.

The new owner had the entire exhaust system replaced with the last stainless steel unit ANSA had available for the Jarama at that time, the brakes were rebuilt and around 2004 the carburetors were rebuilt too, later the distributor, points and ignition wires were replaced with new units.

As the car was located in Hawai at this time, the first signs of rust started to appear on the doors so the owner at that time decided to repaint the black Jarama in a stunning pearl metallic Monte Carlo Blue shade. The wheels were restored to an original silver finish and the center locks got chromed again this 1972 Jarama looked brand new again.

In August 2016 this specific Lamborghini Jarama was offered for sale by Mecum Auctions during their Monterey listing with only 40,380 Miles on the counter an estimate between $150,000 and $175,000 was set the high bid was only $70,000 unfortunately.

Rumor has it this Lamborghini Jarama #10258 was the show car for the 1972 Paris Mondial de l’Automobile and the special front treatment was done specifically for the show unfortunately at the moment, there is no official document nor photos as proof of this, so we can only mention it as a rumor, not as a fact.

The post Lamborghini Custom 1972 Jarama – Guide appeared first on LamboCars.

Automobili Lamborghini SpA had the Jota kit developed by Lamborghini Engineering SpA which we could call the ‘Squadra Corse’ department back in those days, in fact from the 28 kits made for 1995 only 12 were mounted right there at the facility, down the street from Automobili Lamborghini SpA the Diablo was taken from the production line as a regular SE30 and transformed into a Jota specs model in the Lamborghini Engineering SpA building the same place that built the Lamborghini V12 Formula One engines in the early Nineties.

When Chrysler bought Automobili Lamborghini SpA in 1987 Lee Iacocca (president of Chrysler at that time) decided they should enter F1 racing, so he founded Lamborghini Engineering SpA in Bologna to be run by Daniele Audetto while Mauro Forghieri became technical director with only one mission statement : create a V12 Lamborghini engine for the 3.5 Liter F1 in 1989, a few teams would run Lamborghini F1 engines over the next few years, they even managed to have Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen test a white McLaren car with the Lamborghini V12 with very positive results, however McLaren decided to use Peugeot engines for the 1994 Formula One season and the new management at Chrysler decided to halt F1 engine development at the Lamborghini Engineering SpA facility, the Formula One program was completely canceled in early 1994 when Megatech bought Lamborghini from Chrysler in the end this made resources available to develop and install the Jota kit on the Diablo SE30 in 1995.

On the outside the Jota kit consisted of a new, redesigned engine cover featuring two large air scoops peaking above the roof, pulling air onto a pressure plate that was mounted on top of the engine manifold, a similar style engine cover would later be used on the Diablo SV model.

The new engine cover and a rather small ‘Jota’ logo mounted on the rear fascia were the only visible differences on the outside when comparing the Jota specs to the original Diablo SE30 model, but especially in the engine bay the real difference was visible, the famous V12 engine was tuned to nearly 600 Bhp by reprogramming the ECU electronic injection system, installing a pressure plate that required new gaskets for the intake plenums, lighter cranks and different cams the result was a racing engine for road use.

Some sources state only 12 or 15 Diablo SE30 editions were delivered in full JOTA specifications directly from the factory, however other sources state that no less than 28 Jota kits were made, and in fact both are correct. Actually the total number of Jota kits built by Lamborghini Engineering SpA was 28 but as this kit only became available towards the end of the 150 production units of the Diablo SE30 they had only 12 kits installed in Sant’Agata, from the remaining 16 kits Lamborghini offered 14 to Diablo SE30 owners, these could be installed by local dealers but only in countries where the Diablo SE30 Jota would pass emission regulations the two remaining Jota kits remained at the factory as spares, as far as I know one of these two kits has been subsequently sold to a customer in the United States to convert a Diablo SE30 into a real Jota evolution at Driven.

The Lamborghini Diablo SE30 Jota was developed with BPR FIA GT racing in mind, at that time Lamborghini didn’t have the funds to put together their own racing effort, so they wanted private owners to have their Diablo SE30 converted into a race car, one of the less known options for a Diablo SE30 was in fact a full race specs roll-over cage while the multi-point seat belts were standard fitment anyway.

In a regular Diablo the view through the interior rear view mirror was not too good, on the Diablo SE30 with the louvers on the engine cover visibility became even worse add the two extra throttle bodies from the Jota kit on top of the engine and rearward visibility becomes a thing of the past it is reduced to nothing, in fact a rear view camera would be a great modern day option to install in fact.

The feeling of a GT racer becomes even more evident when driving the Diablo SE30 Jota, despite the open exhaust you can actually hear the air being sucked into the air intakes, the engine might have lost some power in the lower region of the rpm range but when reaching higher rpm the Diablo SE30 Jota transforms into a full blown race car once you reach speeds over 100mph the air really gets violently pulled onto the pressure plate and the power increase becomes very obvious.

The Lamborghini Diablo SE30 Jota is a car that demands respect this Bull is very, very fast, and being rear wheel drive only it is extremely easy to have the back spin out of control even in second gear wheel spin is no problem at all. Driving a Diablo SE30 Jota is a special experience, not only because these cars are so rare but also because visibility is so limited, the windows do not roll down (only a very small part at the lower corner), the sound is almost too much as there is no sound deadening material and standard fitment was an open exhaust not street legal all over the world, but the raw roar made up for the fact you get pulled over by the Police all the time.

The black car featured on this page was seen in the Netherlands and in Belgium, it was one of the limited 150 SE units built in Italy and probably one of the first to be converted into full Jota specifications at the LIE, apparently you could send your regular Diablo SE30 back to Sant’Agata and have the Jota upgrade performed after you had taken delivery of the car. A visitor of LamboCARS.com did state this rare Jota with production number 117/150 was totally wrecked in an unfortunate car crash, and was apparently not rebuilt.

At least one Diablo SE30 Jota was later modified into a regular SE30 specs engine again, a UK based customer asked to have his 30th Anniversary Lavendar Metallic Jota detuned because he didn’t like the nervous behavior of the engine, so he had a car with the bodywork modifications of a Diablo Jota, but no longer the performance where the engine modifications from this detune ended up is unknown.

With dual air intakes mounted on the engine cover and a massive ‘pressure tray’ on top of the manifolds, the interior rear view mirror became completely useless and was subsequently removed on the Diablo SE30 Jota. Note that the Lamborghini Diablo SE30 Jota was in fact sold with a statement the car couldn’t be used on the road, it was a circuit car only, but it soon became obvious that several cars were actually driven on the public road, probably by installing a different exhaust system.

A few of these Jota were sold to collectors in Germany and Switzerland, and one original LIE built Lamborghini Diablo SE30 Jota was in fact shipped to the United States where the car was parked inside a collector’s garage and hasn’t moved since, it could never be registered for road use as the car was equipped with the open race type exhaust system as specified by the factory, hence not street-legal but for track use only.

Several Diablo SE30 Jota editions and Jota kits were shipped to Japan, where they actually were registered and received a license plate even in Germany a lucky owner managed to get his yellow Jota registered unfortunately it got caught in a serious accident, totally wrecking the car, in the end he rebuilt this very rare Diablo into a GTR look alike, images of this car are available in the image galleries.

There are now more Jota kits available at this moment, the one remaining kit at the factory has been lost over time and the kit that was removed from the UK car has never been seen again, another problem is the fact the specifications for the parts and programming of the Jota kit have been lost too when Lamborghini Engineering SpA was closed down still the Diablo SE30 Jota is a very impressive car rolling on magnesium wheels never used on other Diablo versions and featuring a body style that sets it apart from the regular V12 models from the Nineties hence these are highly sought after today.

The post Lamborghini Diablo SE Jota Edition – Guide appeared first on LamboCars.

That is when the Jota comes into the picture, probably the most spectacular Lamborghini ever made and to date the most ambitious project Bob Wallace worked on during his days at Automobili Lamborghini back in 1970 he wanted to build a pure bred racing machine based on the magnificent Miura. Hence the name as the syllable ‘J’ is pronounced Yota in Italian, and coincidence or not appendix J was part of the International Auto Racing rulebook of that era.

But we all know the late Ferruccio didn’t have much intention to race any of his cars, so while he did allow Bob to use the factory tools, a genuine chassis from the line (number 5084 to be exact) and even use one of the brand new engines (number 30744 in fact) as a basis for his ‘toy’ but Bob did have a daytime job at the factory, so the Miura Jota had to developed during evenings and weekends.

From a distance the Jota still looked like a Miura, but up close a lot was different, just about the entire car was developed from the ground up most of the bodywork was now made from Avional, a very light, composite alloy usually only found in the aircraft industry, but Bob also removed the floor of the steel chassis and replaced it with this much lighter alloy. Back to the outside, the Miura Jota looked like a race car on the outside using fixed headlights covered by plastic covers that could be quickly replaced during a race if needed. Up front a large chin spoiler was mounted to counteract any lift due to the high speeds this Bull could reach.

All over the new bodywork air intakes and outlets were cut into the alloy, allowing cool air to enter and hot air to leave the car as smoothly as possible, in the hood two large, open outlets were present, just behind them a quick fuel filler it was to be a race car after all right. Behind the front wheels two massive vents were cut and both side windows had been replaced by plastic units with small sliding parts to allow a draft of air into the cockpit which didn’t have any air conditioning naturally, that’s only extra weight which means less performance.

The usual twin windshield wipers were removed and a single, parallelogram-action race wiper was mounted, on the roof two additional air intakes rammed air into the engine compartment while the louvers from the original Miura remain on the engine cover, however two more air outlets were cut in the rear panel and the entire lower grille was removed instead a quartet of thundering exhaust pipes were visible now.

Campagnolo supplied some of the widest, magnesium wheels on the market in the Seventies, a massive 12 inch wide at the back and 9 inch up front, 15 inch tall rolling initially on Dunlop racing slicks which were replaced by Pirelli later on. Years later Bob Wallace would mention he based the design of the Jota wheels on those found on a Bizzarrini, but let’s say this is part of the legend. Because of these ultra wide wheels the entire suspension also had to be redesigned, something Bob Wallace intended from the start naturally, he also created a near perfect weight distribution by putting a large spare wheel right at the back of the chassis and moving the single fuel tank into the side sills, 60 liter each something that would be the downfall of the Jota later on unfortunately.

With all that weight saving and redesign it would be wrong to leave the interior alone, so Bob Wallace completely stripped away everything he could get rid of, the dashboard was replaced with a lightweight plate holding only the strictly necessary dials and switches, the central console was never to be seen again and the roof mounted switches were placed on the dashboard itself now. The seats were replaced with padded foam ‘bags’ hanging from the structure between the cockpit and the engine perhaps not too comfortable, but it sure saved a lot of weight in the end.

As for the engine no doubt another masterpiece by Bob Wallace, he boosted the compression ratio, installed modified cams and a completely electronic ignition system add a dry sump lubrication to avoid having the engine oil all on one side during hard cornering and a somewhat louder exhaust with four megaphones and a nice 440 horsepower rating is the result. Note Bob actually used Islero sourced oil radiators for this Jota and a gearbox with closer ratios by the way, the pedals in the Jota hung from above, on the regular Miura the pedals actually stand up, another major modification only seen on the Jota.

Ferruccio still didn’t want to have one of his cars on the track, but he did allow to have the Miura Jota rigorously field tested, so it covered over 20,000 Kms on Pirelli test tracks with a proud Bob behind the wheel these test runs led to the development of the H60 VR15 tire that would be mounted on the ‘street’ Miura so the Jota was used as a test bed for new suspension development and tire testing under heavy strain but economic troubles would decide the Jota’s faith.

On February 8. 1972 the Jota was sold to InterAuto in Brescia for an undisclosed amount of money, imagine owning a one of a kind Miura that was more a race car than a road car to be honest, and it showed a mechanic would become a little over enthusiast while showboating the car to his girlfriend he hit the side of a bridge, ripping the side mounted fuel tanks causing the Jota to catch fire and burn down completely the fire was so intense most of the bodywork was destroyed, but also the chassis was warped beyond repair.

The Lamborghini Miura Jota was no more but at least it did get some attention in the automotive press which led to several inquiries by Miura owners who liked to have their own, standard Miura turned into a Jota edition. The factory never accepted building a second Jota, however several regular Miura were rebuilt to a certain level of Jota specifications some sources call these the Miura SVJ model.
Most of these factory replicas only had some bodywork modifications that included the extra intakes and outlets, most of them also got the fuel filler seen on the Jota, only three did get a dry sump lubrication none of them came even remotely close to the original Jota.

If we can rely on documentation of that time we can state the factory built these SVJ replicas on the following chassis numbers: 4860, 4990, 3781 and 5090, while the real Jota was built on chassis number 5084, with engine number 30744. As stated only the first three of these replicas had a dry-sump lubrication. The nr. 4860 was built for Hubert Hahne in Dusseldorf, Germany, the nr. 4990 was sold to Alberto Silvera in Port au Prince, Haiti, while a third one went to France.

But hold on there are still dedicated people out there, that have the means to realize their dreams, no matter at what cost so here comes Piet Pulford, a long time Lamborghini owner from the United Kingdom who invested 15 years and a massive amount of money to recreate the Lamborghini Miura Jota and he succeeded!

Piet started with a beaten, old Miura (#3033) sourced in the United States, but that didn’t matter as not much of the original car would remain in the end. The extensive bodywork and chassis modifications were entrusted to Chris Lawrence (Wymondham Engineering) in Norfolk note the entire front and rear section were only held onto the Jota by locating pins and Dzus fasteners to allow easy and quick removal.

Final assembly over the modified chassis wasn’t as easy as it might sound, once the engine, which was built by none other than Bob Wallace himself in Arizona to be as exact a replica of the original Jota engine and transmission as possible, oil tanks and auxiliaries required to run this car were fitted the massive lightweight sections were to be fitted very patiently. Don’t forget there is a large, quick fuel filler up front, peaking up into the front hood while at the rear we have four massive exhausts sticking out. But Roger Constable (The Car Works), also from Norfolk, pulled it together perfectly even Bob Wallace didn’t think it would be possible to recreate the Jota he even commented the workmanship on this second rendition of the Miura Jota could very well be better than his own back in the Seventies.

The Miura Jota used four massive exhaust pipes that looked very nice and purposeful on the car for track use, unfortunately the recreation of these were done so good they were just too loud to be used on the road, so Mr Pulford had four restrictors made for his Jota, these would just slide over the pipes and bring the sound level down enough to avoid being pulled over by the police every few Miles.

Due to the efforts of Piet Pulford we can now admire the Miura Jota once more, and listen to it when that free breathing 4 liter V12 engine comes to life you do not want to be standing at the rear of this car, the sound is deafening just like a Le Mans race car, at idle the sound is raw only touch the throttle mildly and an animal howl emits from the exhausts, put some more revs onto the engine and the sound goes beyond anything you might imagine.

Driving the Jota recreating proved surprisingly smooth, sure the front suspension transmits everything right up into the steering wheel, the sheet metal between the engine and the cockpit becomes way too hot to handle after a drive, there is no fuel gauge inside so you’ll have to guess how much fuel in still underneath your elbow in the side sills. With that much tire touching the road, there is no doubt about the enormous grip you have on a dry road once it gets wet you have to be a bit more careful I’m afraid.

So one of the most impressive cars ever made at Sant’Agata had been lost for years but thanks to this UK based enthusiast the Miura Jota has been resurrected from the grave the Bull rides again!

The post Lamborghini Miura Jota – Guide appeared first on LamboCars.

When Ferruccio had left the car company and after several owners stepped in it was time for a new, young approach and under the Mimran reign we saw the first official attempt at using a Lamborghini as a race car or a rally car to be more precise as in the mid-Eighties it was deemed the right time had come to enter the notorious Paris Dakar rally using the only model in the lineup that could finish the powerful four-wheel drive LM002.

Work began on chassis number HLA12047 to convert this regular 455hp V12 Lamborghini into a rally specs edition pumping out over 600hp, an open race exhaust was installed and a lot of excess weight was removed from the standard LM002, the sound from this highly tuned competition engine must have been very brutal, almost animal like sound when flooring the gas pedal.

A full roll cage went in the stripped down interior, only two seats remained up front boasting multi point seat belts that would strap the occupants down nicely, the dashboard got scattered with special rally switches, timers and positioning equipment as required for the big rally Paris Dakar.

Naturally the suspension was also upgraded to cope with the constant pounding of high-speed desert driving while the glass was replaced with lighter Plexiglas; the front side windows even featured small sliding part like on most race cars.

None other than rally legend Sandro Munari would be driving this factory prepared LM002 Rally edition unfortunately it was never actually driven in a Paris Dakar Rally, she was entered in the Rally of the Pharaohs in 1987 (October 18-28) but didn’t start the race after the sponsor had a deadly accident in an offshore powerboat.

The LM002 Rally re-appeared in the 1988 off-road rally in Greece, when Mario Mannucci was the driver with Sandro Munari as the co-pilot, sadly the Lamborghini didn’t finish the rally, but it did manage to hold the third position at first. After this short life in competition it is believed the engine was replaced by a more ‘standard’ V-12 and the car was sold to a collector however recent information mentions LM002 number HLA12047 is back to full factory rally specs and still part of a Lamborghini collection.
So this factory original LM002 Rally didn’t really make it into the Paris Dakar, but in 1988 a Raging Bull was entered Swiss based World LM Racing Team entered a bright red LM002 in the grueling Paris Dakar competition, and while some sources state they had to retire the race, other sources list this car with starting number 519 did actually finish in 10th position in the Marathon category.

This red LM002 was driven by Concet and Kurzen, P.A. Burnier was the owner of the World LM Racing Team while Maregrande from the Lamborghini factory was appointed as the designated mechanic and none other than Sandra Munari was a technical advisor on this car so while not an official factory entry into the Paris Dakar it still had some direct linkage to Sant’Agata.

Some specs on this 1988 LM002 Rallye (they called it Rallye instead of Rally): 5200cc V12 engine, 475hp, 3200kg in full rally load, 600 lite fuel tank with a fuel consumption of 68 Liter/100km resulting in about 900km on a full tank while reaching speeds of up to 200km/h on the street and an impressive 180km/h in the sand, with the special tires this LM002 was even able to reach speeds over 100km/h with a flat!

Another LM002 was prepared for the Paris Dakar rally by a private party, some sources state this was in 1989, other sources state 1996 one this is certain however, this orange finished LM002 was once again factory build, finished in bright orange over black I saw it parked at the Belgian importer in the Nineties, apparently bought by Hubert Siegez in 1993 (who owned the dealership in the Gossetlaan in Groot Bijgaarden, Belgium at that time). The orange LM002 was still wearing its full Rally dress, it was later sold to a Japanese collector who according to the Lamborghini Registry, still drives it with the original open exhaust system today.

So we are looking at three different LM002 that have been linked to the famous Paris-Dakar rally and the rally adventure wasn’t over yet in 1996 a heavily modified LM002 with chassis number HMA12046 was entered in the Prototype category, note that this specific LM002 was once owned by Mrs. Mimran .. back in the Eighties the Mimran family owned the entire Lamborghini factory, history is told Mrs. Mimran received the LM002 as a gift.

Famous race driver Andrea Barenghi bought the car from Mrs. Mimran in the mid Nineties and spend over a year preparing this LM002 for the toughest race in the world the Dakar! Rumor has it Garage Burnier in Switzerland took on the work of converting this LM002, the engine was taken out of the car and received a custom made injection system, the factory standard catalyst were removed and both cooling and lubrication were modified and reinforced so the car would be able to withstand anything the Dakar desert would throw at it.

Front brakes were replaced by AP units and a massive 800 liter fuel tank was mounted to increase the action radius of this rather thirsty V12 unit with more than 600hp based on a Countach unit with 455hp normally the added horsepower and the fact over 500kg was removed from the original LM002 resulted in some impressive performance figures. Do note that the original chassis of the LM002 turned out to be so structurally strong it wasn’t even necessary to modify it for the race very impressive to say the least.

So LM002 chassis number HLA12046 was officially entered into the 1996 Dakar race and received number 246, the Bull kept up with the competition very nicely, both on the flooded roads of Spain as on the African desert sand unfortunately one oversight roared its ugly head.

The LM002 was no lightweight to begin with, and the massive Pirelli Scorpion tires didn’t help keeping weight down either, hence a combination of high speed driving on bad roads and impressive jumps took their toll on the suspension. In a matter of days the team went through no less than 24 shock absorbers and had to forfeit the race due to a lack of spare parts.

Afterward the car changed hands again, it was sold to Gildo Pallanco Pastor, owner of Venturi Automobiles, who wanted to turn this final LM002 Rally into a high performance fun car to enjoy on the roads around Monaco. Pastor had the car shipped to a Lamborghini specialist who had the entire engine rebuilt, starting with a standard Countach engine once again but the project got cancelled at some time and the car was left abandoned still mostly in its Dakar race specs.

Other information mentions HLA12046 was auctioned by Poulainlefur in Paris in 1998, at that time the car still had the Swiss title. In 2008 it appeared again on the radar when it was for sale at less than 30,000 Euro as it still required a lot of work to get back to full Rally specs, apparently the engine came with two ECU, one with a 7,500rpm max and another with a 7,800rpm redline both releasing over 600hp from the V12. The owner did have a lot of work executed on the car but in the end still offered it for sale again as a project car.

The post Lamborghini LM002 Paris Dakar – Guide appeared first on LamboCars.

This new engine was designed by Alfrieri and used very little parts from the original 5-Litre unit, this 7-Litre unit was actually destined for marine purposes and could be distinguished from the smaller V-12’s by the larger exterior dimensions and the design of the cam cover.

Several other parts around the engine were changed too, the gearbox became mechanical instead of the automatic ones in the first designs, and a special design by ZF was used, taken from the LMA-002.

The suspension was also taken from the LMA, as was the power-assisted steering, but a big difference was the use of drum brakes on the rear axle.

Lamborghini aimed the LM-004 at another category of customers, this was clearly visible on the inside of this car, the seats were changed for body-hugging types like those in the Countach, upholstered in leather, with nice carpets on the floor, a complete dashboard with radio-telephone, VHF radio, stereo system, air-conditioning, refrigerator and a cold-water tap between the back seats.

All this made the LM-004 appear like a giant, upright Countach, and this large, 3000 Kg heavy beast could even reach 200 Km/h.

Only one LM-004 was built, the new 7-Litre engine did not perform well enough to allow the increase of weight against a 5-Litre unit. Therefore, further testing was done with the 5-Litre unit, resulting in the LM-002, which would be commercialized from 1986 on, in almost the same form as the LM-004.

Note that the original LM004/7000 was actually tested by AutoCar in May 1986, perhaps you can still find a copy of this test, unfortunately this rare Lamborghini no longer exists today.

Rumors state however that it was possible to order the LM002 with the 7.0-Litre Lamborghini marine engine fitted into it, naturally on special demand for a wealthy customer, prices for this ‘option’ were never published, but then again, anyone who would order it with this massive engine wouldn’t care about a little extra cost.

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The Lamborghini LM002 or Rambo Lambo as it was called by a journalist in the United States was an SUV like no other back in the Eighties a massive V12 engine up front with a 5167cc displacement delivering 450 hp to all four wheels which in this case were massive 17 inch steel rims covered with stupendously expensive Pirelli Scorpion tires.

It would be almost impossible to get stuck in the sand with this superlative off road Bull, but the money was to be made from army use, unfortunately the Middle-Eastern armies didn’t order large numbers of it, and an attempt to sell it to the United States wasn’t met with the enthusiasm needed to boost sales.

At the end of the production in 1993, the US Importer did create a special LM Americana edition, with upgraded interior, aluminum MSW/OZ wheels and chrome bumpers to the front and rear of the car, presented at the 1992 Detroit Auto Show it managed to sell only 60 units, most of them with the fuel injected Diablo engine.

With only 60 made, thee LM Americana could be considered rather rare, but without a doubt the most exclusive LM002 ever made has to be the one presented on this page, none other than the Sultan of Brunei is believed to have put in an order for an LM002 Estate version at a Turin based body shop owned by Salvatore Diomante.

Diomante created a fully closed version of the Lamborghini LM002, which normally had an open deck at the rear to seat four to six additional men (originally intended to be soldiers in fact). By raising the roof section, stretching the rear overhang and putting in a U shaped bench arrangement in the rear the LM002 Estate could now seat five people behind the driver and passenger.

Naturally full leather hides were used inside for the very luxurious interior, add a small TV set and possibly a VCR and the owner could watch his favorite show while on the road or in the sand. Some sources state the car also had CD and DVD players but somehow I doubt these would be installed back in 1986 as the DVD only came around in 1995, home CD players did get introduced in 1982, if they made it into this LM002 only four years later I can’t confirm, nor deny.

The seats in this very special LM002 did get electric controls while the new roof also had a sliding sunroof installed and the leather interior was upgraded with custom made wood panels, even the dashboard was modified by request of the customer.

Early photographs show a white finished over a tan leather interior, however later on this car has been repainted, one photo exist of it in a bright green color with a UK registration on it, but today this one of a kind Lamborghini is finished in silver metallic over a black leather interior and it is located in Germany, on dealer plates.

In 2008 the LM002 Diomante Estate was valued around €150,000, which isn’t too bad for a car that was nearly 25 years old, today the value is still high as it is without a doubt the most impressive LM002 made, and with less than 10,000 km on the counter it might still be a solid investment.

This specific Lamborghini has been on display at the 2010 edition of Klassikwelt in Friedrichshafen while someone has spotted it in Stockholm as late at April 2012 so it is safe to say the car still exists, and is most likely still for sale right now.

There has been a rumor about a six-wheel version of the LM constructed for a customer in the Middle-East, but I haven’t been able to confirm this yet, would be pretty amazing if you ask me.

The post Lamborghini LM002 Estate – Guide appeared first on LamboCars.

Only a few of these official Miura’s had a dry-sump lubrication, however most of these just had some look alike bodywork done, some were ordered with additional air intakes and fixed headlights, others retained the standard bodywork but had a modified engine, note that none of these specials actually used Avional for the bodywork, they all remained in aluminium. Underneath that beautiful, low slung styling, most of these custom SV’s remained more or less a ‘normal’ Miura SV.

Some sourced state these specials were built on the following chassis : 4860, 4990 and 5090, while the real Jota was built on chassis number 5084, with engine number 30744, only one of these had a dry sump lubrication and an auto blocking differential mounted, the other cars used a more or less ‘standard’ Miura SV engine.

Rumor has it there were only two Miura ever built with a dry sump lubrication and auto blocking differential, one with chassis number 4878 and the other with number 4956.

As usual, some customers had their Miura altered afterwards, but the Miura listed here are regarded as ‘original’ factory cars, these SVJ were factory built and therefore authorised, however later more Miura were converted at the factory or at bodyshops throughout the world. If you want to buy a real SVJ, you’ll only have to look for the first three cars ever made, the rest are just trying to more or less look like a Jota.

I’ve tried to include a list, that is accurate to my personal knowledge, of the Miura’s that were built or converted into SVJ specifications.

Lamborghini Miura SVJ #4934

Actually the first official Miura SVJ, number 4934 with engine number 30685, built by the factory, was delivered to the Shah of Iran in 1979, apparently by none other that the late Ferruccio Lamborghini himself. The Shah ordered a second Miura SV with only one request (he already owned Miura SV #4870), it had to be special, so Automobili Lamborghini SpA went to work, they took a dark blue SV body from the production line and cut custom brake vents behind the front and rear wheels much like those seen on the Jota, they also installed numerous rivets all over. Fixed headlight units were mounted covered by plexi and a race type fuel filler cap was installed in the front hood, naturally a front spoiler was mounted and a custom race suspension lowered the car. A single windscreen whiper was mounted and to top off these modifications a magnificent sounding open race exhaust was coupled to the altered dry sump V-12 engine, sending chills down your spine whenever you touched the gas pedal.

The car was finished in a dark Burgundy metallic shade, contrasting heavily with the white leather interior, after completion of the car it was tested by Bob Wallace before being delivered to St Moritz in December 1971 for a price of Lire 13,000,000 while a standard Miura SV was available for only Lire 8,000,000 at that time.

After they completed this car, Automobili Lamborghini SpA actually made another, original SVJ along the same method, chassis number 5090 was not a modified SV, but was built as an SVJ from the start.

The very first SVJ (4934) was abandoned in the Imperial garage by the Shah in 1972, he quickly lost interest in all his new cars, so no further maintenance was done and during the 1979 revolution in Iran this car was confiscated together with all of the Shah’s other cars. Miura number 4934 was later found in very poor condition, a complete refurbishment was needed, also note that the chassis had to be refreshed to get the car into the shape it was when it was offered for auction in 1997, some sources state that it was actually sold by the Iran authorities to an enthusiast in Dubai during 1995.
In March 1997, during the Geneva Auto Show, this car was put up for auction by Brooks, the famous actor Nicolas Cage was able to buy the car for nearly $500,000, and kept it in his collection of supercars until early 2004, when it was acquired by a collector in the United Kingdom.

Lately this unique SVJ was ‘restored’ at the factory and today it boasts a fit and finish exactly like when it left the factory doors in 1971, the bodywork is just perfect now and the engine is now tuned like it was intended. This SVJ now drives like a ‘lightweight’ SV, the V12 revs freely and the current owner states that this one of a kind Miura is perfectly stable cruising at 250 Km/h on the UK highways.

Lamborghini Miura SVJ #5090

A 1972 Miura SVJ, this car was delivered towards the end of the Miura production at the factory, and together with the mystery SVJ described on this page, they  are considered to be the only two official factory SVJ’s built after the initial #4934. This car was finished in metallic red over red leather Miura SV, number 5090 with engine 30751 was built by the factory to full SVJ specifications.

It was delivered to Paul Ferrandi in Corsica after it was ordered from the French importer Voitures Paris Monceau, in 1982 this car was sold to France while in 1984 it was again sold to the current owner, who had it repainted into a Grey/Blue metallic later on.

Today this car is still in it’s original shape, showing the obvious age of the car by now, but still runs and looks great, little corrosion is starting to form on the silver bodywork, but it can still be considered an extremely rare Miura.
At this time the car features black sills, custom four point harness for the driver and passenger, a nice touch are two chronographs mounted on the dashboard, this car also features the rivets all over the bodywork, painted in the bodycolor just like the factory did in the early Seventies.

Lamborghini Miura SVJ #????

Rumor has it one of the closest Miura Jota builds ever would be a 1972 MIURA SVJ ‘dry sump’ model delivered by the factory on August 31. 1972, but no official documents can show the chassis number nor the engine number.

Note that this would have been only ‘period’ dry sump SVJ (based on real Jota mechanicals), and one of only two original SVJ ( together with #5090) delivered by the factory, still the second car, #5090, was a wet sump version.

The other existing SVJ’s (#4934 – #4990 – #4860 and now #4892) were originally delivered as standard SVs that were upgraded by the factory on special request from their owners, these cars were modified into the famous “SVJ look” at a later date.

This mystery car would have been the last SVJ actually built and delivered during the actual Miura production, on August 31. 1972 to be exact, while #5090 was delivered only 6 days earlier, on August 25. 1972.

Because of a detailed list of special, original specifications many called this specific Miura the most exact ‘cosmetic’ replica of the real Jota : Correct rivet placement, all-aluminum doors, hexagonal central lock wheels (all the other SVJs are fitted with the classic 3 eared knock off wheel nuts), single Jota wiper (only #4934 also mounted this from the factory), Mercedes stalk, different suspension geometry giving lower ride height and roll centre.

Mechanical basis: Oil radiator on the chassis’s front part, limited slip differential (not the case on all the SVJs), and most importantly the dry sump system.

Lamborghini Miura SVJ #4860

The nr. 4860 was built for Hubert Hahne in Dusseldorf, he was the German based importer for Automobili Lamborghini SpA at the time. This Miura was originally finished in black over white leather with black cloth, but in 1977 it was repainted in the current silver metallic at the factory, and received a full-leather interior in black, also note that all the visible chrome on the car was now finished in matte black. This car was actually a Miura SV that was converted into SVJ specs by the factory in late 1972, it was re-delivered to Mr Hahne in April 1973 and was officially denoted as the fifth, and last ‘original’ Miura SVJ built.

Note that this Miura SVJ was the only one using a 110 Liter fuel tank, also normal SV dual windshield wipers were mounted, note that this was probably the only SVJ that had the quad exhausts ‘cut’ into the rear section instead of completely removing it like on the four other SVJ’s.

Over the years the car was sold to several owners, but today it is rumored to reside in Japan, the current owner is actually thinking about returning this rare Miura SVJ back into the original black bodywork.

Lamborghini Miura SVJ # 4990

Yet another Miura SVJ nr. 4990 was sold in April 1972 to Alberto Silvera in Port au Prince, Haiti. It was delivered with a single windscreen wiper and painted in a very nice red metallic over black interior, later on the car was repainted into Rosso Corsa and received a larger windshield wiper from the Countach. After an extensive restoration at the factory in 1997 it was sold to a collector in Japan.

Note that today this original factory SVJ features a red with cream interior and a black ‘reversed leather’ dashboard, and another ‘non-original’ feature are the rivets on this car they are finished in chrome!

Note that these five Miura SVJ’s are considered to be the only ‘official’ factory cars, while the following cars on this page were actually originally built as normal Miura models that were later on modified/customized into more or less SVJ style Miura’s, but these later cars are not to be considered to be Miura SVJ models, just custom made cars most importantly the previous five cars will be a lot more expensive when found on the market, since actor Nicolas Cage acquired his SVJ for nearly $ 500,000 the price still went up.

Miura’s Modified Into SVJ Look (Not Considered Real SVJs)

An original first series Miura P400, green over brown with #3781 was bought by Heinz E. Steber in Germany, he later asked Hubert Hahne to have the car modified by Automobili Lamborghini SpA in November 1975.
The car was finished in April 1976 and included very wide central locking BBS wheels with Pirelli P7R tires, massive 345/35 ZR 15 were mounted at the rear, a special Koni race suspension was installed and Girling disc brakes from a Porsche 917 were used to stop this very fast Miura SV Jota replica.

The engine was rumored to be converted into dry sump, modified cams were mounted together with open Weber carburetors and a very loud race type exhaust system. On the inside special race type Recaro seats with a four point harness were installed. This car was later sold to a wealthy Japanese collector for an unknown price, rumors states he paid up to US $ 550,000 for it, today this car is still in Japan.

When Patrick Mimran took over the factory he also wanted a Miura to be built to SVJ specifications back in 1987, this was an orange over black Lamborghini Miura S #4088, it only received a few extra air holes in the bodywork and fixed headlights, the wheels remained standard, but it is rumored the engine was in fact upgraded and used a dry sump too. The car was shipped to Switzerland after Patrtick Mimran sold the company to Chrysler.

The Miura SV number 4806 with engine number 30592, was originally finished in red, after Graheser had the car rebuild at the factory it was repainted in yellow. The car was later bought by Armin Johl who heavily modified it to include some SVJ specifications, this car used drilled central locking units on the wheels.

Another Miura SV number 4870 was converted to use fixed headlight units, finished in dark blue metallic over white leather, this car was first delivered to Reza Pahlevi, the Shah of Persia, on July 21st 1971. The car was driven a few times and abandoned in the garage after that, it never received any maintenance and was only sold recently, the new owner completely restored it to the original specifications. This is probably one of only a few Miura’s in existence with less than 10,000 km on the counter.

Some of the other Miura’s modified into SVJ style cars were #4446, this LHD model was originally sold to an Australian owner who later sold it to a Japanese owner, today this Miura S was completely restored and modified into a Jota version by an authorized Lamborghini dealership.

A Miura S with chassis number 4791 was later converted to SVJ specs by none other than Bob Wallace himself in his US based workshop after he’d left Automobili Lamborghini SpA.

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The bright yellow paintwork contrasts heavily with the black interior, the front hood has been replaced by a brushed aluminum unit with two large holes showing the six big Weber carburetors. The front bumper was completely removed while the headlights became fixed ones, held also in some nice brushed aluminum panels, a deep front chin spoiler was mounted with two smaller Naca type air ducts built into it, two bigger air intakes were mounted in the nose and protected by a steel mesh.

The front windscreen and the rear windows were still the original glass ones, but the side windows were replaced with plexiglass units, the ones in the doors now use a sliding part to allow fresh air into the driver’s compartment just like a race car.

The rear bumper was also removed and the rear light units were completely replaced by small round ones, three at either side, including the turn signals. As with the front hood, the rear luggage compartment lid was replaced by a brushed aluminum part and received a massive, completely adjustable rear spoiler.

On the inside of this Jarama Speciale SVR the rear seat was removed, the two front seats remained standard, no race type bucket seats were used. The dashboard received some aluminum parts just like the outside of the car.

No further information on engine modifications was available at this time, but if anybody has more information about this car, please let me know.

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Bob started from the bare shell and welded up the body in several places to add stiffness and rumor has it he moved the engine a few inches to the rear to improve front/rear weight distribution to a near perfect 50/50 balance. Because the engine was moved towards the rear of the car, a new dashboard, and central transmission tunnel were required.

He also replaced several body panels with aluminum-built ones, the doors were changed into aluminum, and he used plastic for the front – and rear-side windows, the front windows had a small sliding part incorporated. The rear seat was removed and a fuel tank and battery were put into place, the fast fuel-filler for the tank was put straight through the rear window.

He replaced the hood and moved the headlights down, the hood now had special radiator air extractors incorporated into it, and to complete the changes to the front, Bob installed a chin spoiler while the covers for the headlamps were removed, they now housed behind transparent plastic covers. The wheels became Miura-style center-lock Campagnolo’s with wider rear rims, as seen on the Miura SV. The front at 8 inches wide, while the rear ones became 10 inches wide mounted with 215/70 and 225/70 VR XWX tires from Michelin.

Four ventilated disc brakes were used and an adjustable Koni based race suspension was installed, the bottom of the car was flattened with aluminum panels, to allow a clean airflow underneath it.

The interior was stripped of all luxury items and a steel roll-over cage was installed to protect the driver and only one passenger in case of an accident, low back Miura seats were put in place together with three-point seat harnesses while most of the interior got covered in Alcantara the central tunnel shows that impressive ‘quilted’ PVC seen in many race cars of that era it reminds me of the Q-Citura stitching seen today.

The engine was tuned to deliver about 380 Bhp at 8000 rpm, Weber 42 DCOE carburetors were mounted and the air filters were removed, the flywheel, pistons, and con-rods were replaced with lightweight units and balanced while a larger oil cooler was installed although the gearbox and differential remained original.

As always, these special cars were the first to be sold when things got worse, and this very special Jarama ended up in the Saudi Arabian desert where it was rediscovered back in 1999. It was shipped to the UK importer Portman who was able to restore the car to its original state.

Precise performance figures are not available, but thanks to the aluminum bodywork and the removal of all unnecessary luxury in the interior, this Jarama was a lot lighter than a stock unit and this resulted in a very fast car, independent testing in the Nineties revealed a top speed of 270 Km/h. (165 Mph.)

In June 1996 this extremely rare Jarama was sold for US $ 47,795 and went to Germany, where she still resides today and is driven from time to time performance figures are still impressive with an acceleration from 0 to 100 Km/h in 6 seconds flat, compared to 6.8 seconds for the standard Jarama GTS.

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The Diablo SE30 was unveiled during the third Lamborghini Day in September 1993 in Sant’Agata, Italy. Surrounded by 140 Lamborghinis from all over the world, the SE30 (Special Edition) dazzled the audience with its unique appearance and race-ready specifications.

The Diablo SE30 was not just a showpiece. It was aimed to be entered in GT championships around the world by installing the JOTA upgrade kit on it. Weight saving was a crucial part of the design. Power windows were abandoned, and synthetic glass replaced the side windows. The interior was all about racing, yet it retained an air of elegance.

Interior Excellence

The blue Alcantara leather seats and dashboard were complemented by carbon fiber, white dials, and perforated aluminum pedals. The absence of air-conditioning, radio, or CD player made room for a red button activating an automatic fire extinguisher system. Drivers could also adjust the anti-roll bars from inside the cockpit, adding up to 3 Km/h to the turn speed.

Exterior Innovations

Most of Diablo’s bodywork remained aluminum, but parts like the side air intakes were now Carbon Fiber. The front spoiler was redesigned, and a rear spoiler was standard. The rear engine hood echoed the Miura of the Sixties, and the rear bumper/spoiler incorporated new features like the 30th-anniversary logo.

Engine Powerhouse

Opening the engine hood revealed a marvel of engineering. The modified engine produced a staggering 525 Bhp at 7000 rpm. Paired with a 125 Kg decrease in weight, the Diablo SE30 achieved 0-100 Km/h in only 4.0 seconds and a top speed of 331 Km/h.

Suspension and Tires

The SE30 featured a ‘normal’ suspension without the electronic adjustability of the VT. A standard traction control system was also introduced. OZ-Racing designed ultra-light magnesium compound rims, with Pirelli P Zero tires, enhancing the car’s performance further.

Unique Coloring and Limited Production

The prototype’s Lavender metallic color, though unconventional for a ‘race’ Lamborghini, made the Diablo SE30 look even more exotic. The limited run of only 150 units, some converted to Jota specifications, made this model highly sought-after.

Exclusive Customization

The ‘Carte Blanche’ service allowed customers to choose any color and interior finish, making each SE30 unique. German tuner, Rogalla, even offered a Turbo Charger, boosting power to 625 Hp and top speed to 343 Km/h.

Conclusion

The 1994 Lamborghini Diablo SE30 stands as a testament to Lamborghini’s relentless pursuit of perfection and innovation. It not only celebrated a milestone but pushed the boundaries of automotive engineering and design. Its legacy continues to inspire, and it remains an iconic model that embodies the pure essence of the Lamborghini spirit.

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The Diablo GT’s creation emerged from the experience gained from the Diablo GT2 prototype. This masterpiece featured aggressive bodywork and an actual race feeling. Modified suspension geometry and the use of composite materials not only gave it a lowered weight but also enhanced its high-speed stability.

Design and Aerodynamics

From the standard Diablo, the GT had discernible differences. The enlarged front track made the wheel arches wider, creating a menacing stance. Almost every part of the body was designed to enhance aerodynamics. Every element screamed performance, from a dynamically controlled air intake on the engine cover to a redesigned rear bumper featuring two big exhaust pipes.

The aggressive look was crafted almost entirely from carbon fiber, adding to its aesthetics and weight reduction. The high-gloss carbon fiber finish of the large rear wing became a defining characteristic of the Diablo GT.

A Mighty Powerhouse: 6 Litre V-12 Engine

Under the hood, a 6 Litre V-12 engine roared to life, producing an impressive 575 Bhp, a significant power boost compared to the Diablo SV. By employing an ‘Individual Intake System’ with a single throttle for each cylinder and using a unique exhaust system with Lamborghini’s Exhaust Noise Control System (ENCS), this beast could reach nearly 340 Km/h.

Transmission and Handling

This model still uses rear-wheel drive with a five-speed manual gearbox. However, the customer could opt for customized gear ratios tailored to their driving style. Improved suspension, a tubular frame, specific lightweight alloy multi-piece wheels, and powerful brakes contributed to exceptional handling and control.

Interior: A Mix of Luxury and Race-Readiness

The interior of the Diablo GT was adorned with race-type bucket seats, a smaller steering wheel, leather, and Alcantara finishes. Despite its racing pedigree, the GT offered amenities like air conditioning and an optional dual airbag system, blending the track’s raw power with the road’s comfort.

An intriguing feature was the optional rear-view camera, coupled with an Alpine Colour LCD screen, making reversing easier in a car where the air intake obstructed the conventional rear-view mirror.

Pricing and Availability

At a hefty price tag of around $300,000, the Diablo GT became a highly sought-after collector’s item. Only four were destined for the UK; two were sold during the UK Motor Show in April 1999. Despite its high pricing, by January 2000, the entire production run was sold out, and 83 Diablo GTs had been delivered.

Though the Diablo GT was not street-legal in the United States, several cars were imported. Whether all of these could be registered for road use remained uncertain.

Conclusion

The 1999 Lamborghini Diablo GT became an icon, combining race-track technology with European road usability. A feat of engineering and a work of art, it remains a testament to Lamborghini’s innovative spirit and dedication to performance. With its blend of aggressive styling, unparalleled performance, and exclusive availability, the Diablo GT secures its place as one of the most legendary vehicles in automotive history.

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By 1968 the improved Lamborghini Miura S was available, chassis #3781 was, in fact, the show car at the 50th Turin Motor Show in 1968, originally she left the factory in Verde Miura over a black interior to be shown at the show, after that she was delivered to Lamborauto in Turin on November 30, 1968.

When Heinz Straber, from Germany, acquired this Miura in 1974 he had her sent back to the factory to have a very special conversion done to really understand why we have to go back to 1970, when famous Lamborghini test driver Bob Wallace took chassis #5084 from the assembly line and created the Miura Jota in his spare time, a pure-bred racing machine based on the Miura, using engine 30744 inside a body made from Avional composite on a lightened chassis fixed headlights, a deep chin spoiler, wide wheel arches and additional air vents and intakes made the Miura Jota look amazing.

On February 8. 1972 the Jota was sold to InterAuto in Brescia sadly a mechanic would become a little over enthusiast showing this car to his girlfriend he crashed the Bull, ripping the side mounted fuel tanks causing the Jota to catch fire and burn down completely the fire was so intense most of the bodywork was destroyed, but more importantly, the chassis was warped beyond repair.

The Lamborghini Miura Jota was lost forever, but several inquiries by Miura owners caused a few regular Miura to be rebuilt to a certain level of Jota specifications some sources call these the Miura SVJ model. Most of these factory replicas only had some bodywork modifications that included the extra intakes and outlets, most of them also got the fuel filler seen on the Jota, only three did get a dry sump lubrication none of them came even remotely close to the original Jota and were called Miura SVJ, in the end, the factory never accepted to build a second Jota.

So one enthusiast decided to recreate the Jota on his own, UK based Piet Pulford started with a beaten, old Miura (#3033) found in the United States and requested extensive bodywork and chassis modifications from Chris Lawrence (Wymondham Engineering) in Norfolk note the entire front and rear section were only held onto the Jota by locating pins and Dzus fasteners to allow easy and quick removal. The engine for this Jota recreation was in fact built with help from Bob Wallace himself.

So back to the 1968 Miura S chassis #3781 (engine #2511, body #383), Heinz E. Staber convinced Hubert Hahne to have the factory rebuild this Miura into a Jota inspired model, but unlike the SVJ we already know, this would become a Miura SVR, a more track-oriented version of the SVJ it would take until April 1976 to finish this Miura SVR with a widened bodywork to fit the massive BBS wheels on Pirelli P7R tires (345/35ZR15 at the rear, the same as on the Countach S model).

A new suspension was installed using Koni dampers to keep the tires as flat as possible, a set of Girling disk brakes from the Porsche 917 found their way behind the gold BBS wheels, on the engine a dry sump conversion was done, modified cams and open funnel Weber carburetors coupled to an ‘open’ exhaust resulted in an increase in power for this 1,330 kg Miura SVR.

A deep chin spoiler up front and a Countach inspired roof wing would keep the Miura SVR stable at high speeds, while a set of black Recaro seats would keep the driver and passenger firmly in place in 1976 this unique Lamborghini Miura SVR was sold to In 1976 the car was sold to Hiromitsu Ito and made its way to Japan (for a rumoured amount of $550,000), he kept the car for many years, during which a complete, 3 year restoration was performed, during which the interior was replaced with a gold looking leather upholstery.

In late 2015 this one of a kind Lamborghini Miura SVR was for sale in Japan, price on demand only, it seems the car has subsequently been sold and the new owner sent her back to Sant’Agata once more this time to have her restored by Polo Storico who took 19 months from start to finish to recreate the original 1974 specs Miura SVR.

Paolo Gabrielli, Lamborghini Head of After Sales and Director of the Polo Storico, said: “The full restoration took 19 months and required a different approach to the way we normally work. The original production sheet wasn’t of much help, as we relied mostly on the specifications from the 1974 modifications. The challenge for the Polo Storico team was even more daunting as the car arrived in Sant’Agata in pieces, although the parts were all there, and with considerable modifications. The only variations on the original specifications were the addition of 4-point safety belts, more supportive seats and a removable roll bar. These were expressly requested by the customer and are intended to improve safety during the car’s racetrack exhibitions.”

When the restoration was finally finished and the Miura SVR was delivered to her owner, she was shown at Japan’s Nakayama Circuit, as a throwback to the Japanese manga “Circuit Wolf” in which the Miura SVR was featured many years ago, and while she may not have the same ‘value’ as the real Miura Jota, or Piet’s recreation, it is safe to say this Miura SVR is another milestone in the history of Lamborghini, and the fact that Polo Storico was able to restore her to her former glory makes her even more valuable.

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Some very special Diablo SE Jota were actually built on special demand by the factory, a yellow finished Diablo SE30 Jota was ordered by the Japanese racing team, equipped with a marine derived fuel injection system on a modified engine, this Diablo Corsa was used to replace their Racing Countach, a highly modified Countach 25th Anniversary model the JLOC used before 1995.

After this initial ‘custom’ Diablo SE Jota, the factory built three other, race prepared Diablo, the Jota P.01, P.02 and P.03 were all highly modified and could be entered in the Japanese GTC series, these days, these rare P-cars are actually registered for road use in Japan !

These Jota P-spec cars were based on then current Diablo SE model, the side windows were replaced by Plexiglas ones with a sliding part as needed on a true race car and a massive, adjustable rear wing was mounted together with the Jota-style air intakes on the engine cover.

Also note the engine now used a special injection system with a completely different pressure pad than the one used on the ‘normal’ Jota, some sources even indicate a marine injection system was mounted.

Naturally the exhaust was modified into a racing unit too, one of these P-spec cars no longer housed the exhaust pipes underneath the rear bumper, but it now had two massive exits between the rear lights which resulted in a very impressive sound once the engine was started.

The front bumper received an extra air intake at the middle with two air outlets in the front hood to allow an air flow to run through the front mounted cooler.

At first the pop up headlights remained on the Diablo Corsa, but later these were replaced with fixed lights while the front spoiler and wheel arches were modified too, two wheel arch extensions were used and the front hood was altered, which made it look like the Diablo GT1 front section, the P-spec cars received similar fixed headlights and a wide front track from the start.

Today these very rare Diablo SE Jota R are still located in Japan, the P.01, which is the white and blue car featured on this page, and the P.03 car, a special green/yellow pearl metallic car are owned by two fortunate Japanese enthusiasts, while the yellow Diablo Corsa was last seen in a storage area in Japan too, although the owner remained anonymous.

The Diablo SE Jota P.02 was originally finished in white, but further details and whereabouts are unknown to us at this moment.

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SAT, Signes Advanced Technology, is a company based in Toulon, France which is specialized in the design and construction of prototypes and race cars, they were contracted to design and build what would become the Diablo GT1, while Automobili Lamborghini SpA would supply a custom V12 engine and get the entire project through homologation.

A special 6-Liter engine was created with an enlarged stroke, later another evolution of this engine would be used in the Diablo GT and the VT 6.0 production model. By using a reprogrammed injection system this engine reached 655 Bhp driving the massive 18 inch rear wheels only.

At first the Diablo GT1 was shown with Michelin tires, but later these were replaced with racing slicks made by Dunlop, note that only two GT1’s were ever built, chassis numbers VLA12001 and WLA12000, the first one was sold to the JLOC in Japan and they have been using it to compete in the Japanese GTC ever since 1997. The second Diablo GT1 was finished in bright yellow and remained the property of SAT, were it was being displayed at their factory.

As usual with special GT cars the bodywork was heavily redesigned and only looked slightly like the original Diablo, a brand new, very deep front chin spoiler and the obvious adjustable rear wing were mounted. The front spoiler also housed a large oil cooler with a central air intake, the front turn signals were still used, however the pop up headlights were replaced by air intakes and small poly-ellipsoid lights covered with Plexiglas.

From the 1998 season on, the Japanese Diablo GT1 received small fins at both sides of the front bumper to increase down force. Also the front hood now incorporated air extractors to allow the air to pass through the front mounted oil cooler, the side windows were replaced by Plexiglas units and used a small sliding part and three air outlets were cut into the rear part of the window.

The entire rear section of the Diablo GT1 could be removed to allow easy access to the massive V12 engine, this engine received two air intakes just behind the roof section to draw cool air inside, special outlets were built into the rear cover to allow an air current through the compartment with the bodywork in place.

The entire suspension geometry and chassis was modified by SAT to comply with racing regulations, also the body panels were made by SAT themselves, in ultra-light carbon fiber naturally, note that the upswing opening doors were still used on the Diablo GT1.

The project was finalized and presented to the factory in April 1997 while both the Italian Ministry of Transport and the Federation International de l’Automobile confirmed homologation in 1998, unfortunately Chrysler didn’t went forward with the Diablo GT1 idea and after Audi AG bought the factory, the Diablo GT and GTR were developed, the special GTC series were abandoned.

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These ‘road legal’ cars were however modified by external companies, not by the Lamborghini factory, but some very wealthy customers were able to convince Automobili Lamborghini SpA to build them a road-legal, factory edition of the SVR, called the Diablo SVS models.

Worldwide only two or three of these Diablo SVS models were built, with the same highly tuned engine, gearbox and suspension settings as a Diablo SVR race car but with a completely normal interior finished in alcantara just like on the Diablo SV.

These Diablo SVS models used custom OZ multi-piece wheels with a similar design as seen on the early SVR, later the SVR used mono block wheels but at the first presentation these OZ wheels were mounted.

The car on this page was located in Germany at the time of writing, and the lucky owner had it customized with Strosek front light units which add a little more aggressively to the overall look of this stunning car.

I know about a second Diablo SVS, finished in white over a black interior that was sold to a Japanese collector, if there was a third car, and how it was finished isn’t totally sure, but if you know more about these rare Diablo SVS models, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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This car was built specifically to promote the Diablo SV-R race car, and subsequently only one Roadster-R was made, and it was rather different from the Diablo Roadster VT version that was commercialized during 1995. This Roadster VT-R had air intakes instead of the front headlight units, and only one race type bucket seat was installed with a five-point harness. There were large air intakes mounted just behind the seats, on top of the engine cover, naturally there was no place to store the removable roof on the engine lid anymore, in fact no roof was supplied with this one of a kind masterpiece.

To compete in the Lamborghini Championship with a Diablo SV-R, you paid a rather large sum of money, however at the end of the season, the Diablo SV-R would become your property. Automobili Lamborghini SpA actually delivered the Diablo SV-R with a special kit to convert this race car into a road-legal car or into an even higher tuned GT Racer, but still with the 600 Bhp engine.

It became obvious later on that several of these stunning race cars were converted into road cars by their owners, some still featuring those special rear bumpers, others in full SV trim, but still retaining the highly tuned engine.

This one of a kind Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster-R was later sold to an enthusiast in the United States, were it still resided at the time of writing.

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At this moment it isn’t known if this car is an evolution of the Diablo GTR model or if it’s based on the VT model, what is evident though is the massive modifications done to the original model.

A massive, Carbon Fiber is mounted at the rear, similar to the one used on the GTR model, a completely new front bumper/spoiler combination is used, featuring large air intakes and a tow ring. Also note the GT-alike front hood, now with fast fixing screws and the usual race derived cut off switch near the windscreen.

Naturally a fast refueling system like the one seen on the Diablo GTR has been installed, together with never before seen round air intakes on the engine cover. On the photo’s there are protected with red covers to prevent dust and other possible destructive material from entering these intakes.

This Diablo GT2 also features Plexiglas side windows with small sliding parts, a full roll cage inside and naturally only one seat with multi-point racing harness.

Furthermore the entire interior has been stripped from all unneeded upholstery, the steering column is clearly visible and a digital display has been installed instead of the speedometer. Also note the typical race-style switches on the central console.

All in all this looks like one hell of a fast Diablo, if anyone actually knows more details about this car please let me know.

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Personally I guess this car was a test bed for new technologies, but was not initially intended to be sold. The SV-R was a very competitive car and a new race car wasn’t needed at that time, also the styling for the GT2 was surprisingly similar to those of the Swiss based Affolter tuned cars.

I did read somewhere that Affolter had designed a GT-car for Lamborghini, so it could be this Diablo GT2 evolution ?

The Diablo GT2 was actually on display at the Auto Show in Copenhagen in 1998, and it looked like Automobili Lamborghini SpA was trying to sell this redesigned Diablo, they even had a price for this special, $ 350,000, however during the 1999 Geneva Auto Show they showed the awesome Diablo GT, which was going to be the production unit. The Lamborghini Diablo GT went on sale starting in September of 1999, but only a limited production of 80 cars would be made.

Another rumor stated the new L147 engine would be used in this GT2 car to compete during the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1999, but that was just a rumor, and as far as I know there wasn’t a Lamborghini entry in Le Mans for the notorious 24h race in 1999.

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He was so pleased with the Diablo, he ordered one to be finished in custom ‘money green’ over a gold leather interior. The car was built by Automobili Lamborghini SpA, but it was finished in ‘Verde Gonna Mica” over a Champaign leather interior, the ‘gold’ interior was dropped because they apparently couldn’t get the leather in the quality required.

Unfortunately, by the time this special car was finished, Mr Malcolm Forbes had already passed away, so he never actually took delivery of this custom ordered Diablo.

The car, bearing chassis number 12231 was eventually shipped to Hawaii, were it remained in storage for several years, the Diablo was then purchased by another Lamborghini enthusiast and was shipped to the United States mainland, the new owner had the car very well maintained which explained why the car was still in ‘as new’ condition after nine years. During an auction in February 2000, the car was available for sale, but the reserve bid wasn’t attained and the car remained unsold.

This Malcolm Forbes special had several unique features, not found on any other Lamborghini Diablo, like the custom made floor mats, with a raging bull emblem combined with the Forbes logo. Also on the central transmission tunnel, an small engraved plate was mounted stating the chassis number and the Malcolm Forbes name as the first owner of this custom made exotic.

Another less well visible feature was found underneath the engine hood, the cover over the fuel injectors, the Lamborghini scripting on both valve covers and the injectors themselves were also finished in the light green metallic exterior color, a very nice looking detail.

As far as we know the car still exists today, it has recently been photographed in a Lamborghini workshop in the United States, still looking as fresh as when it was offered for auction back in 2000 which can only mean the current owner takes care of this rare Lamborghini.

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These cars were built in the mid-Nineties, and mark the end of the Tommy Suharto/Megatech era for Automobili Lamborghini SpA, these VT-R editions were probably among the last Diablo built before Audi AG became owner of the company.

A Diablo VT-R used the same chassis and drive train as a standard VT but received a few modifications to the bodywork, apparently Automobili Lamborghini SpA had some leftover Diablo SE30 parts, therefore they mounted the complete bodywork of a Diablo SE30 on the VT chassis, everything except the side windows was actually Diablo SE30 specifications, the side windows however remained the normal Diablo, single piece ones, they could still be opened all the way instead of the small part found in the SE30 doors.

The front spoiler, rear bumper, engine lid cover and side air intakes were taken from the SE30 body parts pin, but the wheels were not the expensive magnesium ones, this yellow RHD unit received VT roadster wheels, a red Diablo VT-R still used the standard VT wheels, this red cars also used a ‘normal’ rear wing instead of the SE30 one, while a third, orange finished car had a special matt black race wing installed similar to the SVR model. This orange Diablo VTR also received custom multi-piece SE-style rims.

With this mix of parts from several different Diablo models, the VT-R had a rather confusing look, one might think it’s an SE30 with special wheels, but some people look at the VT-R and think they are dealing with a replica instead of the real thing, however a peak underneath the engine cover will convince them all it’s a true Lamborghini.

The Diablo VT-R actually used an upgraded 410kW version of the famous 5.7 Liter V12 engine, which would propel this ‘Super Diablo’ to a claimed top speed of 328 Km/h, with a sub 4 second run to 100 Km/h and little over 20 seconds to cover the standing kilometer what would you want more, four wheel drive and plenty of power.

During 2004 the yellow car, which is actually the one and only RHD Diablo VTR ever made, changed hands in Australia for $565,000 Au$, close to 400,000 US$, not bad for a car nearly 10 years old. This was in fact the first time a Diablo VTR was sold by the original owner, the two other cars, the red and the orange one, are believed to be located in the United States, and are not for sale at the time of writing.

Lamborghini Diablo VTR with chassis # ZA9DE07A0SLA12395 was requested to be sent to Australia, to Mr. Dean Wills (Distributor for Lamborghini Australia Back in 1996). Mr. Wills ordered the car on behalf of the purchaser Mr. Fitzgerald.

This latter had ordered every available option on it including the four piece luggage, full yellow dash dials, Yellow piping in the Black interior and also yellow strap inserts in the Black seats to complement the yellow exterior and also a 555 Factory Brake House Power engine !

Only a year later the car was send back to Sant’Agata, were it could be admired during the 35th Anniversary festivities at the factory, enjoying some high speed runs on the Autostrada in Italy, this car covered 3500 Km in Europe, reaching speeds up to 285 Km/h. During it’s stay at the factory the owner opted to have an air lift suspension system from a Diablo VT Roadster installed at the front to raise the car to clear speeds bumps and curb sides.

The current owner had been trying to buy this unique car for the past 3 years, and it was only because Mr. Fitzgerald has purchased a new ENZO Ferrari, the last Australian specs one by the way, and needed the space in his garage that he reluctantly sold him this unique car for AU$ 565,000.00, and to the best of his knowledge it was the first Diablo VTR that has changed hands in the world, today this RHD yellow Diablo VT-R edition is located in South Australia.

The 2004 value of the car was $565,000.00 and was still increasing as a true Lamborghini collectible piece before the Audi influence, and the only right hand drive Diablo VTR ever built by the factory.

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This wasn’t a real factory special but a custom ordered Diablo SV modified for Victoria’s Secret, in cooperation with Lamborghini USA. The original car was ordered as a pearl White metallic Diablo SV for Victoria’s Secret (a famous lingerie company by the way) as a publicity stunt for the 1998 edition of their Christmas Catalogue.

The VS logo on the side of the car represented the Victoria’s Secret company initials, they were in fact a standard ‘SV’ logo mounted in reverse, since the decals were delivered with the car unmounted on the doors it wasn’t too difficult to inverse the logo.

A more difficult task would be the headrests, they too showed a reversed SV logo, but this was done by Automobili Lamborghini SpA in Italy, they could be persuaded into doing custom work for most customers if you could afford the rather high extra costs.

From the 1998 Christmas Catalogue you could however order this Diablo, or a similar one directly from Victoria’s Secret.

All Diablo VS would to be finished in the same pearl White metallic shade over a creme leather interior and naturally include the big VS-logo mounted on both sides of the car.

On the inside an Alpine navigation system was installed coupled to a 6-disc CD changer, a custom luggage set made to match the interior and some special driving gloves, again in the same leather as the magnificent seats. Even a matching cellular phone case was delivered with the car.

The rear wing seen on the standard Diablo SV was also mounted, painted in the same pearl white metallic as the rest of this truly exotic car, also chrome finished three-piece, five spoke wheels were mounted, 18 inch to both the front and rear.

If you would have bought this car, you would also receive a free trip to Las Vegas and a weekend to drive your Diablo under the eye of a professional test driver in the Lamborghini Driving Academy.

The car pictured here with the six ‘angels’ had chassis nr. WLA12945 and was sold to an American customer, it still resides in the United States and according to several sources a second Diablo VS wasn’t ordered so it remains a one-off truly special Diablo. Note that at the time of writing this car still exists, but the current owner had the ‘VS’ logo removed from the sides.

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The Diablo VT Roadster Momo was in fact a cosmetic upgrade of a standard VT Roadster, a custom two color interior was installed into this car, a red over beige Leather/Alcantara covered the seats and the dashboard. Special four point seat belts by Momo were used to keep you seated.

The engine remained standard, although 530 Bhp should be enough to keep most people happy, at the Running of the Bulls event, a Twin Turbo Roadster was present pumping out nearly 900 Bhp.

The early Momo editions used the standard Roadster 18-inch wheel, but later several cars used a magnificent chromed Momo wheel.

During October 1999, one of these limited Momo Diablo was for sale for US $ 333,000 at Motorcars International, an authorized Lamborghini dealer while the official list price was set at US $ 275,000 for a production run of only 12 cars, note however that a Momo Roadster was sold in 2002 for just below US $200,000, but that car required some serious work to get back to specs, these days the Diablo Momo Roadster will be difficult to locate for sale, with a total production run of only 12 cars, available in either yellow or red, expect prices to remain high for these limited editions available on the US market only.

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The Monterey Edition used a slightly redesigned air intake in front of the rear wheels, similar to the ones used on the Diablo SE30 and the Diablo VT Roadster models.

Some sources state horsepower rating was over 535 Bhp much like the 530 Bhp found in the Diablo SV from 1999 on, but that number wasn’t confirmed by any official source, so it is safe to assume that the engine was similar to the one from the normal 1998 Diablo SV, which still was able to deliver 510 Bhp to those massive rear wheels.

Some of the 20 cars built were finished in rather strange colors like Lime Green, Pearl Yellow, Verde Scandal and Le Mans Blue, while the very last one, number 20 was finished in Lightning Blue over cream and was sold through Prestige Imports in Florida.

A red car with Chromed wheels featured on these pages was in fact number 3 of 20, driven by none other than Mario Andretti in front of 50 other Lamborghini cars during ‘The run of the Bulls’. This car was in fact finished in Rosa Targa, a special metallic paint that changed shade from red to purple according to the surrounding light, with a bright white leather upholstery. This specific car also included the Carbon Fibre gear shifter, leather luggage set and an engine pumping out over 550 Bhp, a Brembo 15 inch drilled disk brake set and to finish the list a custom made Tubi exhaust system.

A new Lamborghini Diablo SV Monterey would set you back about $ 245,000 in 1998, if you could locate one, note however that since this Monterey edition was the very last Diablo model using the pop-up headlight treatment, it was destined to become an true collectible. Later it became obvious that this was not going to happen, people preferred the 1999 fixed headlights more, and even the rarity of only 20 SV Monterey edition Diablo didn’t overcome this issue. A Diablo SV Monterey will still demand a slight premium over another 1998 Diablo SV, but the difference will not be large, the state of the car will determine the value.

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All 12 1999 Lamborghini Diablo VT received state of the art Alpine in-car equipment including a radar/laser detection system. The CVA-1005 Alpine Multimedia station with integrated navigation system was the base unit. Naturally an Alpine DVD player and 6 disk CD changer were installed together with special Alpine tweeters, midrange and a massive sub woofer, however two separate remote controls were needed to pilot all of this equipment.

Other unique Alpine Edition features could be found inside the Diablo VT were Carbon Fiber interior trim and special Alpine logo’s and a production number was embroided on both headrests together with custom made Alpine floor mats.

The exterior of the car was mostly like a standard 1999 edition VT for the US market, using the Roadster type front and rear bumpers together with the rims which on most Alpine Editions were chromed with gold plated fixing screws, while a color coded SV style rear wing was mounted featuring a Carbon Fiber adjustable fin.

Other special Alpine Edition features on the outside were Carbon Fiber fins on the air intakes in front of the rear wheels and clear Carbon Fiber taillight bezels, the Xenon headlights also received a nice Carbon Fiber ‘eyebrow’ and the door trim was also finished in this lightweight material.

A custom made black car cover was delivered with these cars which featured a massive Alpine logo embroided on it.

The massive V12 engine was left alone, no tuning was performed on it, however the central cover was now made of Carbon Fiber on these Alpine Edition,.

The center console received the small color TV screen from the multimedia set, connected to a rear mounted camera, it allowed much easier parking of this 2 meter wide exotic. The gear lever was finished in Carbon and received an Alpine Limited Edition crest with the serial number of that specific car.

Note however that a few Lamborghini Diablo Alpine Editions were also built on the 1998 Diablo SV model, while in 1999 the Diablo VT was used, there was at least one 1998 Diablo SV Alpine edition made, finished in a bright blue as seen on the Diablo SV factory presentation car complete with the trademark SV decal on the side, however this SV Alpine is not counted toward the 12 Diablo Alpine editions built in 1999.

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Automobili Lamborghini SpA issued a press release on this car during the 1996 Geneva Auto Show, which stated they would offer a three years mono brand Trophy that was open to both professional drivers and gentleman enthusiasts offering them the possibility to drive the new Diablo SV-R, a true racing version of the famous Lamborghini Diablo.

Take a standard Diablo SV (if there even is such a thing) and strip out everything not needed on the race track to start the headlights were removed. In their place two air intakes were mounted to draw air onto the front brakes, the side glass was replaced with Plexiglas units featuring those famous sliding parts.

Once opening those trademark, upward opening doors, you can feast your eyes on what can only be called a cockpit, plain and simple there was the necessary roll over cage, a special Sparco seat with full racing harness and a detachable steering wheel.

Naturally the Diablo SV-R also received some unique body features only found on this race car, like the deep front spoiler and side skirts, finished in black they further increase the intimidating, very low looks of the Diablo. The air intakes on the engine cover remained the same, but the SV-R got a massive, Carbon Fiber rear wing that was fully adjustable.

At the rear of the car the bumper was also removed and four very impressive ‘fins’ were mounted together with a central mounted, dual tip exhaust which actually was no more than an un-muffled megaphone system, stating this produced a thundering, loud exhaust tune was probably an understatement.

Since the Diablo SV-R sits so low on the tarmac, they had to install four air-jacks to lift the car when it arrived in the pits to replace the tires there was simply no room to roll a trolley jack underneath this Lamborghini. When the wheels were removed you could admire the massive 355mm Brembo brakes at the front axle, while the rear axle received 335 mm slotted Brembo.

There are linear rate springs on the SV-R, wrapped around Koni 28-12 dampers at the front and Koni 28-11 ones at the back, suspension setup is comparable to the Diablo SV model, but twice as hard !

Talking about wheels and tires, the Diablo SV-R received two different wheels, these cars were introduced with special OZ-wheels but later these were replaced by Speedline wheels because the first ones tended to brake under all the power the Diablo SV-R was capable of putting on the massive rear 326/640 Pirelli. The front used 240/645 P Zero’s, who like the wide rear ones were purpose developed by Pirelli for the Diablo SV-R race cars in Europe. Some sources however state that 235/615-17 and 330/675-18 Dunlop racing slicks mounted on these Diablo SV-R models, but when I attended one of the races these magnificent SV-R’s were using Pirelli P-Zero slicks.

The Diablo SV-R was built together with the other Diablo, on the same production line. Only for the SV-R a specially built engine was mounted, a normally aspired V-12 without any turbochargers, but producing a healthy 540 Bhp, by altering the timing of the fuel injection system and using a variable valve timing system.

Note that work on these Diablo SV-R models didn’t start until February 1996, with an introduction in March 1996 at the Geneva Auto Show, and a first public race in June 14th at the famous Le Mans circuit were no less than 28 SV-R’s were present, and what’s more, they all finished too making this a initial outing very special, it was even called the ‘zero faults operation’ afterwards. This meant that in a matter of only four months they built at least 28 race prepared Diablo SV-R’s !

It became obvious that the Lamborghini Diablo SV-R mono brand Trophy was well on it’s way to become a great success for Automobili Lamborghini SpA.

Nearly 10 years later these cars were still considered to be the ultimate Diablo, next to the later Diablo GT (and GTR) model the Diablo SV-R was still a popular car, several were used on tracks all over the world after the Lamborghini Supertrophy was held for four consecutive years, to be replaced by the GTR Supertrophy in 2000 which featured to more potent Diablo GTR race cars.

Especially Japan was a big market to obtain real Diablo SV-R cars and register them for road use, one even made it to the United States, the Diablo SV-R number 24/32 was painted in true United States colors and later received a complete Diablo VT 6.0 front which made it road legal, even in the US !

Several Diablo SV-R were converted for street use after they were ‘retired’ from the Supertrophy, some were even sold in their original state but with all the parts needed to convert to road cars as a package it was not uncommon to see an SV-R being converted into a streetcar while the rear wing and rear fins were used on other models in the Diablo range, which clearly stated that the Diablo SV-R was a car that would be remembered into the future.

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Fortunately, Automobili Lamborghini SpA did make a marketing effort, they showed a very nice looking Titanium Metallic Diablo VT Roadster on the same Detroit Auto Show, next to a bright pearl metallic yellow Diablo VT 6.0. This Roadster was in fact a limited edition version officially called the ‘Millennium Metallico Roadster’.

This car was a special Diablo Roadster version made during the 2000 production year in a limited production run of only 30 cars, only 10 would be made for the United States market, the remaining 20 were available to European and Middle Eastern customers.

The cars for the US were only available in a special mixture, Titanium Metallic finish, in fact it was actually a shade lighter than the earlier Titanium metallic color available for the Roadster, but the biggest difference was on the inside, a two tone leather interior. On the Titanium version the seats were covered with a mix of gray and black leather, a very nice combination that made the interior look brighter.

Another feature for the Millennium Roadster was the use of a clear Carbon Fiber rear spoiler, mounted on this Millennium Metallic Roadster’s Titanium finish it looked great.

Other markets outside the USA could order a Millennium Roadster finished in Yellow, again with a two tone, yellow and black leather interior, some didn’t have the Carbon Fiber rear wing installed, but the yellow bodywork combined with the black and yellow leather really impressed.

Another very well received feature for the Metallico Millennium Roadster was the use of the shorter SV type rear differential ratio, this meant the Diablo VT drive train was coupled to an SV-type Bevel gear type differential with a 1 to 2.53 ratio instead of the VT 1 to 2.41 ratio, giving a phenomenal driving experience for this extremely limited automobile.

Automobili Lamborghini SpA intended to have a brand new Roadster ready by 2003, of course this one would be based on the successor to the current Diablo, which was still to be presented at the 2001 Geneva Auto Show, but would take until September 2001 called the Murciélago, with a subsequent Roadster version seeing daylight as a production model as late as March 2004, nearly four years after the last Diablo Roadster left the factory at Sant’Agata.

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The bright orange finished Lamborghini was powered by a special 3.0-Liter engine using a 4-valve/cylinder configuration with dry-sump lubrication, coupled to a six-speed gearbox all this added up to a power output of more than 310 Bhp.

Later sources stated this 4-valve engine was only briefly installed in the car, and was soon replaced by a tuned two-valve 3.0-Liter engine from the P300, when you take a look at the pictures you’ll also notice the two big exhaust pipes on this car, a feature which would surely never be street legal but still must sound awesome.

This special Urraco also featured a roll-over cage, while all the unnecessary items were stripped from the interior to gain weight, the entire rear seat was removed and a special fuel tank was installed in this space.

It stayed in contact with the road by using the McPherson like the ‘normal’ P250 but special adjustable Koni shock absorbers were mounted, various different types of brakes were tested, also different tires were used for testing purposes, including Pirelli P7’s and Dunlop Racing covers, all mounted on massive Campagnolo magnesium wheels like those used on the Jota. The chassis received special welded-on parts to stiffen it, because of the large increase in power, the lateral forces would surely be higher than on the standard P250, another modification was the solid bolt-on for the rear sub frame, this improved handling at high speeds, which was necessary because the rear wing greatly increased down force at the rear.

The body styling had to be modified, the wheel arches were widened and various chin spoilers were mounted, even an massive adjustable rear ‘wing’ was installed during development testing, also note the special windscreen wiper mounted.

Bob Wallace was actually able to race this specific Lamborghini once at the Misano Race Track, it wasn’t a real race but rather a gathering of exotic cars, the Urraco Rally did outrun a Porsche at that time.

The Urraco ‘Bob’ was left abandoned at the Lamborghini factory, but it fortunately someone was able to acquire it and had it restored back to the original specifications. Today this car is back in pristine condition and owned by a member of the Japanese Lamborghini Owners Club.

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This car was finished in bright yellow over a black interior, but the main objective of this Urraco was to obtain valuable information on road holding and suspension settings when using bigger wheels at the back than at the front.

Silhouette wheels were mounted on this car, 8.5×15 inch up front and 11×15 inch at the back with 205/50 and 285/40 tires, because of these big rims, special wheel arch extensions were mounted.

These were taken from the Countach S series, note their round form against the more angular ones used on the Silhouette later.

Suspension geometry had to changed too naturally, because of the wide rear wheels, contact with the road was a major objective, so the McPherson were modified to comply to this new need.

This car performed many test kilometers before it was retired at the factory, the information gained from this unique car led to the Silhouette in 1976, today this piece of Lamborghini history is still located there in it’s original yellow color with the black wheel arch extensions still mounted, waiting to be restored.

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The SV Roadster was set to be sold at a lower price than the Diablo VT Roadster, just like the Diablo SV was the ‘less expensive’ Diablo in the range.

Probably the SV Roadster would be positioned between the SV Coupé and the Diablo VT type, since for some strange reason the rear-wheel drive Diablo had been canceled for the 1999 production year.

The SV Roadster was just like the SV Coupe, a stripped down version of the normal VT Roadster, the suspension geometry was simplified, but the full system would still be available as an option. Also the rear wing wasn’t standard, but remained a rather expensive option, available either color coded to the car or in a clear Carbon Fiber finish.

Another option was the custom made Lamborghini suitcase-set, finished in the finest leather available, matched to the color of the interior of the car the set was ordered with.

Naturally the Diablo SV Roadster prototype seen here used alcantara for the seats, but on special order you could have leather upholstered seats or even specify race type bucket seats with four-point seat belts.

As usual for Automobili Lamborghini SpA, any color you like could be used on the bodywork, but the factory still tried to keep everything rather normal by suggesting an already very vast palette of colors available, like the flashy orange bodywork of the prototype on the picture.

Shortly after this car was presented on the Geneva Auto Show, the Audi management of Automobili Lamborghini SpA decided not to actively commercialize the Diablo SV Roadster, although several demands were already made by the US importer. The SV Roadster was never put into real production but strangely enough some do exist, the factory actually built a couple of prototypes, some even with the 1999 redesigned headlights, but they never actually put it into production. The US-distributor at that time requested a Diablo SV Roadster for their market but after Audi took over, all the rear wheel drive only projects (SV) were canceled.

However, the US-distributor did custom built some SV Roadsters themselves in the United States by doing exactly what the factory would do; remove the front drive shaft, front differential and the front half shafts, this would lighten a Diablo VT Roadster by 250 pounds and according to people who actually drove these modified VT Roadster, they were real fun to drive.

A Lamborghini Diablo SV Roadster still remains a very rare car, only a handful were ever built, some sources state only 6 SV Roadster were made by the factory, with only two RHD models, one of which was severely damaged during a crash.

Note that most of these SV Roadsters were 1999 models, only the orange metallic prototype and a yellow car were 1998 models, the other cars were all based on 1999 specification models.

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The Evoluzione was designed and built in 1987 under the direction of Horacio Pagani, by the newly-formed ‘Composites Department’, they decided to change the steel space-frame of the original Countach to a chassis/body construction in composite materials.

The cockpit, including the floor and roof panels, the central transmission tunnel, the door sills and the front and rear bulkheads were all made in one piece of composite materials. A honeycomb and aluminum foil sandwich material, Kevlar and carbon fiber bonded together under partial vacuum at 140 degrees Celsius.

Various body parts were also changed to composite ones, the front lid, the engine cover and boot lid, the front spoiler, which used a simpler design and was a little lower than the original Countach and the wheelarches, which were now connected through sills with air-cooling vents for the rear brakes. These sills would later be used on the Anniversario in a slightly altered design, the wings and the doors remained in aluminum Thanks to the extensive use of light-weight composites, the total weight of the Evoluzione was only 980 Kg, or about 500 Kg less than the Countach QV5000S, this and a minor tuning of the engine, now with 490 Bhp, made the Evoluzione reach a top speed of 330 Km/h. at the Nardo test track. This engine was ‘blue-printed’ and still used the same transmission, but with a modified gate to allow a shorter ‘throw’ between the gears.

The car was never painted and the riveting of the body parts remained visible when you opened the door, even the carbon fiber and Kevlar kept their natural gloss under their thin layer of glue to keep them in shape. On the inside the same rough appearance was evident, only two seats and a small carbon-fiber dashboard were used, with a tachometer, water temperature, fuel level and oil pressure gauges. A few pieces of carpet were used to mask the many colored wires which used to be connected to various test and recording equipments, no air-conditioning, no headlights, no horn and not even a wiper were installed.

The wheels remained, but got carbon-fiber disc covers, these didn’t allow enough cooling for the brakes and were later removed. Various new ideas were installed on the Evoluzione before it was crash tested; an electronically controlled damping system with variable ride height, an ABS braking system and a four-wheel drive with variable torque split were installed. Even a fully retractable wiper system was installed on it, various parts and even some of these latter designs were later used on the Anniversario and the Diablo VT.

But production of a composite based Countach was too expensive, and in case of an accident the complete shell would have to be replaced because repairing a composite body/chassis is very hard if not impossible, therefore the Evoluzione performed a last test: the crash barrier test, which revealed valuable information on the impact resistance of this kind of chassis structure.

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In 1976 Lamborghini produced three further examples. One was built for Ermanno Spazzapan (chassis 1120188) and another for Albert Silvera (1120222). Walter Wolf also took delivery of a second Countach Speciale (1120202) which received the special five-litre engine originally fitted to his red car.

Each of these vehicles was highly customised.

Walter Wolf’s example was painted blue with the wheelarches and front spoiler finished in matt black. He had a body coloured electrically adjustable rear spoiler fitted along with a public address system. The upper surface of each retractable headlight was emblazoned with a Canadian flag and the wheels were painted gold.

Ermanno Spazzapan’s Countach Speciale was painted red with matt black wheelarch extensions and a matching front spoiler. It came with a unique twin plane adjustable rear spoiler and silver wheels.

Albert Silvera went a couple of steps further with his blue example. In addition to the wheelarch extensions and front spoiler, the front bumper, wiper, window frames, wing mirrors, wheels, ducts, vents, grilles, tail fascia and exhaust shroud were all painted gold. A gold pinstripe was also added along each flank.

A handful of LP400s were also sent back to the factory to be uprated to Speciale trim by their owners.

The Countach Speciale eventually became a production reality when Lamborghini introduced the LP400 S at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1978. By this time the wheelarch extensions, front spoiler and optional rear wing had been subtly reworked by Bertone’s head stylist Marcello Gandini.

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Limited to just 80 cars, the Diablo GT was an exclusive Gran Turismo vehicle with a breathtaking top speed of 338 Km/h. Unveiled during the March 1999 Geneva Auto Show, it set the stage for the even more radical evolution that was to come.

The Diablo GT-R: The True Successor to the SVR

In late 1999, at the Bologna Motor Show, Lamborghini showcased the Diablo GT-R, the race-oriented variant of the GT. Limited to only 30 units and never legal in the United States and Japan, this car was a masterpiece ready to compete in the Lamborghini Supertrophy, organized by the Stephane Ratel Racing Organisation.

The GT-R was the natural successor to the Diablo SVR, with a significant power bump of 50 Bhp, totaling 590 Bhp, setting new boundaries in the Supertrophy races.

Race-Oriented Design

The Diablo GTR was designed with racing at its core. A fully integrated roll-over cage, massive rear wing bolted directly onto the lightweight chassis, and full Brembo race specifications on the brakes with Lucas-controlled ABS ensured that this car was built to perform on the track.

Astonishingly, the top speed of the GTR was set at 348 Km/h, driven by the 6-Litre V-12 engine that produced 590 Bhp, transmitted to the lightweight magnesium Speedline 18-inch rear wheels.

Engine Technology

The V-12 engine’s power was obtained through a multi-throttle intake manifold, variable intake valve timing system, dynamic air inlet duct system, and titanium connecting rods. Further enhancements were made through a specially tuned race-oriented exhaust system and a reprogrammed engine management system.

Additional cooling systems were implemented for the gearbox and differential oil to ensure that the exotic V-12 engine could withstand the demands of racing.

Aerodynamics and Body

Almost the entire body of the GTR was made of Carbon Fibre, except for the steel roof for torsional strength and aluminum doors for safety reasons. Magnesium wheels designed for both standard tires and Pirelli racing slicks and special racing calipers for brakes contributed to the overall race appeal of this car.

Interior and Safety Features

Stripped of all unnecessary items, the interior was designed purely for racing. The lightweight Carbon-Fibre bucket seat with a six-point racing harness, race-type steering wheel, and obligatory fire extinguisher system from Momo was tailored to the needs of professional racers. Plexiglas side windows and air intakes further contributed to weight reduction.

Suspension and Handling

The suspension geometry of the GTR was altered to allow the car to be even closer to the ground, and an emergency cut-off switch was mounted to enhance safety.

Pricing and Conclusion

Priced at $310,000, the Diablo GTR is more than just a car; it is a symbol of Lamborghini’s relentless pursuit of perfection. With its raw power, cutting-edge technology, and race-bred design, it stands as a testament to Lamborghini’s ability to push the boundaries of automotive engineering.

The Lamborghini Diablo GT-R remains an iconic vehicle, and a true reflection of the commitment to excellence that has come to define the Lamborghini brand. It is not just a car, but a piece of history and a beacon of what is possible when passion meets innovation.

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The post Lamborghini Walter Wolf Countach Specials – Pictures & Gallery appeared first on LamboCars.

In September 1974, Wolf received his first ‘customized’ Countach, a bright red LP400, chassis nr. 112.0148, this car was equipped with the special 5.0-Liter engine and large Pirelli P7 tires, which required enlarged wheel-arches, a front spoiler and an adjustable rear wing were also installed. Along with a special F1-type steering wheel with ‘Walter Wolf’ engraved in it, special AP disc brakes with eight calipers and a Borg & Beck double-disc clutch, it all added up to an unique Countach.

Only a year later, in early 1976, Walter Wolf bought his second ‘special’ Countach, this one with chassis nr. 1.120.202, was modified the same way as his first car, the 5.0-Liter engine was put into this chassis, but it remained a Lamborghini property, it wasn’t owned by Wolf himself. This car was finished in a brilliant Bugatti light-blue, with natural leather upholstery, gold colored wheels and pin striping. The wheel-arch extensions were black and this time the rear wing was electrically adjustable from within the cockpit. This car also featured Walter Wolf signets and Canadian flags. This particular car was recently restored and is currently owned by a German.

Wolf’s third ‘special’ was actually the first LP400 S built. He had the same 5.0-Liter engine installed, together with his double-disc Borg & Beck F1-type clutch and the eight-caliper disc brakes, which were now fully adjustable from within the cockpit.

This car was finished in an aggressive dark blue/black and featured special Walter Wolf Racing hubcaps, but on the 1978 Geneva Auto Show, where it was displayed as the first LP400 S, it didn’t have the rear wing installed, however Wolf did have it installed before he took delivery of it.

Walter Wolf was also the lucky guy who received a Miura SV as late as April 1975, this car with chassis number 5092 was built from spare parts three years after the Miura production was halted.

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