I had been expecting Automobili Lamborghini SpA to unveil something special at the Monterey Car Week this year, perhaps the Aventador S Roadster or the Huracan Performante Spyder … but they didn’t show anything new at The Quail, a Motorsports gathering … instead, we got to see the unveiling of the Kode 0, or Zero … a supercar built by Ken Okuyama.
The Kode 0 is based on the carbon fiber cockpit of the Lamborghini Aventador, but the entire exterior has been redesigned with masterpieces from the 60’s and 70’s in mind … Ken Okuyama was inspired by Marcello Gandini and the Lancia Stratos Zero and Lamborghini Countach when he created this wedge design.
At the front the design reminds us of the Lamborghini Bravo, but with an added wing held in place with inward pointing extensions running from the side, headights are small LED units that have been seamlessly integrated into the design, the upper part of the front fender is finished in clear carbon fiber as are the roof pillars … just about everything else on the body looks like brushed aluminum.
The large air intakes on the side look a lot like the design we’ve seen back in 2013 on the Lamborghini Ganador concept study created by Amini Yekta, but that is where the comparison ends, there are no visible exterior rear view mirrors on the Kode 0 … in fact it hasn’t been dedided yet if they are going to mount real mirrors of a camera system … at the moment there is neither.
Just in front of the rear wheels, a large air vent has been cut into the otherwise very clean design, also note the rear overhang is very small, while Ken Okuyama proudly shows his signature on the side of his Kode 0.
At the rear the very angular design is continued with triangular air vents that cover green painted fans, up high we see a thin, LED taillight cluster with a large center section while at the center we find a triangular exhaust system that houses four round tailpipes, next to this exhaust a trio of carbon fiber, vertical fins keep the car stable at high speed.
And this Kode 0 can probably beat the Aventador she is based on when competing … Ken Okuyama states an overall weight of 1,550kg (against 1575 for the LP700-4) and with that wedge design, the drag could be less on the Kode 0. However, larger, center lock, NL3 Forged wheels from Novitec in 9×20 and 13×21 with Pirelli P Zero 255/30 ZR 20 and 355/25 ZR 21 might work against the Kode 0 as no engine tuning has been performed.
The Kode 0 uses the Lamborghini Aventador V12 engine with a 6,498cc displacement, 700hp at 8,250 rpm and 690Nm of torque at 5,500 rpm, the carbon ceramic disk brakes have also been retained, but at 4,635mm length, the Kode 0 is about 145mm shorter than the Aventador while a width of 2,125mm adds 95mm to the overall width of the Aventador … height is only 1 mm lower at 1,135mm.
While the exterior of the Kode 0 has been radically changed, the interior remains very close to the original … sure Ken Okuyama selected a silver leather for the seats and door panels (complete with that beautiful Q-Citura stitching pattern) and used Alcantara on the top of the dashboard, he also added some touches of green both on the inside and on the engine hiding underneath a glass panel.
If you are asking yourself about cooling with that glass panel … take a look at the doors … on top of the doors you’ll notice a multitude of carbon fiber air intakes, and when you open the doors you’ll see a vent cut inside them to allow air into the engine compartment and probably also some on the rear disk brakes … it seems like Ken Okuyama did think this through as there are also vents next to the glass panel.
Designed at Ken Okuyama Design’s Aoyama studio in Tokyo, the Kode 0 was subsequently built at the Ken Okuyama Cars factory in Yamagata using industry-leading NC machine cutting techniques to cut and shape all carbon fiber body panels.
The Kode 0 has been introduced as a limited edition, coachbuilt custom … with a list price of $1,500,000 … and that doesn’t even include the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 used as a base … each Kode 0 will take about six months to complete and is built entirely in Japan …Â Ken Okuyama’s previous design was the Kode 57 based on the Ferrari 599, also limited at 5 units with 3 of them sold in Japan and 2 more available for foreign owners … in fact the first Kode 0 was sold to the owner of the third Kode 57 … and with a maximum of five units so it is more than likely the Kode 0 will sell out as well.
