Well, Mr Ferdinand Piëch decided the 1998 Canto prototype was not up to the Lamborghini standards like the Diablo and the legendary Countach and Miura, so he halted the project. But in February 1999, the Lamborghini Design facility came up with a slightly modified Canto proposal. The complete rear part of the Lamborghini was redesigned, and looked a lot more integrated into the overall design of the Canto. Also the front was changed, the headlight units remained almost identical, but the fog lights became more up to date using poly-ellipsoïde technology. The turn indicators and driving lights are now on top of the front fenders instead of at the front of them like on the first Canto prototypes. But the biggest change were the rear, top mounted air intakes, now a little smaller but much better integrated into the sweeping lines of the Canto.
Another problem Mr Piëch noted was reworked too, the complete engine was redone, it remained the massive V-12, with a 6.0 Litre displacement, but the engine management and the complete electronics were changed, now the first tests showed a power increase up to 640 Bhp. But according to the official press release, which Automobili Lamborghini SpA published end of January 1999, the production unit will be detuned to 610 Bhp, this way the factory can maintain the same maintenance schedule as they used for the 530 Bhp Diablo.
In the same press release, Automobili Lamborghini SpA, stated this redesigned Canto prototype would be presented to the public on the 1999 Geneva Motor Show and the Diablo would remain in production for about two years. These two years would be needed to get the Canto fully developed for public use.
For the Canto several interior designs were created, but at this time nothing about the final looks has been revealed, but a preliminary drawing was however found. But as we all noticed the 1999 Geneva Auto Show didn’t have anything resembling the Canto on display, Automobili Lamborghini didn’t get the green light from Ferdinand Piëch to show the nearly finished redesigned Canto from Zagato, the latest news is that Bertone was again contacted to design the Diablo successor, and the Zagato design will not be used after all.
