Cars have been my favorite toys as a kid growing up. And Lamborghini
has always been my favorite super car brand ever since I was ten. Why? Because
my parents bought me a 1:18 Lamborghini Diablo made by Bburago from Costco and
I played with it the most. Rest assured; I am not here to bore you going into which
are my favorite toy cars of old. Now that I am actually growing old, and yes I
still play with toy cars, but with collector models. So I thought it would be
fitting to write this blog to introduce the history of Lamborghini using my die-cast
models of my favorite bulls in a "Black Series".
The Sesto-Elemento was unveiled in 2013. This is one very special journey that Lamborghini has taken part in. Its name itself has meaning. Not the traditional fighting bull heritage, but in Italian, Sesto Elemento means Sixth Element. Of course, the sixth element on the periodic table is Carbon. But I’d rather call it Sexy Element. Stemming from its name, the car itself is made mostly from... yes, carbon, including the chassis and the suspension and even the wheels. The body is made from a composite of plastic and carbon fibre that is jointly developed with Boeing. The styling and the engine is stolen directly from the Gallardo. It features a 5.7L V10 producing 570 bhp. The car itself is fit, very fit. To shave weight, it does not even have seats. The so called seats are red padding that is strategically placed in the carbon monocoque that makes up the cockpit of the car. There is not even paint. Its raw carbon fibre body has crystals flakes embedded in it giving the car a redish hint. As Richard Hammond from Top gear puts it “and the dashboard, well there isn’t one, instead you just got these exposed carbon plastic composite” with a digital display stuck onto it. Fortunately, there is air conditioning and a stereo. As a result of all these extremeness-ness, the Sesto weighs only 2000 pounds, which is less than that of a Honda Fit. That gives it a power to weight ratio of 0.57 BHP per KG. With all this said, it bolts to 100 km/h in a mere 2.4 seconds. As with everything these days, Lamborghini definitely charges more for very little. The purchase invoice for one Sexy Element is… “wait for it”… 1.95 million pounds. Even if you have money, you may not be able to purchase one, because they will only ever make 20.
In the 1960s, Ferrari was already hugely popular in the
automotive world as a leading sports coupe brand. In vision to compete with
Ferrari, Ferruccio Lamborghini founded Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963.
Shortly after, Lamborghini’s first ever production
car had its debut in 1964. It was ambitious, with a 3.5 litre V12 engine that
was detuned from a race motor producing 270bhp. This Lamborghini 350GT was not
hugely popular.
Two years later, Lamborghini’s engineering team Gian Paolo
Dallara, Paolo Stanzani and Bob Wallace in their spare time developed a concept
against the wishes of Lamborghini. The concept was shortly accepted and the Bertone
studio styled the car. It is now known as the Miura. A Miura is a fighting bull
bred in Seville, Spain from the famous lineage of the Miura Cattle Ranch. From
then on, Lamborghini has adopted a fierce fighting bull in its logo and the
majority of its cars are named after a famous bull. The most famous Miura was
the Miura SV produced between 1971 and 1973. A total of only 150 Miura SV was ever
built. It featured a mid-mounted 4L V12 engine producing a staggering 380 bhp.
As Jeremy Clarkson would say, it was at that time “The fastest production car...
in the world.”
Kyosho Lamborghini Miura SV with Gold trim in 1:18 scale.
Between 1968 and 1973, Lamborghini produced a bunch of
sports coupe including the Espada, Islero, Jarama, Urraco, but none was more
popular than the Miura.
In 1974, Lamborghini built arguably the most famous Lamborghini
of all time. It was the Lamborghini that started it all, the Countach.
Regrettably however, the Countach name had no fighting bull origin. Instead, it
was an expression of astonishment in Piedmontese, a local language in northwest
Italy. Marcello Gandini of the Bertone studio, who also designed the Miura, gave
“wings” to the Countach. The first Countach was revealed in 1974 as the LP400.
It featured a 3.9L V12 producing 370 bhp. Fast forward a few years, the LP5000S
was unleashed. It had a bigger 4.8L V12 producing the same amount of horsepower
but yielded 50 more pound feet of torque. In 1988, Lamborghini celebrated its
25th Anniversary with the 25th Anniversary Countach. This
Countach was designed by Horacio Pagani who was the chief engineer at
Lamborghini at the time. In 1992, Pagani founded his own brand, and later produced
the world renowned Zonda, Zonda R, and Huayra.
If you have watched Mr. Clarkson’s old Top Gear’s review of
the Countach, the car was rubbish. The cockpit as he put it was so small “even Tom
Cruise would be uncomfortable in it.” He further says that “if you were small
enough to fit inside with a moderate level of comfort, there would be no way
you would be strong enough to turn the steering wheel or press the clutch pedal
down.” In addition, about the rear visibility there is “absolutely none at all.”
Nevertheless, it was the hyper-car of the times.
Kyosho Lamborghini Countact LP5000S in 1:18 scale.
Following the pattern, over the next few years, Lamborghini
did nothing at all until 1985. At that time, the company was under Swiss
ownership and it began development of a codenamed Project 132, with a vision of
exceeding 315 km/h. As a result, in 1990, the next revolutionary Lamborghini
was born. Diablo meant devil in Spanish, and was also a bull that was famous
for the El Chicorro bull fight in Madrid in the 19th Century. The
Diablo was initially designed by Marcello Gandini and Tom Gale at the Chrysler
Styling Center put on the final touches. The Diablo in 1990 was powered by a 5.7L
V12 with dual overhead cams (Yes, the Toyota Camry also had dual overhead cams).
It produced 492 bhp which catapulted the car to 100 kph in only 4.5 seconds.
Most importantly it had a top speed of 325 km/h. Let’s see, there were about… close
to 1 million different variants of the Diablo. My favourite was the SE30 produced
in 1994 and the Diablo SV in 1995.
So from 1990 to 2000, for a full decade, it was the world of the Diablo. But an era must come to an end to make way for a bull that was more ferocious. The Diablo was replaced by the Lamborghini Murcielago in 2001. The name was derived from a fighting bull that survived 24 sword strikes in 1879 at a bull fighting dual in Cordoba, Spain. The Murcielago was designed by Luc Donckerwolke who is Lamborghini’s chief designer at the time. It followed tradition with its scissor doors and an extremely low profile. Its got two large gaping vents in the front to help cool the massive brakes and two side vents above the doors for the mid mounted engine. The Murchielago had a huge, but not very environmentally friendly 6.2L V12 producing 572 bhp. It could sprint to 100kph in 3.3 seconds while breaking your neck in doing so. Different than the Diablo, the Murchielago only had 5 variants. My favourite was the LP 670-4 SuperVeloce produced in 2009. It has 661 bhp and the fastest 0-100 km/h time recorded was 2.8 seconds.
AUTOart Lamborghini Diablo SV in 1:18 scale.
So from 1990 to 2000, for a full decade, it was the world of the Diablo. But an era must come to an end to make way for a bull that was more ferocious. The Diablo was replaced by the Lamborghini Murcielago in 2001. The name was derived from a fighting bull that survived 24 sword strikes in 1879 at a bull fighting dual in Cordoba, Spain. The Murcielago was designed by Luc Donckerwolke who is Lamborghini’s chief designer at the time. It followed tradition with its scissor doors and an extremely low profile. Its got two large gaping vents in the front to help cool the massive brakes and two side vents above the doors for the mid mounted engine. The Murchielago had a huge, but not very environmentally friendly 6.2L V12 producing 572 bhp. It could sprint to 100kph in 3.3 seconds while breaking your neck in doing so. Different than the Diablo, the Murchielago only had 5 variants. My favourite was the LP 670-4 SuperVeloce produced in 2009. It has 661 bhp and the fastest 0-100 km/h time recorded was 2.8 seconds.
AUTOart Lamborghini Murcielago SuperVeloces (Matt black and Aqua blue) in 1:18 scale.
Kyosho Countach, AIUTOart Diablo SV, AUTOart Murcielago SV, Kyosho Miura SV
The Murcielago was the bull of the 2000. It fought strong
for 10 years, and still it had to give way to a new flagship bull. In 2011, the
Aventador was born. The Aventador was a fighting bull that was victorious in a
battle in Zaragoza, Spain in 1993. The Aventador styling followed the
aggressive lines of its predecessor with even more pronounced angular folds in
the hood and the doors. This gives this bull its anger. The lesser, smaller more
narrow headlights dissected in the middle by LED accents provides the stare
that would frighten its most viscous opponents. The car was styled by Filippo
Perini. Even though the Aventador did away with the manual gear shift, it kept
its heritage of big V12s. The mid-engine is a 60 degree 6.5L V12 which produces
a jaw dropping 700 naturally aspirated bhp. It accelerates to 100 km/h in just 2.9
seconds and has a top speed of 350 km/h. In production, there currently is the
original Aventador, the Roadster, the Aventador J, and the Aventador 50th
edition. My favorite is the 50th Anniversary edition celebrating
Lamborghini’s 50th birthday back in 2013. The color has to be the
Giallo Maggio also known as “May yellow”. However, I wouldn’t mind the impact
blue version either.
AUTOart Signature Series Lamborghini Aventador 50th Anniversay in Giallo Maggio
The Sesto-Elemento was unveiled in 2013. This is one very special journey that Lamborghini has taken part in. Its name itself has meaning. Not the traditional fighting bull heritage, but in Italian, Sesto Elemento means Sixth Element. Of course, the sixth element on the periodic table is Carbon. But I’d rather call it Sexy Element. Stemming from its name, the car itself is made mostly from... yes, carbon, including the chassis and the suspension and even the wheels. The body is made from a composite of plastic and carbon fibre that is jointly developed with Boeing. The styling and the engine is stolen directly from the Gallardo. It features a 5.7L V10 producing 570 bhp. The car itself is fit, very fit. To shave weight, it does not even have seats. The so called seats are red padding that is strategically placed in the carbon monocoque that makes up the cockpit of the car. There is not even paint. Its raw carbon fibre body has crystals flakes embedded in it giving the car a redish hint. As Richard Hammond from Top gear puts it “and the dashboard, well there isn’t one, instead you just got these exposed carbon plastic composite” with a digital display stuck onto it. Fortunately, there is air conditioning and a stereo. As a result of all these extremeness-ness, the Sesto weighs only 2000 pounds, which is less than that of a Honda Fit. That gives it a power to weight ratio of 0.57 BHP per KG. With all this said, it bolts to 100 km/h in a mere 2.4 seconds. As with everything these days, Lamborghini definitely charges more for very little. The purchase invoice for one Sexy Element is… “wait for it”… 1.95 million pounds. Even if you have money, you may not be able to purchase one, because they will only ever make 20.
AUTOart Signature Series Lamborghini Sesto Elemento in Carbon
Finally, the latest big Lamborghini is produced in extremely
limited numbers. Only 4 were ever produced and only 3 were production models. The
name of the bull is the Veneno. Veneno #0 which is the original show car is
finished in silver-grey with the green, white and red Italian stripes along the
side of the car. The car borrows design cues from the current Aventador and
actually uses the same 6.5L V12 engine. The power is upped to 740 BHP from 700.
With such an exclusive car, it carries an even more exclusive price tag. The
three lucky owners of the Veneno each paid $4 million Euros for their cars. Not
everyone will agree to the styling of the Veneno, but not everyone has $4
million Euros lying around. But if you do happen to find $4 million in change
under your couch you still have hopes in owning a variant because in 2014, Lamborghini
has confirmed that it will make nine Veneno open top roadster.
AUTOart Signature Series Lamborghini Veneno in Grey
