Article by hi joiney
Development At a time when the company was financed by the Swiss based Mimram brothers Lamborghini began development of what was codenamed Project 132 in June 1985 as a replacement for the Countach model The brief stated that its top speed had to be at least 315 160 km h The design of the car was contracted to Marcello Gandini who had designed its two predecessors When Chrysler bought the company in 1987 providing money to complete its development its management was unimpressed with Gandini designs and commissioned its design team in Detroit to execute a third extensive redesign smoothing out the trademark sharp edges and corners of Gandini s original design and leaving him famously unimpressed The car became known as the Diablo carrying on Lamborghini s tradition of naming its cars after breeds of fighting bull The Diablo was named after a ferocious bull raised by the Duke of Veragua in the 19th century famous for fighting an epic battle with El Chicorro in Madrid on July 11 1869 In the words of Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson the Diablo was designed solely to be the biggest head turner in the world The project is believed to have cost a total of 6 000 000 000 lira Early models Diablo Lamborghini Diablo The Diablo was presented to the public for sale on January 21 1990 at a base price of USD 160 240 000 at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo during the second Lamborghini Day Power came from a 5 7 litre 48 valve version of the legendary Lamborghini V12 featuring dual overhead cams and computer controlled multi point fuel injection producing a maximum output of 492 160 hp 367 160 kW 499 160 PS and 427 160 ftlbf 579 160 Nm of torque The vehicle could reach 60 160 mph 97 160 km h in slightly under 4 seconds with a top speed of 202 160 mph 325 160 km h The Diablo was originally rear wheel drive and the engine was mid mounted to aid its weight balance Even at over 240 000 the vehicle was somewhat spartan featuring only basic radio functions with optional CD playback along with manual windows adjustable but unpowered seats and no anti lock brakes mostly to minimize the vehicle s already high curb weight A few options were available including having the driver s seat molded specifically for the buyer a rear spoiler a factory fitted luggage set priced at 2 600 and an exclusive Breguet clock for the dash priced at 10 500 It was the fastest production car in the world in 1991 having a top speed of 202mph beating the Ferrari F40 s 201mph The Diablo held the title until the Jaguar XJ220 claimed a top speed of 217mph making it the fastest production car of 1993 Diablo VT and VT Roadster Introduced in 1993 the VT featured a four wheel drive system which meant up to 25 of the drive would be switched to the front wheels to prevent the rear wheels losing grip Externally the main changes were larger intakes under the front warning lights and in front of the rear wheels The VT Roadster was introduced in 1995 Diablo SE30 and Diablo SE30 Jota A Diablo SE30 A lightened hard edged racing variant of the standard Diablo the Diablo Special Edition SE was sold in limited numbers during 1994 1995 to celebrate Lamborghini s 30th anniversary In total only about 150 cars were made In 1995 Lamborghini introduced the Diablo SE30 Jota the SE30 Jota was produced from the Lamborghini factory but SE30 owners also had the option of having Lamborghini upgrade their SE30 to SE30 Jota specifications The SE30 Jota upgrade consisted of two roof mounted air scoops a re tuned L I E chip and a six speed all synchromesh gearbox With these upgrades in place the Diablo SE30 Jota could produce a claimed 595 160 bhp 444 160 kW 603 160 PS about 70 more than the normal SE30s In total only about 28 Jota upgrade kits were made The car went without most of the Diablo s standard equipment to save weight it featured lots of carbon fiber parts helping to make it 125 160 kilograms 276 160 lb lighter than the standard Diablo Lamborghini chose to do
