The Lamborghini Cars

The Lamborghini Diablo

The Lamborghini Diablo, capable of 0-60 in 4 seconds. The Diablo, first introduced in 1990, was a huge hit (no pun intended). It is Lamborghini's all time crash king in number of cars totaled.

It took four years of design and testing before the Lamborghini Diablo was introduced to the public and journalists in Monte Carlo on January 20,1990. It was the second 'Lamborghini day' and the feeling was that the Diablo was finally ready to take over the tradition of the Miura and the Countach.

A team of more than 100 people had worked almost full time on the development of the Diablo. More than 500,000km of road tests had been done, and the engine had been tested for no less than 10,000 hours at the bench.

Seemingly insurmountable problems were faced in the design of the new engine - strict anti-pollution regulations had been introduced and old carburetors could not be used for cars sold in the United States. There were simply no commercial electronic fuel injection systems available on the market for a 12-cylinder engine.

Engineer Checkorani, head of the research and development department, was commandeered to develop a totally new electronic fuel injection system. Using internal Lamborghini resources, the result was the new engine system called L.I.E. - a design still found in today's Lamborghini engines.

Special techniques used in frame construction, enabled the Diablo to easily pass the more demanding crash tests required. Cloak and dagger tactics were employed to maintain the yet-to-be unveiled car. The new prototypes were tested again on the roads close to the factory and on the Navdo racetrack. The Lamborghini Diablo was allowed to circulate in its actual shape during night tests,but disguises were employed during daylight to confound the photographers who were impatient to catch the new Lamborghini.

The new tests at Navdo showed that the engine was up to its task, allowing the Diablo to reach 340 km per hour. The Diablo was the fastest production car in the world. Performance was certified during the test at the Navdo race track. Maximum speed was 325.2 km per hour.

Acceleration from zero to 100 was certified at 4.09 seconds. From a still start, a kilometer was run in 20.7 seconds. The initial goal of Project 132,to build the number one car in the world, was met in four years of hard work.

The Lamborghini Countach

The Lamborghini Countach, one of the classic exotics, was a child hood dream to many growing up in the 80s. The Countach was way ahead of its time when it was introduced in 1974 and produced until 1990. Capable of achieving a top speed of over 180 MPH. The Lamborghini Countach is the car you put at the top of the Christmas wish list the car you would drive if you wanted EVERYONE to notice you. The Lamborghini simply has something (besides a heart-attack inducing price-tag!) that makes the most cynical of us sit up and take notice.

And dream on having the resources and the intestinal fortitude to actually buy one How many of us plastered our computer screens with wallpaper posters of this car?

Mine was a white Lamborghini Jalpa and I know of innumerable Countach' s that have been immortalized in bedrooms, offices and garages around the world.

This site shares some of the images and information that have helped create the legend that is the Lamborghini.