- LamboMAG

Transcription

- LamboMAG

Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine
index MAR/APR 2007
Some information about the Magazine you should know ...
You can’t have a Magazine without an index ...
Editor & publisher
Mark Smeyers
Distribution
Magazine.LamboCars.com
Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine is written by enthusiasts, their names are listed with the articles, together
with the original photographer or source of the images
that accompany the text.
Note that the graphical layout, the articles and all photographs in this publication are protected by Federal US
and International copyright laws and may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the
author.
If you would like to use one or more of the photographs
from this issue, or any other material found on these
pages for non-commercial reasons, you can request a
written permission by contacting Lamborghini Cars at
[email protected]
It is however NOT allowed to modify or to create a copy
of the magazine on any other server or to publish it in any
other form, written or electronic.
The digital edition of Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine
is available from the Lamborghini Cars Magazine web
site as a free download, please post only the link to this
page on your servers, posting of the original PDF document is not allowed, nor making any modifications to this
electronic version.
The electronic edition of Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine has a lot of interactive items added to the PDF document, so you can enjoy your reading experience even
more, just a little word on how to navigate inside Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine is described below :
In-line links : you can click on any section in our CONTENTS page and you’ll go directly to that page inside
the Magazine.
Also when clicking on the page number or the ‘Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine’ footer on each page, you’ll
come back to the contents page.
Online connection : when you see the web cursor on an
internet address or an add, you’ll be able to visit that site
right from inside the Magazine ... if you have an active
connection naturally.
Several of the photographs you’ll find in this Magazine
will be ‘hot-linked’ to the Magazine’s site were you can
download this image in the most popular screen resolutions so you can use it as a background on your computer. Note that some detail shots or special images will not
be linked to a wallpaper version for obvious reasons.
For any further information or other questions you might
have, feel free to contact me at :
[email protected].
ONLINE : Magazine.LamboCars.com
I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I NAVIGATION
EDITorial
4
QUICK look
5
A small word from the editor ...
All about Lamborghini you just need to know ...
PHOTO album
8
Our cover car seen from every angle ...
Sneak PREVIEW
12
LAMBO power
14
SpotLIGHT
26
TUNING corner
28
the PIT LANE
36
In DEPTH
50
LIFEstyle
60
AUTOmobilia
62
A look at what the future could bring ...
Once you have it, you love it ...
Some very interesting Lamborghini Cars ...
Taking the Bull one step further ...
Lamborghini’s on the race track ...
Creating the legend ...
Lamborghini style ...
From scale cars to books ...
LAMBORGHINI online
64
NEXT time
65
the Magazine’s links to the internet.
EDITORIAL issue 3
Quick LOOK
A small word from the author ...
MURCIELAGO TUNING BY HAMANN
Text Mark Smeyers - Photo’s : Hamann Motorsport
Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine has
reached it’s third issue, again filled
with amazing news, articles and photographs on some of the most impressive Raging Bulls.
Talking about an impressive Raging
Bull, I’ve been invited by Reiter Engineering to attend their test session on
the Salzburg Ring of their new 2007
Murciélago R-GT Le Mans edition.
Also I was able to visit IMSA GmbH in
Germany, the people that created the
awesome Gallardo GTV and recently
an equally amazing Gallardo Spyder
version, read all about this experience
from page 28.
Do you know Allan Fiedler ? Well I do,
and he actually owned some very nice
Lamborghini’s in the past, most of
them highly tuned, and today he owns
a great looking Gallardo SE.
I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I EDITORIAL issue 2
Naturally the other items are back in
this third issue, like a really nice scale
model, a new selection of lifestyle material ... and much, much more, so let’s
start reading all about these amazing
cars and enjoy this new March-April
2007 issue.
Happy reading
Mark Smeyers
© 2007 Lamborghini Cars
ONLINE : www.LamboCars.com
Neither this magazine nor the website Lamborghini
Cars is associated with the Automobili Lamborghini Holding SpA.
Lamborghini Cars is a non-commercial enthusiast
website, we do not sell cars or parts, the Lamborghini name, all model names and the Raging Bull
logo are registered trademarks of Automobili Lamborghini SpA
It was only a matter of time before the well
known tuning specialist Hamann Motorsport
GmbH would turn to the Lamborghini flagship, after taking the Gallardo one step further with their Ventus S1 Evo model featuring
‘in house’ developed gullwing doors.
Naturally the Murciélago didn’t need these
door modifications, why tamper with a typical
trademark like those upwards opening doors,
so Hamann worked their magic on the bodywork, the engine remained standard despite
matching it to a new exhaust. Hamann made
this exhaust from high end V2A stainless
steel with a dual tip measuring a whopping
120 mm each, giving a massive impression
of power, not to mention the amazing sound
this new exhaust emits ...
On the outside only a trained eye would note
the additional front spoiler, it is so nicely integrated into the overall design of this Lamborghini one could be forgiven to think it
was mounted at the factory, however that
impressive rear wing wouldn’t fool anyone,
we all know that Automobili Lamborghini SpA
doesn’t offer a rear wing mainly because the
Murciélago doesn’t need it, the design of
the bodywork creates enough down force at
speed with that small adjustable spoiler at the
rear.
Quick LOOK I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I Quick LOOK
Quick LOOK
But you must admit it does look nice anyway,
so adding a rear wing by Hamann isn’t such a
bad idea after all, looks are important too you
know, if only to impress your neighbor who
happens to be driving a ‘normal’ Murciélago.
To complete the outside looks of the Hamann
Motorsport GmbH Murciélago there are massive 20-inch wheels mounted, black crossspoke center with a high gloss polished outer
rim and titanium bolts are what is contained
in the ‘Race edition’ wheels by Hamann,
8.5x20 inch at the front axle and a wide 13
x 20 inch at the back, wearing 235/30 ZR20
and 325/25 ZR20 respectively.
Add a few Carbon Fiber touches in the interior, like the vents, shift gate cover and a little
trim around the instruments and you’ve got a
personalized car, and it happens to be a Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster in this case ...
what more could you want ?
Perhaps the same tuning on the latest LP640
model ? That is also possible, Hamann will
treat this new car in the same way ... when
you take delivery of it that is, with a waiting list
reaching 12 months you could be in for a long
wait ... after that the possibilities are endless
... albeit limited by your cash flow ...
For more information and prices, please feel
free to contact the friendly sales staff at Hamann Motorsport GmbH via their official web
site you’ll also be also to find a local dealer
which is authorized to distribute these magnificent parts for your Murciélago.
ONLINE : www.Hamann-MotorSport.com
I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I Quick LOOK
Quick LOOK I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I PHOTO album
PHOTO album
RED BLOODED
The Lamborghini Murciélago
Photo’s Mark - SP Engineering
I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I PHOTO album
PHOTO album I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I PHOTO album
10 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I PHOTO album
PHOTO album
PHOTO album I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I 11
Sneak PREVIEW
Sneak PREVIEW
Whatever the management at Automobili
Lamborghini SpA decides, I’m sure we will
be pleasantly surprised when Geneva opens
it’s doors for the 77th Salon International de
l’Auto et Accessoires on March 8th.
My friend Gabesz made a few rendering
that could give us a look at the future, like
the wild yellow Murciélago with Carbon Fiber
air intakes and wide bodywork at the bottom of page 14, or perhaps a mild re-style
of the Gallardo featuring a more aggressive
front spoiler in line with the Murciélago LP640
model. And if you really want to take a look at
a possible Murciélago successor that could
be introduced in a few years, why not go for
the amazing rendering on the previous page,
also done by Gabesz.
The rendering at the bottom of this page was
done by another artist, ‘Jakusa’ designed the
next generation SUV in full Lamborghini style,
named LM003, this massive off-roader sits
on large wheels and shows a long wheelbase
together with an impressive wide track.
SCIENCE FICTION ... OR NOT ?
Text Mark Smeyers - Renderings : Various artists
The world famous Geneva Auto Show opens
it’s doors in a few days, and it will surely be
showing us the latest and bravest from Automobili Lamborghini SpA, but let’s already
dream about what could possibly be on the
Raging Bull stand this year.
Combine this with a ‘broad shoulder’ bodywork, a high waist line, a rather low roof and
you end up with one very special looking car.
Whatever it will be is still unknown at the time
of publishing, but rest assured that we’ll bring
you all the news from Geneva on the Lamborghini Cars website as soon as it becomes
available.
Many thanks to Gabesz and Jakusa
ONLINE : www.htvm.hu.
the pipeline, only further development of the
current models, while on the other hand they
keep talking about an SUV using the massive Audi Q7 or Porsche Cayenne chassis ...
some rumors even state that a diesel powered SUV could be possible.
It could very well be a prototype of the long
awaited Espada successor we’ve been hearing about for several years, you could admire
a rendering of such a new front engine GT in
our previous issue, and the idea still remains,
it would be a nice expansion of the line up at
Sant’Agata to introduce a new 2+2 seater in
style with the classic GT’s from the Sixties.
However some contradicting rumors have
been emitting from Italy, on one hand they insist that an expansion of the line up is not in
12 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I Sneak PREVIEW
Sneak PREVIEW I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I 13
LAMBO power
LAMBO power
LAMBO POWER
And on the eighth day, Allan bought a Lamborghini ...
Text Mark Smeyers • Photo’s Allan Fiedler
Many people dream about it, Allan fulfilled his dream when he
bought a Lamborghini Countach, which he later replaced with a
Diablo, then a Diablo SV, a stunning Murciélago and recently a
Gallardo ... all personalized by the way ...
Many people fell in love with the Lamborghini
Countach back in the late Seventies or early
Eighties, especially when the S-models appeared, Allan was no exception.
A stunning white Lamborghini
Countach was Allan’s first
experience with a Bull ...
He was only 13 years old when he saw his
first article on this amazing exotic in the Car
and Driver magazine, and he couldn’t get this
car out of his mind for many years to come.
Allan Fiedler is a self made man, so he had
to work to be able to afford his first Lamborghini, hence it took him several years before
he could fulfil his childhood dream ... a 1987
Countach Quattrovalvole finished in flawless
white.
Note that, even today, he still owns the very
Car and Driver issue that ignited his love for
the Raging Bull. The Countach was acquired
with great trepidation actually, Allan had several friends owning Ferrari’s and other exotic
cars, and they all advised him not to buy a
Lamborghini.
They all judged the Lamborghini as being
a money pit, and pure hell when it came to
maintenance, but Allan pursued his childhood
dream and bought his very first Lamborghini
anyway, and even today he calls it his “greatest achievement”.
He actually owned some Ferrari’s beforehand, but was rather disappointed by the
reliability and build quality of these Prancing
Horses. Maintenance was a nightmare on
them, and even after making sure the engine
was tuned as it should be, performance was
a let down for Allan, so he turned to the Bull
instead ... and never looked back, “nothing
compared to the moment of purchasing my
first Lamborghini, the Countach”.
14 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I LAMBO power
Allan later discovered that the sheer enthusiasm among fellow Lamborghini owners
was something he never could imagine, most
people he met that owned a Bull too were
down to earth people, real car enthusiasts
that were generally self made like himself,
1987 Countach QuattroValvole
Removed black front and rear bumpers.
Euro style Anniversary front bumper.
Custom hand made exhaust and cat bypass
pipes
Bosch CIS fuel injection removed, replaced by
Electromotive Tec II electronic fuel injection and
ignition without distributor.
All smog equipment removed.
K+N air filters installed.
Keith Collins Custom floor mats
Custom Alpine stereo
Momo shift knob
LAMBO power I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I 15
LAMBO power
LAMBO power
and very interested in the performance of the
car instead of how it looked ‘on’ them.
He just loved his Countach, but Allan wanted
more, so he started looking around for ways
to personalize ‘his’ Lamborghini, and one of
the most popular ways to do this in the US
was by removing the rather ugly black front
and rear bumpers, so Allan installed a front
bumper taken from a Euro specs 25th Anniversary edition. But he didn’t stop there, getting rid of the original Bosch injection and replacing it with an Electromotive TecII system
improved fuel economy and cold start, but
more importantly it also boost performance
of this V12, Allan even claims this was the
strongest running Countach he ever rode till
this day.
the yellow Diablo was fitted
with an SV style engine cover
and a custom exhaust
The custom made exhaust and cat bypass
pipes surely helped here too, and the total
power increase was no less than 100 Hp on
this QV engine.
By now Allan was hooked to the brutal attraction of the Raging Bull, and after owning the
Countach for some time he found a nice yellow Diablo for sale, so he upgraded his car to
this more recent model.
1992 Diablo
Cams advanced about 5 degrees
Custom hand fabricated exhaust and test pipes
In-dash switch installed to shut off power robbing
a/c compressor
K+N air filters
Custom cinder dash carbon fiber panel
Custom hand fabricated SV style engine cover
Custom Alpine stereo
Keith Collins floor mats
Momo Shift knob
Momo Steering wheel
Momo foot pedals
Naturally he couldn’t resist putting his trademark on this new Lamborghini, so he started
modifying it again, similar custom exhaust,
K&N Air filters, advanced cams and a very
impressive SV-style engine cover, really love
those dual air intakes actually.
A rare white Diablo SV would
be heavily tuned by Allen who
even installed NOS in it ...
ment and regular oil changes, which proves
that a Countach is not a unreliable as some
people state (driving other makes naturally),
all it takes is the correct maintenance and
driving the car regularly, they don’t get better
by sitting in the garage.
But Allan wouldn’t be the man he is today if
he didn’t always want more, so when the Diablo SV appeared he was hooked again, he
went out and bought a white 1998 SV.
Driving the Diablo was big fun for Allan, and
he found that he liked this newer model more
and more compared to his first Countach,
so much that he actually stopped driving the
Countach after a while, so he subsequently
sold it to it’s next happy owner.
Talking about maintenance, when Allan sold
the Countach it had no less than 76,000 Miles
on the clock, and the only maintenance ever
performed on this exotic was a valve adjust-
LAMBO power
LAMBO power
Probably one of the last before the fixed
headlights were installed on the 1999 model
year cars.
A white Diablo with massive black SV scripting on the side and multi-piece chromed
wheels can hardly be unnoticed on the open
road, and that’s why Allan doesn’t drive his
Bulls on a daily basis.
Lamborghini’s just attract way too much attention, and people always ask the same
questions over and over again ... How fast
does it go ? How did you make that much
money ? Are you a drug dealer ?
a 150 shot of Nitrous ! That’s
right, NOS in a Diablo, how’s
that for pure power ?
Allan got so tired of all these ignorant questions he also bought a few other cars for his
daily commutes, so he could drive along without having to answer the same questions every single day.
But let’s get back to this amazing white Diablo SV, you wouldn’t think Allan could leave it
alone now would you, one of the first things
he installed on his new toy was a 150 shot of
Nitrous !
1998 Diablo SV
Custom hand fabricated exhaust and test pipes
Sp Engineering Custom headers
Dry nitrous system
K+N air filters
O.S. Gilken Race Clutch
18+19 Inch Lowenhart Wheels
Red brake calipers
SP Engineering custom stainless brake lines
Custom carbon fiber rear taillight surrounds
6.0 brake lights
SVR style front lip
Momo Shift Knob
Keith Collins floor mats
That’s right, NOS in a Diablo, how’s that for pure
power, talk about stock
not being good enough !
This time Allan went all
the way and installed
custom wheels on his
Diablo, amazing Lowenhart wheels with a black
centers.
To complete the modifications Allan mounted an
SVR style front spoiler,
red brake calipers with
SP Engineering stainless
steel brake lines, a race
clutch and those nice
looking Diablo 6.0 taillights complete with Carbon Fiber surrounds.
LAMBO power
LAMBO power
After six years of owning this SV, maintenance
comprised only of the regular oil changes and
necessary tire changes, the legendary V12
engine didn’t hesitate once. After five years
of NOS this engine was taken apart just to
be sure, and the internals were still in perfect
shape, even the clutch wasn’t worn out, so
the joy of owning a Diablo is feasible after all
without having to re-mortgage the house.
After owning the Diablo SV for six years Allan
felt it was time to upgrade again, and by that
time the brand new Murciélago was available,
so his choice fell on a bright red over light tan
leather model.
This new Lamborghini was again a big leap
forward, the animal attraction of the Murciélago made Allan almost forget about his amazing Diablo SV, he hardly ever drove it after
taking delivery of his Murciélago.
even an Affolter rear wing,
the only one in the United
States mind you !
Naturally this new Bull underwent similar
modifications as his previous cars, stunning
Maya wheels, custom parts, tinted taillights,
lowered suspension and even an Affolter rear
wing, the only one in the US mind you !
LAMBO power
LAMBO power
The Lamborghini Murciélago is real automotive artwork, surely after Allan worked his
magic in it, so why would he change it again
after a short period of owning it ?
Easy, Allan likes to enjoy life to the fullest, so
why deny yourself a toy now and again ?
When the Gallardo was unveiled this car
was considered as the ‘small’ Bull, somehow
the Murciélago’s ‘little brother’, but what you
have to remember is the fact that the 2006
Gallardo and the SE model are among the
best built Lamborghini’s ever.
These ‘small’ Bulls accelerate faster than the
original Murciélago, offer better brakes and
simply drive easier than the large V12 flagship, but unfortunately they lack those dramatic upwards opening doors and the Gallardo will always be considered as the ‘smaller’
Lamborghini, no matter how mature it will
become.
2002 Murciélago
Sp Engineering Carbon-Tec carbon fiber Headlight surrounds, exhaust shroud, and headlight
washer surrounds.
Custom painted brake vents
19-20inch Maya wheels
Sp Engineering Custom brake rotors
Custom painted brake calipers
Vehicle lowered by SP Engineering
All lights smoked by SP Engineering
Affolter rear wing ( only one in the U.S.)
Keith Collins Floor mats
K+N air filters
2006 Gallardo SE
Vehicle lowered by SP Engineering
Calipers painted to match body color
All Lights smoked
Custom exhaust and cat bypass pipes
Gruppe M Carbon Fiber intake
Custom I Forged 18+19 Inch wheels
Front and Rear remote Radar units
Keith Collins custom floor mats
That’s why Allan just had to buy a 2006 Galalrdo SE model, these limited editions models
are very rare and really amazing to drive.
LAMBO power
LAMBO power
He only took delivery of this car very recently,
but that hasn’t stopped him from adding his
personal touch all over the car again ... dark
tinted side windows, lowered suspension,
brake calipers color coded to the bright Arancio bodywork, custom exhaust and cat bypass pipes, Gruppe M Carbon Fiber intake,
custom forged 18 and 19 inch wheels, again
with black centers, front and back radar detectors and special Keith Collins floor mats.
And that is only the start for this new ‘Lamborghini by Allan Fiedler’, prepare yourself for
much more tuning on this latest Bull in Allan’s
garage.
www.LamboPower.com
Started by Allan and SP Engineering
about two years ago, this automotive
forum quickly became the largest Lamborghini forum on the internet.
Nothing compares to the
moment of buying my first
Lamborghini ...
After owning several Lamborghini’s over the
years I thought Allan was well placed to judge
which model was his all time favorite, which
one brought the biggest smile on his face
while driving it ?
“Nothing compared to the moment of buying
my first Lamborghini.” he responded, “For me
buying the Lamborghini Countach was the
realization of a childhood dream, it was my
greatest achievement, even though I don’t
consider it to be my favorite car, as each of
them I’ve considered to be my favorite at time
of ownership, but then the replacement as always much better”
So what’s next ? At the moment Allan is reluctant to buy the LP640 Murciélago, after
owning an earlier model already he feels the
price increase on the new LP640 is just too
high, and the Gallardo SE he owns is real fun
to drive, it will not be for sale, not before Allan
buys another Lamborghini that is.
But he is waiting for the next move from Lamborghini, hoping for an aluminum frame for
the flagship V12, like the Gallardo today, and
a diet for the Murciélago, it could easily shed
some weight making it an even better performing car, perhaps an SV model for both
the V12 and the V10, the latter is already so
well balanced that without any real changes it
could handle another 200 hp with ease.
Currently Allan is looking forward to buying
an amazing McLaren SLR, which he’ll modify naturally as he so aptly stated himself : “I
always tune my cars, just to give them that
something that sets them apart from others,
I’m never satisfied with stock, I always want
more.”
Allan’s dream car ?
The Bugatti Veyron ...
And we can rest assure Allan wants more,
when asking about his dream car his response
was clear and simple : “The Bugatti Veyron”
He had the pleasure of driving this amazing
exotic on the streets of LA and called it ‘love
at first drive’, the Veyron is just amazing, and
I’m sure that one day Allan will put it into his
garage, but will it still have ‘only’ 1001 hp ?
I don’t think so ! I’m sure that Alex Shen at SP
Engineering will again put a lot of hard work
into Allan’s new car, just like he did on most
of Allan’s earlier Bulls
Many thanks to Allan Fiedler, Alissa Fiedler,
Jennifer Groh and Cara Chilson for the great
photographs and the awesome interview.
SpotLIGHT
SpotLIGHT
NARDO HIGHSPEED
should theoretically be able to reach 325 Km/
h ... so what speed did it reach on Nardo ?
Text Mark Smeyers - Photo : Edo Competition GmbH
A top speed of 321 Km/h was measured on
the famous Italian circuit, which not only met
the expectations but even surpassed them.
Do note that we are talking about a street car
here, so fully drive able on the open road, not
a race car or a modified car without exterior
rear view mirrors, windscreen wipers, custom wheel covers or smooth bodywork.
No this was the basic Lamborghini Gallardo
Spyder tuned by Edo Competition which can
be driven just like any other automobile.
Ever wondered just how fast your Lamborghini would go on an enclosed circuit with a professional driver behind the steering wheel ?
So did the people at Edo Competition, who
built some amazing Gallardo’s like the black
Spyder we’ve covered in our Issue 1 last
year.
Probably one of the best locations to test the
actual top speed of a car in Europe would be
the Nardo circuit in Italy, even Lamborghini
tests their cars on this circuit, so it was decided that Edo would take two of their masterpieces to Italy to settle this score once and
for all.
They took the stunning black Lamborghini
Spyder and an amazing Porsche Cayenne
Turbo to Nardo for some serious top speed
driving, and the results were extremely positive.
26 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I SpotLIGHT
Do note that the Porsche also took first place
in the SUV class during the Tuner Grand Prix
2006 while on the Nardo track a measured
top speed of no less than 287 Km/h was
achieved, very impressive for such a large
car.
So let’s take a look at their Gallardo Spyder
now, with modified exhaust catalyst, Carbon
Fiber Airbox and re-programmed engine management the famous V10 engine was able to
unleash 550 Bhp on the test bank. With a
torque figure of 540 Nm this black Gallardo
Naturally the custom, lowered suspension
improved road holding capabilities and the
special exhaust emits a thundering sound,
but other than that this black Gallardo Spyder
sure looks like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, just
the way I like them.
ONLINE : www.Edo-Competition.de
SpotLIGHT I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I 27
TUNING corner
TUNING corner
GT VELOCE !
Lamborghini Gallardo by IMSA GmbH
Text Mark Smeyers • Photo’s IMSA and Mark Smeyers
Located in Germany, IMSA is quickly becoming one of the major
tuning companies for Lamborghini, their amazing Gallardo GTV
was warmly welcomed around the world and there is still much
more to come from this amazing company ...
28 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I TUNING corner
The Lamborghini Gallardo is without a doubt
one of the most successful models ever built
at Sant’Agata, just look at the numbers, after a little over two years of production the
5000th Gallardo left the factory doors, it took
the Diablo over 10 years to reach a total production figure of only 2903 units, the Gallardo
shattered that record a mere 24 months.
So it was no surprise that several tuners
started noticing this new V10 Bull, and many
have presented their interpretation of the
Baby Lamborghini over the past few years,
but none as dramatic as the IMSA Gallardo
GTV model.
This stunning grey metallic wide body Gallardo clearly showed what German based IMSA
GmbH was able to do with this Lamborghini.
But Mr Mohr didn’t just mount some body appendages to the Bull to make it look more aggressive ... he went a lot further, first of all the
14 body parts in total that make up the GTV
kit are all made in lightweight Carbon Fiber
and Kevlar.
TUNING corner I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I 29
TUNING corner
TUNING corner
Gallardo, just a lot wider and more intimidating, without making the mistake of completely
ruining the already great looking design of
this V10 Lamborghini.
IMSA decided to have an
exclusive exhaust system
built for their Gallardo ...
The entire GTV kit consist of a new front
spoiler including an extra Carbon Fiber ‘lip’,
wide front fenders that connect to some very
wide rear wheel arches by two new side sills
and ending in a stunning rear bumper, again
with a Carbon Fiber lower insert.
But when you take a first glance at the IMSA
GTV you’ll be wondering what is so special
looking about this car, apart from the wheels
perhaps, that is because Mr Mohr went that
extra mile and actually designed the entire
wide body conversion along the lines of the
original Gallardo, the GTV looks like a normal
Do note that Mr Mohr initially bought the silver metallic Gallardo as his personal car and
took two weeks of clay modeling on the actual car to create this awesome kit.
After numerous little modifications and fine
tuning he had molds made for all 14 parts
and therefore he’s now able to offer this one
of a kind package to customers worldwide,
in very limited, hence highly exclusive numbers since only one kit per week can be fabricated from these unique molds, expect no
more than about 40 IMSA GTV Gallardo’s to
be built per year.
all of these body parts are made
in lightweight Carbon Fiber
Naturally a new rear wing hasn’t been forgotten and a stunning new exhaust system is
also available with two extremely nice ‘tips’ in
a totally innovative design.
Talking about that amazing exhaust, it is built
by Mamo, a company that is already building exhausts for the most prestigious tuning
companies around the globe, so when Mr
Mohr decided to have an exclusive exhaust
sytem built for his Gallardo tuning package,
Mamo was an obvious choice.
Mamo was able to take the already very well
designed exhaust system from the Gallardo
one step further, thus increasing power output by a healthy 30 hp in mid range torque,
where it matters the most.
When designing a new exhaust system, function is mostly more important than looks, but
Mamo created a stunning, highly polished
system that looked like no other system on
the market today, and it is an IMSA exclusive,
so don’t expect to see a similar exhaust anywhere else.
TUNING corner
TUNING corner
But the bodywork and exhaust are only part
of the visual package, an impressive car like
the Gallardo GTV needed some very special
wheels, so IMSA created their own rim with
equally high specifications as the rest of their
tuning package.
The IMSA Challenge, central locking, multipiece wheel is available in various sizes.
When installing them on a standard Gallardo
you can opt for 9x19 inch and 11.5x20 inch
on respectively the front and the rear axles.
But by adding the stunning GTV bodywork
you can go for 9.5x19 inch up front and 12x20
inch at the rear with 265-30ZR19 and 30525ZR20 rubber respectively. Prefer similar
sizes for both axles and you can also install
9x20 inch wheels up front with 245-30ZR20
tyres. It is however still possible to use the
standard Gallardo wheels after installing the
GTV kit.
When taking a look through these wheels
you’ll be able to see the completely new
brakes IMSA can install, massive 380x36mm
up front with 8 pistons and 360x32mm at the
back with 6 piston calipers that will make sure
you are able to really decelerate when needed, also note that IMSA uses steel braided
lines for this high performance brake system,
that outperforms the original brakes easily.
a high gloss, Carbon Fiber
rear bumper insert
Naturally a fully adjustable suspension can
be mounted too, electrically adjustable with 5
different ‘damping’ settings and even able to
lower the vehicle another 40mm when driving
on the Autobahn ...
And this is what the Gallardo GTV was made
for, high speed driving, this Bull is a complex
piece of mid-engine engineering but it is still
highly suitable for everyday use, even after
installing their engine tuning.
already custom exhaust system and naturally
altered the ECU programming on the original
V10 engine.
IMSA was able to modify the engine to reach
a power output of no less than 610 Hp at
7900 rpm, while a torque of 655 Nm at 5300
rpm was achieved by modifying the cylinder
heads and both intake and outlet manifolds
using high precision CNC equipment normally used for Formula One engines.
Imsa didn’t stop here, they also replaced the
standard airbox on the engine, installed custom cam shafts, new sport catalysts on their
TUNING corner
TUNING corner
With all that extra power on tap it was a wise
choice to take a closer look at the 4WD system and modify it to be able to cope with this
increased power.
An option could be to turn to RWD only, but
that would require a certain amount of self
control when driving this rare exotic with that
much power on the rear wheels only, today in
it’s 4WD shape the Gallardo GTV (both the
Coupé and the Spyder) offer unparalleled
stability and driving control.
creating a high quality unity
of Italian temperament and
German engineering
All this is seen or heard from on the outside,
but let’s not forget the interior of the IMSA Gallardo either, finished in the finest leather or
alcantara the driving position of these amazing automobiles can further be individualized
by mounting Carbon Fiber or aluminum parts
inside the cockpit in perfect harmony, and after numerous meetings with the final owner
of the car Mr Mohr and his team at IMSA will
be able to create a personal expression like
no other.
A few of the possibilities are color coded dials inside the dashboard, so on a pearl white
So now you can head to IMSA GmbH to have
both the Gallardo Coupé and the Spyder
turned into a one of a kind GTV edition, thus
creating a high quality unity of Italian temperament and German engineering. And many
owners of the successful Gallardo are doing
just that, the orders are flowing in, and currently there is a waiting list to have your own
Lamborghini converted into an IMSA GTV.
metallic bodywork you could be faced with
white dials, while a red car will receive red
dials. Also the door handles and other parts
inside the Gallardo can be finished in color
coded Carbon Fiber, much like the Carbon kit
from the factory, but now completely complementary to the bodywork of your car, imagine
white Carbon Fiber in a Balloon White car !
Most cars in the highly professional workshop
in Brüggen are actually Gallardo Coupé versions, but recently IMSA installed the GTV kit
on a Gallardo Spyder, the magnificent white
car seen here was ordered by a customer
outside of Europe, which clearly shows that
IMSA is fast becoming a household name in
Lamborghini tuning all over the world, cars
are arriving from either local dealerships or
from the other side of the world.
When I visited Mr Mohr a few weeks ago
there were five GTV’s in their workshop, two
completely finished cars, and three more in
various states of completion, there was even
a custom ordered red car being worked on,
this Middle Eastern customer requested a
bright red bodywork, but that shade isn’t offered from Lamborghini on the Gallardo, so
he received a totally unique mixture on his car,
which he then
shipped to IMSA
to be turned into
the wonderful GTV
edition.
Because of the rather long waiting list
these days at IMSA,
Mr Mohr even sold his
original car, the silver
metallic Gallardo GTV
that started it all, a customer just wasn’t willing to
wait for his own Gallardo
to be delivered, and afterwards have to wait again to
have it converted by IMSA,
so he made Mr Mohr an offer
he couldn’t refuse, and with
only a few thousand Kilometer
on the counter, this Gallardo is
nearly brand new anyway.
You might ask yourself what IMSA is currently
working on for the future ?
A special Gallardo GTV ‘Club Sport’ version
for one, featuring lightweight Carbon Fiber
doors, hood and engine cover, special lightweight IMSA sport seats and an aluminum
roll-over cage for the Gallardo.
But IMSA is also
looking into tuning the flagship
Murciélago, only
problem is getting
an LP640 in their
workshop, Mr Mohr
has been looking
around to buy one for
months because he
would like a very specific color, but the waiting list is getting very
long these days on this
stunning supercar, however it is obvious IMSA
GmbH is taking their tuning programme seriously,
I can’t wait to see more of
their creations in the near
future.
Many thanks to Mr Lohrbach
(PR representative) and Mr Mohr, for taking
the time to respond to all my questions and
allowing me to take photographs inside the
IMSA workshop during a very busy business
day.
ONLINE : www.imsa-tuning.de
the PIT LANE
the PIT LANE
LE MANS BY REITER
The Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT 2007 Le Mans Edition
Text Mark Smeyers • Photo’s Mark Smeyers
36 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I the PIT LANE
the PIT LANE I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I 37
the PIT LANE
the PIT LANE
The Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT was introduced back in 2003 during the IAA in Frankfurt, but as with all racing cars, there was still
some evolution to follow ... Reiter Engineering who actually builds
these R-GT models constantly is looking to improve their Murciélago
race car, and the latest evolution is aptly called the Le Mans Edition.
When Audi AG took over the factory back
in 1998, things were going to change in
Sant’Agata, Lamborghini started to show an
interest in racing, admittedly there had been
the Diablo SVR that was used in a mono
marque championship back in 1996, and they
even took this concept one step further with
the 1999 Diablo GTR Supertrophy series.
Peter Kox getting ready to
take the Le Mans out on the
track for further testing ...
When the Diablo was replaced by the Murciélago in 2001 it looked like the racing program
was put on hold, but within two years the very
extreme Murciélago R-GT was shown to the
public during the 2003 Frankfurt Auto Show.
We have to admit that this time Automobili
Lamborghini SpA went looking for help in the
best places, the Murciélago R-GT was built by
well known Reiter Engineering from Germany
with additional technical input from none oth-
er than Audi Sport to ensure this new racing
Lamborghini would have a great pedigree.
the PIT LANE
the PIT LANE
But the Murciélago was still a new car, hence
the R-GT lacked some valuable experience
that could only be gathered on the circuit ‘in
the heat of the race’, so the car was prepared
to comply with the FIA GT Championship and
the American Le Mans regulations.
Torque output from this
new engine was a healthy
443 Lb Ft at 5000 rpm
This meant that the 4WD had to replaced by
a RWD configuration, the gearbox that was
now a little out of place ahead of the legendary V12 was replaced by a totally new sequential unit, and the engine displacement
was decreased to 6 Liter instead of 6.2 Liter
on the Murciélago road car.
This was done by applying a bore and stroke
similar to the earlier Diablo 6.0 model, however power output was still in the same region as the original engine but now available
over a much wider range.
Torque output from this new engine was a
healthy 443 Lb Ft. at 5000 rpm, taking into
account that the Murciélago R-GT went on a
diet to shed it’s weight to a mere 1098 Kg,
this new Italian Bull looked like a potential
winner.
But as with many race cars performing at
this high level, the Murciélago R-GT needed
a constant development and follow up to be
able to keep up with the competition, and that
was exactly what Reiter Engineering was doing when the black Carbon Fiber finished RGT was returned to their workshop after the
IAA, so it could be prepared for the final races
of the 2003 FIA GT at Estoril and Monza.
The Le Mans edition during
testing on the Salzburg Ring
During the 2004 season the R-GT was entered into several races, but sadly the car
couldn’t reach many finishes, however in
2005 Reiter Engineering took over the entire
Murciélago Racing program from the Lamborghini Customer Sports Programme.
So they were on their own now, taking further
development of the Murciélago R-GT to the
next level, because Hans Reiter and his team
of highly skilled engineers were convinced of
the potential this amazing car showed over
the previous seasons.
Reiter Engineering unveiled the real potential
of the R-GT during the 1000 Km at Monza
in 2005, with less than an hour to race the
Murciélago R-GT driven by Peter Kox and
Norman Simon was leading a pack of Le
Mans winning Ferrari’s, in the final straight an
unfortunate oil fire put an end to what would
have been a magnificent victory.
the PIT LANE
the PIT LANE
Reiter Engineering was asked to built a special R-GT for the Japanese Super GT series,
this car was subsequently re-badged as the
RG-1 when the JLOC entered it as number
88 in the 300 Km Super GT’s opening race
at Suzuka, which it subsequently won, a well
deserved first race victory for this revised
Murciélago R-GT.
R-GT. So when the 2006 season came to an
end things finally started to look very promising for the intimidating Murciélago R-GT.
This very RG-1 again managed a pole position in Round 5 of the Super GT while back in
Europe the 2006 FIA GT championship would
finally show several top 10 finishes for the
Now it was time to show the competition exactly what the Murciélago R-GT could do,
hence Reiter Engineering started working on
a brand new 2007 edition.
a new dashboard and a tall lever for the sequential gearbox
Towards the end of November 2006 Reiter
Engineering booked the nice Salzburg Ring in
Austria to test their new Murciélago R-GT Le
Mans Edition, a totally different car compared
to the original R-GT from previous years.
constantly fine tuning the
2007 R-GT Le Mans Edition
during the test sessions
Located in a narrow Alpine valley, the 4.2 Km
Ring circuit is just east of Salzburg and well
known by Reiter Engineering since they use
this extremely fast track regularly for testing purposes, the circuit combines very fast
straight sections and slow bends that require
really skillful driving when sitting in a car with
a massive V12 just behind your back.
the PIT LANE
the PIT LANE
The Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT by Reiter Engineering
Take a closer look at this impressive looking orange and
black Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT, this very car was
entered by DAMS in the four final races of the 2004 FIA
GT Championship.
It made its series debut at Imola in September 2004
when it was driven by Jean-Denis Deletraz and Andrea
Piccini, unfortunately this amazing R-GT wasn’t able to
reach any victories during the 2004 season.
Right from the start it was obvious the Murciélago R-GT
had racing potential, so Hans Reiter and his team never
ceased to continue their search at perfecting these ‘Super’ Lamborghini’s during the 2005 and 2006 FIA GT1
Championship by entering their ‘test car’ in as many sessions as possible, thus gaining valuable experience that
would allow them to create the ultimate R-GT ... the 2007
Le Mans Edition that was tested on the Salzburg Ring in
late November 2006.
Finished in dark grey, the 2007 Le Mans edition would be driven by Peter Kox who has
acquired an unparalleled experience with the
earlier R-GT models and the Gallardo GT3
cars.
The car is extremely fast and
still comparatively easy to drive
I was invited by Hans Reiter to attend this test
session in Salzburg so i was able to see the
amazing power of this new race car in action,
naturally I talked to Peter Kox after his initial
testing rounds and asked him what his impressions on the Le Mans edition were.
“The car is extremely fast and still comparatively easy to drive, it was quite a surprise the
car handled so good during these first tests”
according to Peter, he also added “the chassis and suspension only needs a little more
fine tuning to find the exact setting, it is still
rather ‘brutal’ to drive”.
the PIT LANE
the PIT LANE
Dark grey bodywork with ‘old-school’
gold painted wheels, an amazing combination on the 2007 R-GT Le Mans
the PIT LANE
the PIT LANE
One of the first differences you’ll immediately
notice is the totally new front spoiler with different air intakes and built in spotlights behind
Plexiglas covers to improve aerodynamics,
and to supply the much needed vision during
night time racing, naturally the big central air
intake feeds fresh air into a massive radiator.
But Reiter Engineering constantly tuned the
car over the next few days, and at the end
the car performed at the level expected by
both Peter Kox and Hans Reiter, who stated
that the R-GT was ready to take on the battle
during the 2007 racing season.
To really be able to compare this new model
against the earlier R-GT, Reiter Engineering
had two Murciélago’s in Salzburg, the 2007
Le Mans Edition and the orange and black
‘Scream’ R-GT (more on this car in our insert
on page 44).
A less well visible modification is a totally flat
‘bottom’ ... the entire chassis of the 2007 Le
Mans Edition is completely flattened out, not
a single interference with the airflow can be
detected underneath this amazing Bull, and it
only sits about 8 cm above the tarmac, by adjusting the suspension it can even be lowered
to a staggering 4 cm !
A wider front track is also obvious when looking at the fenders, which again feature air outlets just in front of the new lightweight doors ,
these doors again use plastic windows to further lower their weight, they still open upward,
however do note that there are no sliding windows here like on the earlier race cars.
the Reiter Engineering team
with two of their masterpieces
As a result of Reiter’s constant search for the
delicate balance between aerodynamics and
down force, the lower air intakes in front of
the rear wheels have been removed to offer a
better air flow around the car.
Swinging around to the rear you’ll notice a
slightly different rear diffuser but your glance
will immediately be drawn to that massive rear
wing, again completely reworked and now offering a lower drag coefficient but still doing
a great job at keeping the rear firmly planted
on the tarmac at high speeds, which are no
problem for this new model when it will race
down the straight on some of the race tracks
that will see this new car during 2007.
Different rear view mirrors, a roof mounted air
intake and additional air vents on top of the
front fenders complete the exterior modifications on the 2007 R-GT Le Mans Edition.
When taking a look inside the 2007 R-GT
you’ll be greeted by a new dashboard covered in dark colored cloth instead of clear
Carbon Fiber, a ‘flat’ steering wheel and a tall
lever that controls the sequential gear box
dominate the interior together with a special
race type seat with multi-point seat belts.
Talking about the sequential gearbox, Reiter
Engineering managed to modify this gearbox
in such a manner that the shift sequence is
actually too fast for the engine management
system to follow, hence they are now also reprogramming the entire system to allow the
engine to respond quickly enough to a gear
change.
The 2007 Le Mans Edition uses a similar
5998cc V12 engine from the original R-GT,
again with an air flow restriction system to
comply with FIA regulations, hence the shoulder mounted air intakes are now fixed, no
need to increase the air flow into the engine
compartment anymore, by the way, in the
new 2007 edition the engine pumps out 520
hp to the rear wheels.
I am really looking forward to seeing this new
Murciélago R-GT in action on the various
circuits worldwide since two cars have been
entered into the FIA GT Championship by All
Inkl.com Racing, one of these will be driven
by Peter Kox and Jos Menten, while the other
car will be piloted by triple FIA GT Champion,
Christophe Bouchut and Stefan Mücke.
ONLINE : www.reiter-engineering.com
in DEPTH
in DEPTH
A closer look at a specific Lamborghini ...
CREATING THE LEGEND
It all started with this prototype back in 1963
Text Mark Smeyers • Photo’s Mark Smeyers
Recently one of the rarest Lamborghini’s was sold, the Miura
Roadster, the price for that car could be an indication of how
much the one of a kind 350 GTV could be valued at, but it is safe
to say this unique legend is nothing less than a work of art ...
Ferruccio’s own signature
was featured on the amazing
350 GTV prototype ...
Legends are built by legendary men, and you
surely can’t argue with the fact that the late
Ferruccio Lamborghini was a legendary man,
judge for yourself by the much told story on
how he actually started building high performance Gran Turismo automobiles.
According to this story Ferruccio Lamborghini, who was already very wealthy in the late
Fifties, owned several exotic cars from various makes, but he encountered some problems with the gearbox in his personal Ferrari.
So he decided to drive to Maranello and demanded to see Enzo Ferrari himself, but the
people who surrounded Enzo Ferrari at that
time didn’t pay any attention to this ‘farmer’
and kept him waiting for hours at the Ferrari
factory.
50 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I The 350 GTV
Ferruccio was so angry, he decided to build
his own car, and it would be more refined than
any Ferrari or any other high performance
car of that period, just to show the world he
could do a better job. He did however start
by replacing the original clutch from his Ferrari, which was causing the trouble in the first
place, by a standard unit from one of his own
tractor models, after this simple modification
his car ran without any trouble.
Ferruccio started investing in a brand new
factory, just to create his ideal GT, but the
very first Lamborghini car ever, the 350 GTV
was actually designed and built in a small,
secluded part of the tractor factory at Cento,
because his Sant’Agata factory wasn’t completed yet and he didn’t want to waste any
time to show the world what he could do.
The engine just had to be a V-12 of course,
Ferruccio contracted Giotto Bizzarrini, who
recently had left Ferrari after working on the
legendary Ferrari 250 GTO, to design the
Lamborghini V12, a base that would actually
be used right up to the Murciélago.
The 350 GTV I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I 51
in DEPTH
in DEPTH
Ferruccio insisted that his new car couldn’t
borrow it’s heart from any other manufacturer, it had to be an engine especially built for
the car he was going to create. This beautiful
engine first roared into life on Lamborghini’s
new Schenk Dynamometer on May 15, 1963,
the power output on these first tests was as
high as 350 DIN (374 SAE) horsepower at
8000 rpm.
a nice detail were the six
exhaust pipes at the rear,
three at each corner
However, Ferruccio didn’t want a highly tuned
racing engine, but a smooth running GT car,
so he insisted on lowering the output to ‘only’
270 bhp at 6500 rpm for the 350 GT production car. Rumor stated however that the engine was later even pushed further and delivered a higher hp value, mainly because it was
said the exact payment to Bizzarrini would be
based on the final output of his engine.
This wasn’t the performance Bizzarrini had in
mind when he started working for Lamborghini, he was convinced he could take this new
V12 engine over 400 hp at 11,000 rpm, but
Ferruccio had no intention of building a race
car, he couldn’t come to terms with Bizzarrini and the latter left the company to pursue
his own ideas, however years later a Lamborghini Miura engine would be used in the race
inspired P538 model.
The departure of Giotto left Dallara and Stanzani in charge of de-tuning the engine to the
specifications Ferruccio wanted for his first
Grand Turismo Veloce model.
Some early publications from Lamborghini
stated the new GT would be the car sold to
the public, and a special GT Veloce model
would be available on special demand only.
Franco Scaglioni designed
the Lamborghini 350 GTV
with Ferrucio’s input ...
Ferruccio also requested his new engine
to be able to run at least 70,000 Km before
major overhaul work had to be performed on
it, this was another reason the power output
was lowered to a more ‘normal’ value, which
didn’t stress the engine components as much
either.
Many parts manufactured by ATS Microfusioni at Sasso Marconi were used on the
new V12, the rough castings from ATS were
shipped to Cento to be machined and assembled, but since there wasn’t enough time
left before the official presentation only one
engine would be completely finished.
The gearbox was bought directly from ZF using a Fichtel & Sachs clutch, mounted to a
differential from Salisburry, just because Ferruccio didn’t have time to design and built his
own gearbox yet, he would do so later on actually.
Naturally, the engine was the most important
part in this new car, but it still needed some
other components too, like a chassis and a
beautiful bodywork, Ferruccio wanted to impress people with his first car, so he had to
get it right from the start.
in DEPTH
in DEPTH
The dark blue leather upholstery found inside
the prototype was created by an external upholsterer, again because Ferruccio’s factory
just wasn’t ready to do the job yet, other than
some careful assembling of the different components, not much was really build by Automobili Lamborghini SpA, not yet anyway.
The prototype was finished in a bright metallic blue shade and was presented to the gathered press at Sant’Agata on October 29th
1963. During this preview Ferruccio proudly
showed his first attempt at the automotive
market. The factory still wasn’t completely
finished but this didn’t bother Ferruccio right
now, he had another problem at hand, his
awesome engine didn’t fit into the finished
car.
The complicated square steel tube chassis
used for the prototype was also designed
by Bizzarrini and built by Neri & Bonacini of
Modena, who actually made two slightly different chassis, one using box shaped tubes,
while another one used light weight round
tubes, Ferruccio proudly proclaimed this
would become the one used for the Veloce
version of his new car, a version that would
never be built as we would discover later on,
but still he made an everlasting impression
with this statement.
Franco Scaglione designed the 350 GTV under close supervision of Ferruccio himself,
who nearly directed Franco towards the final
design, Franco was a well known designer in
the early Sixties and he was responsible for
the styling of the famous Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint from 1954 and the wild Bertone Bat
Alfa prototypes from the Fifties.
The reason why Ferruccio selected Scaglione was another of those special stories from
the early Sixties, Lamborghini explained his
choice with this answer : “Well, in the early
The car itself featured a lot of chrome, neatly
integrated into the overall design, even Ferruccio’s own signature was bolted onto the
front and rear hood, combined with a stunning, chrome surrounded curved windshield
and a very angular rear section, the 350 GTV
looked refreshingly new when compared to
other cars during the Sixties, a nice detail
were the six exhaust pipes at the rear, three
at each corner, which were even retained on
some very early 350 GT production models.
The large rear window allowed a very good
rearward vision, while the thin pillars didn’t
really got in the way when seated behind the
slim wooden steering wheel, outward visibility was extremely good, only the driving position was a little strange, the seats were rather
hard and too close to the steering wheel to
find a comfortable position, but these minor
problems would be resolved before the first
Lamborghini 350 GT was to be delivered to
his lucky owner.
Sixties there was quite a number of designers and stylists to choose from. But Scaglione
arrived at my place in a big shiny Mercedes,
immaculately dressed and accompanied by
a breathtakingly beautiful secretary. ‘Your car
will be ready in a week’ he told me. So I gave
him the job.”
This is just another indication of the kind of
personality Ferruccio had, he was a very
charismatic man who knew exactly what he
wanted and how he could make people perform up to their limits when working for him.
Scaglione didn’t have much to work on, he
only received some vague chassis dimensions and various ideas from Ferruccio, but
he never even got detailed engine measurements for this new car, so when the small
Sargiotto Bodyworks of Turin actually built
the car from nothing more than some profile
drawings you have to give them credit for the
difficult task they managed to perform, the
special, rotating headlight treatment wasn’t
even on the original design, they built it from
scratch.
to get the car level while being displayed to
the critical journalists surrounding it on this
first presentation. It is however very strange
to find a photo of the car during the presentation at the factory, with the engine cover open
and an engine in place … I wonder how they
pulled that one off. Probably it was just another nice legend that surrounded Lamborghini
in those days.
The brand new 3.5 Liter engine was a real
work of art, showing six dual throat Webers
in a central position, truly a magnificent sight,
but as usual this engine was surrounded by
it’s own legend which stated that these extremely expensive carburetors used vertical
air intakes, and after the engine was ready to
be fitted into the finished car, they noticed it
just wouldn’t fit underneath the sleek bonnet.
A solution was found by displaying the engine next to the car and putting some boxes
of heavy ceramic tiles underneath the hood
Ferruccio Lamborghini himself answered the
many, sometimes difficult, questions from
the members of the press, note that this very
first prototype didn’t even have pedals or a
windshield wiper installed, it was a true prototype.
In fact the first chassis didn’t even have any
mounts welded onto it to bolt the engine on
when it would be installed, also the brakes
weren’t connected and the impressive revolving headlights wouldn’t work either, but still,
a few days after this initial presentation, the
car was shipped to the 1963 Turin Auto Show
were it attracted a lot of attention ... both
good and bad reactions were received from
the stunned public.
in DEPTH
in DEPTH
A fabulous looking engine was put next to the
car on it’s own display and Ferruccio used a
neat trick to create the impression of having
a much larger stand; he mounted mirrors on
the wall to create the illusion of having more
than one car on display.
Some people just didn’t like the styling, while
others really loved it, it was even rumored
that Ferruccio Lamborghini actually sold an
example of this new car during the show.
But the first Lamborghini model still needed a
lot of work before it could be sold to the public, and Ferruccio decided his rather extreme
design wasn’t right yet, he contacted Touring
to redesign the Lamborghini and turn this one
of a kind prototype into a true production car.
The unique Lamborghini with chassis number 3500GTV 0001 would later be restored
by Romano Bernardoni, owner of EmilianAuto in Bologna, one of the major dealers for
Automobili Lamborghini SpA in Italy, after the
prototype had been stored for over 20 years
inside, and outside the factory.
During this time the unique GTV had to be
pushed around, and when space ran out inside the factory, they actually left the car subject to the weather for several years, on an
uncovered section behind the factory next to
several other ‘forgotten’ Lamborghini prototypes and test cars.
The original V12 engine was stored in a corner of the factory, where it later became hidden away from view by a large stock of automatic transmissions for the Espada model.
The factory never had the budget nor the time
to restore the car but still they didn’t want to
sell it either, finally in 1985, during the Mimran
reign, Romano and his cousin Stefano Pasini
could convince Patrick Mimran to sell some
of the older cars standing around, but Bernardoni had to assure Patrick he would restore
the car to its original state. None other than
Stefano himself searched after the engine
inside the factory, when he finally located it,
both the car and the V12 were shipped to
EmilianAuto.
It soon became clear that the remains weren’t
in the greatest shape, it took a lot of time and
money to restore this one of a kind Lamborghini back to it’s original glory. Restoration
of the bodywork was trusted to Dino and Giuliano Torelli, who were really lucky the curved
front windshield and the large rear window
were still intact, imagine the work needed to
create this front windshield from scratch, they
did have to rebuilt the side windows which
would be made of Plexiglas, just like they
were back in 1963.
Because the engine was ‘forgotten’ for over
20 years, the outside didn’t look great, but
when Ezio Ambrosini disassembled it, he was
impressed by the state of the interior parts,
the cylinders were still as shiny as when they
were installed over a quarter of a century ago,
and after careful inspection it could be rebuilt
again, together with the transmission and differential, Gino Bernardoni was in charge of
installing it into the chassis for the very first
time after all those years.
Mounting the engine into the car required
modifying the chassis and welding up some
supports, the vertical Webers would even be
used, which needed some modifications to
the front air funnels on them, they were slightly shortened to be able to fit underneath the
hood, the engine was also lowered a little further into the chassis and moved backward.
The entire exhaust system had to be built
from scratch, apparently it was never finished
back in 1963, specialist Ansa Marmitte of Finale Emilia created the custom mufflers, the
pipes ran underneath the door section of the
car into the three small exhaust pipes at each
side of the rear.
The complete array of dials was lost over the
years, so these too had to be rebuilt from
parts taken from a 350 GT production model,
the only dial that couldn’t be rebuilt was an
alarm clock that was mounted on the central console, other than that they managed
to built all the units back into the dashboard
and have them completely wired. Bernardoni
even had a windshield wiper system from a
350 GT installed on the GTV, just to show his
attention to detail.
It took four long years to rebuild the 350 GTV
but on January 26. 1990, over 26 years after the very first public appearance and just a
few days after the Diablo made it’s debut, the
very first Lamborghini was started and was
able to drive on it’s own power.
The finished car was shown to Ferruccio himself, who appreciated the massive work that
must have gone into restoring this unique
piece of history, he even noticed his very own
signature was back on the car, a feature that
would never appear on any of the production
cars built afterwards, note however that the
original signature as seen on the 1963 photo’s was sadly lost over the years, so during
the restoration they used a new, current signature from Ferruccio himself to recreate it.
in DEPTH
in DEPTH
Specifications sheet
built because some photo’s of the green car
were made, also a rumor of a 400 GTV was
created, we now know that there was only
one real 350GTV built and a wooden mock
up of this prototype, the latter is currently
shown in the Centro Studi e Ricerche Ferruccio Lamborghini in Cento, maintained by
Tonino Lamborghini himself.
The classic 350 GTV was now finished in a
dark metallic green and received a new lighttoned leather upholstery, one of the very few
things not original about the interior was the
steering wheel, a classic Lamborghini unit
from a Jarama was used, the original threespoke unit with the downward bend top
spokes was lost during the long stay on the
factory grounds. Note that this very rare prototype was now fully drivable and was even
road tested by a car magazine in 1990, the
test driver was rather impressed by the handling and performance of this very early Lamborghini, which was nearly 35 years old when
it was road tested for the first time.
It is very interesting to note that this dark
green color was actually tested on the car
back in 1963, but Ferruccio didn’t like it and
had the car repainted in the known blue metallic, some sources stated that two cars were
This first actual road test unveiled the special character of this Lamborghini, especially
the engine was a surprise, it became obvious
that this was still a prototype engine, mainly
because of the vertical carburetors, very high
revs were needed to drive away with the car,
anything below 2000 rpm would kill the engine
and a fast depressing of the clutch would be
needed to keep it running, any early attempts
from the driver would result in several jerks of
the car, only about 4000 rpm or more would
pull the car from a standstill, subsequently
making a lot of noise, the 350 GTV couldn’t
be called silent in any aspect.
From the inside, the very nice leather seats
and black upholstered dashboard looked
ready to go into production, you wouldn’t
say this was still an early prototype that really needed the skills from people like Bob
Wallace to sort out the details like the hard
rear suspension, the heavy clutch and gear
change. Being able to drive the 350 GTV on
the open road after nearly 30 years made
clear that the general idea and setup of this
car was right from the start, only some fine
tuning would be needed to create a production car from this prototype.
This priceless piece of Automobili Lamborghini SpA history was later acquired by Isao
Noritake, president of the Japanese Lamborghini Owner’s Club, the car resided in the
Noritake Collection until the renovation of the
factory was finished, and this one of a kind
Lamborghini was placed in the official factory
museum, next to other cars like the Diablo
Roadster prototype and the very last Countach made, also note that today the original
steering wheel was installed, or at least a
replica of it ... making the legend complete
again.
General information
Engine
Type of car Lamborghini 350 GTV
Years built March 1963
Production 1 prototype and one wooden mock up
Type V12, 60 degree, cast aluminium block with pressed-in cast iron cylinder liners, forged aluminum 3-ring pistons, front mounted, rear wheel drive
Chassis numbers 0100
Cylinder heads aluminum with bronze valve guides and seats
Presentation October 26. 1963 Turin Auto Show
Distribution Dual overhead camshafts, chain drive, two valves/cyl.
Type of car Two door coupe, two seater
Designed by Franco Scaglione
Main bearings 7, supported by forged aluminium caps, 4 studs each
Built by Sargiotto Bodyworks of Turin
Bearing diameter 2.48 in.
Cylinder capacity 3464 cc (211.4 cu in.)
Dimensions
Bore and stroke
77 x 62 mm
Wheelbase 2450 mm (96.6 in)
Compr. ratio
9.5:1 (11:0 on first testing)
Overall length 4500 mm (177 in)
Maximum power 360 bhp at 8000 rpm
Overall width 1730 mm (68.1 in)
Maximum torque 326 Nm (240 lbs.ft) at 6000 rpm
Overall height 1220 mm (48 in)
Cooling system
Water colling
Front track 1380 mm (54.3 in)
Rear track 1380 mm (54.3 in)
Ignition
Two coils and two Marelli distributors driven from front of each exhaust camshaft
Plugs
Bosch 125 Platinum Points
Ground clearance n.a.
Front overhang
n.a.
Rear overhang n.a.
Weight 1050 kg (2314 Lbs)
Distribution n.a. Front / Rear
Alternator
400 Watt Bosch
Fuel system
Dual electric Bendix fuel pumps, 6 twin-barrel Weber 36 IDL 1 racing carburetors in downdraft position
Fuel type
100 Octane
Fuel consumption 16 Lit./100 Km
Chassis
Structure Square steel tube chassis
Body Steel and aluminium panelling
Suspension All-independent coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers and tubular wishbones and anti-roll bars
Brakes All-wheel Girling disc brakes, assisted by a weak booster
Front 292 mm
Rear 274 mm
Steering type ZF Worm & roller (power assistance was to be optionally available)
Lubrication
Dry sump
Drivetrain
Type
ZF all synchromesh five-speed + reverse manual with Salisburry limited slip differential
Clutch
dry-single plate, hydraulically operated
Disc diameter
266.7 mm (10.5 in)
1st gear ratio
3.00:1
2nd gear ratio
1.705:1 Max. speed 119 Km/h (74 Mph)
3rd gear ratio
1.240:1 Max. speed 163 Km/h (101 Mph)
Max. speed 69 Km/h (43 Mph)
Turning circle 13 m
4th gear ratio
1.000:1 Max. speed 209 Km/h (130 Mph)
Front tyre size HS 205/15
5th gear ratio
0.850:1 Max. speed 280 Km/h (174 Mph)
Rear tyre size HS 205/15
Reverse gear ratio2.66:1 Type Pirelli Cinturato Belted
Final drive ratio
Front rim size 6.5x15 inch
Rear rim size 6.5x15 inch
Performance
Type 72 spokes Borrani wheels
Top speed
Capacities
Fuel 80 Lt in two tanks
Engine oil
14 Lt
Cooling system 9 Lt
Luggage 58 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I The 350 GTV
Electrical system 12 V
n.a. Lt
Max. speed n.a.
3.31:1, 3.53:1 or 3.77:1 would be available
280 Km/h (174 Mph)
0-100 Km/h
n.a.
Standing Km
n.a.
Price in 1963
not listed
Current value
Priceless, a conservative estimate would be at least $1,000,000
LIFEstyle
LIFEstyle
Lamborghini style ...
Lamborghini style
Automobili Lamborghini Large Crest White Shirt
Automobili Lamborghini Sparco Vintage Driving Shoes
Text LamborghiniCollection.com - Photo’s : LamborghiniCollection.com
The Automobili Lamborghini Large Crest
White Shirt is 100% cotton and is adorned
with a screening of the famous Automobili
Lamborghini crest.
Available in both long and short sleeve,
each shirt features the crest on the front
and the Automobili Lamborghini script on
the back just below the neck line.
These Automobili Lamborghini Sparco
Vintage Shoes are an essential item for
driving your Lamborghini on the street.
They were designed to be less extreme
than our Racing Shoes so they could be
worn every day, whether you’re driving
your Lamborghini or not! They are made
from extremely comfortable soft, black
leather in a high-rise fashion.
The first comfort driving shoe offered by
Lamborghini makes a serious statement
by incorporating the Sparco name and design traits while discreetly sporting the
de-bossed Automobili Lamborghini stylized script on the side of each shoe, making them perfect for casual dress events.
Made in Italy from a very high quality cotton - not your average T-Shirt!
Women’s Jacket
The Women’s Automobili Lamborghini Jacket is made of waterproof fabric outside giving it an outstanding degree of water resistance.
The inside features a quilted padded lining with padding.
The front of the jacket sports the trademark Diablo mirror replica
zipper pull and the side outer pockets are zippered as well.
The Automobili Lamborghini shield is embroidered on the lower
front. The first jacket by Lamborghini made exclusively for women.
The composition 66% polyester and 34% polyamide.
Gallardo Spyder T-Shirt
Long sleeve 100% cotton T-Shirt dedicated to the new Gallardo
Spyder with an original silhouette sketch of the car by Luc Donkerwolke, the designer.
The Automobili Lamborghini stylized script is screened in black
on the right sleeve.
Available in white only.
Made in Italy.
60 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I LIFEstyle
Automobili Lamborghini Sparco Racing Gloves
These Automobili Lamborghini Sparco
Racing Gloves are an essential item for
driving your Lamborghini on the track. So
comfortable and effective, however, you’ll
want to wear them even when driving on
the street!
The first real racing glove offered by Lamborghini makes a serious statement by incorporating the Sparco name and design
traits while sporting the stylized Automobili Lamborghini script on the top of each
glove. Extremely rare
These original Automobili Lamborghini items can be ordered directly from the largest distributor of
official Lamborghini merchandise in the world : the Lamborghini Collection.
Phone : 949-715-0542 P.S.T. (Pacific Standard Time)
ONLINE : www.LamborghiniCollection.com
LIFEstyle I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I 61
AUTOmobilia
AUTOmobilia
From scale models to books ...
From scale models to books ...
This is unclear, certain sources state the engine was bored out to nearly 5-Liter, others
state it remained a 4-Liter.
To create a personal Countach, the owner requested a special repaint, a black base with
white stripes running over the car, including a
large Raging Bull emblem on the front hood.
The original car is currently still located in
Japan, and acquiring it could be next to impossible, but luckily Kyosho recently created
a stunning 1/18th scale model of this car, so
adding this latter one to your collection is a lot
easier, and won’t cost as much.
LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH LP500 R
Text Mark Smeyers - Photo : Mark Smeyers
The black Lamborghini Countach LP500 R
was a very special car back in the mid Seventies, this car started life as a 1975 LP400
bearing chassis number 1120144.
When it’s Japanese owner took delivery of
the car in 1977 he started modifying it, he
installed a front spoiler and wheel arch extensions over the rear wheels, these wheels
62 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I AUTOmobilia
This new Kyosho scale model is a great addition to a Lamborghini collection, finished
to the highest levels ready to ‘park’ between
your other Lamborghini models ... it is different from your everyday Countach model, but
put this one next to the amazing Miura SVR
from the same manufacturer and you’ve got
two stunning models that will surely draw attention to your display, especially when you
opt for the black Miura they made.
This latter might not be original (the Miura
SVR in Japan is finished in red), but the black
one looks so intimidating that I’ve actually
bought both, the red one for authenticity and
the black one for sheer looks ...
became massive BBS racing wheels. He also
installed a big rear wing on his car, which was
rather strange since it was a straight wing, not
angled like those seen on the later Countach
S-models or on the Wolf models.
Interior was kept standard LP400 as was the
engine, so where did the LP500 R designation came from ?
AUTOmobilia I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I 63
LAMBORGHINI online
NEXT time
the Magazine’s links to the internet
A look at our next issue ...
INTERESTING SITES
WHAT WILL BE IN OUR NEXT ISSUE ?
Are you looking for more information on something you’ve seen inside this issue of the Magazine,
or would you just like to get some details on the cars found in this issue ? In that case, this list of
interesting online sources is the place to go looking for an answer to all your questions :
I will again write a new ‘in DEPTH’ feature on a major milestone in the history of Automobili Lamborghini SpA, which model I’ll put into the May-June issue hasn’t been decided yet, so it will be
a surprise.
Premium Lamborghini sites
Lamborghini Tuning sites
Thanks to a fellow enthusiast I will be having a nice factory visit section in the fourth issue, a multi
page feature article illustrated with loads of amazing photographs of the place that brings us these
automotive masterpieces ... Sant’Agata.
Automobili Lamborghini SpA
Reiter Engineering
The Official Automobili Lamborghini SpA site
www.lamborghini.com
A highly professional Lamborghini tuner and the only
Lamborghini racing team in the 2006 FIA GT3 Championship.
www.reiter-engineering.com
A selection of great Lamborghini related sites
Lamborghini Cars, the enthusiast site
Lamborghini Cars, the enthusiast site, the very site I created over eight years ago to share the amazing Raging Bulls with fellow enthusiasts from all over the world.
www.lambocars.com
SP Engineering
Lamborghini Collection
Hamann MotorSport GmbH
The largest authorised distributor of official Lamborghini Merchandise in the world !
www.lamborghinicollection.com
KLD Concept
Michael’s Lamborghini site, an amazing source for
photographs on Raging Bulls.
www.kldconcept.com
Lamborghini Registry
Looking for an extensive list of chassis numbers on
Lamborghini’s ? This is the place to be.
www.lamborghiniregistry.com
If you are looking into tuning your Lamborghini and
you’re located in the United States, this is a great place
to browse around.
www.sp-power.com
One of the best known tuners in the world, recently they
also started tuning Lamborghini’s
www.hamann-motorsport.com
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this brand new, power packed third edition, and do keep in mind
that a subscription to the printed editon of Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine is still available, all
it takes is a quick look on the Magazine’s web site and make a small donation to keep both the
Magazine and the Lamborghini Cars enthusiast site alive and allow me to bring you more events
from all over Europe in future issues ...
Mark Smeyers
ONLINE : Magazine.LamboCars.com
Edo Competition
A rather new tuner on the market, their Gallardo tuning
package is a great start.
www.edo-competition.de
IMSA GmbH
Creators of the magnificent Gallardo GTV, if you want a
very special Gallardo you’ll have to pay Mr Mohr a visit
in Germany.
www.imsa-tuning.de
Supercar photo collections
Lamborghini Forum
Swiss Car Sightings
Lambo-Power
A Swiss based enthusiast created a massive collection of photographs on the most amazing exotics cars in and
around Switzerland.
www.swisscarsightings.com
This exotic car forum was started two years ago and
quickly became the largest Lamborghini forum on the
net.
www.lambo-power.com
Super Car France
Mark Smeyers
Editor
A French based enthusiast site with an ever growing collection of photographs on the most amazing exotics.
www.supercarfrance.com
Naturally the usual sections will be back, like the LIFEstyle pages, a Quick LOOK, the PHOTO
album, SpotLIGHT and AUTOmobilia ... and all those I’ve forgot the mention here, so keep an eye
on the web site which will bring you Issue 4 from May 1st 2007 ...
[email protected]
64 I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I LAMBORGHINI online
NEXT time I Lamborghini Cars, the Magazine I 65

- LamboMAG

Transcription

Similar documents

Lamborghini

Lamborghini Countach LP 500S Lamborghini Countach LP 500S

NNN OOO VVV 222 000 111 444 ` 125

the original dover drag strip 26th annual

Article Sjogren Juni 2007.indd

View Document

Barrett-Jackson Bonanza

Paul Krause

media information 2016