If you were born sometime in the 80’s and 90’s, by the time you were anywhere near the ripe age to being a car enthusiast, you would have noticed this swoopy and fast looking car. It would have been on several posters and corporate advertisements of that generation. It was what exotic cars were made of and what people of different ages dreamt of having parked in their garage. What you see here on our pages folks is the top dog of the Lamborghini stable of that decade, the Diablo.
When Lamborghini released the Diablo back in 1990, it was produced to take reigns of being the company’s flagship model from their equally iconic but aging exotic car, the Countach. The mid-engined, rear-wheel drive (later version featured all-wheel drive)Diablo had a V-12 engine measuring 5.7 liters with all the bells and whistles to make it produce 492 horsepower and 428 lb-ft of torque in normally aspirated fashion. Right out of the box, the Diablo is capable of reaching 100km/h from a standstill in about 4.5 seconds and top out the speedometer at 325km/h. Impressive numbers even for today’s cars and all without the assistance of computer control except for the fuel injection management.
So what do you do if you own one of the iconic cars ever to come off a production line? Do you keep it as close to original as possible? Or do you spice it up a bit to your liking? In the case of this particular exotic car, the owner opted for the later. Starting the project with a complete strip down of all the parts and panels, the evidence of human labor responsible in putting together car was all around. A true sign that before machine took center stage in the production floor, artisans of their era labored over the hand built exotic cars that we drool over.
With the chassis bare and car ready to be rebuilt again, the people at Unique Autowerkes painstakingly refreshed every nook and cranny of this Diablo. As the build project was a resto-mod to begin with, it was decided to update the look of the car to that of a later version of the Diablo. Instead of pop-up headlamp units, the updated fenders now house fixed headlamps. The original front bumper also got tossed out in favor of a newer version which has brake cooling ducts and a deeper spoiler. Moving to the back, the rear bumper was also replaced with a version that housed the reverse and fog lamps instead of the original position up next to the tail lamps. Now all the panels replaced are part of an extensive Jota carbon fiber upgrade kit for the Diablo. The last items in the kit that needs mentioning is the carbon fiber hood and massive engine bonnet that features dual ducts peeping above the car’s roofline that forced air into the intake system. When it came time to decide on what color to paint the raging bull, they decided on a color that matched the attention grabbing looks of the Diablo. A color called Arancio Ishtar from Lamborghini’s more recent color palette was carefully sprayed on to the bodywork.
While the bodywork was receiving its color and then getting polished to velvety smooth finish, attention turned to the cabin area of the Diablo. Since the dashboard and interior panels were all out of the car, it was decided to freshen up the pieces with new upholstery. The large dashboard got wrapped in black Alcantara leather, pretty much like what the current generation of exotics and supercars use in their interior. After that, selected panels were chosen to be wrapped in custom dyed leather to match the exterior color. Yup, the interior matches the exterior you would have thought that this particular Diablo came from the Lamborghini production line at Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy.
With the bodywork painted and interior swathed in fresh leather, the only part left to pour attention to before putting back the 90’s icon was the engine. For the sake of reliability, the huge V-12 engine was kept mechanically stock but cosmetically spruced up to match the car. The intake plenum insert was painted to match the rest of car with black highlights added for good measure. The only ‘modification’ engine-wise is the installation of the aftermarket exhaust system ordered from Innotech Performance Exhaust (iPE) who happens to be the leading manufacturer of performance exhausts for supercars.
Once the car was put together again, the updated and upgraded look of the early generation Diablo would not be complete if it were roll on the stock 17-inch wheels that it came with from the factory. So what do you do with a car of this level and stature? What was decided on was a set of DMC diamond forged 3-piece carbon fiber wheels. The front pair measuring 19 x 8.5 inches wrapped with Pirelli P Zero Rosso 235/35R-19 tires while the rear pair measures a staggering 20 x 13 inches wrapped with Pirelli P Zero Rosso 345/25R-20 rollers. The carbon fiber finish wheels perfectly accent the color of this Diablo.
Personally, being a Lamborghini fan since way back, it was refreshing (and surprising at the same time) to see a customized Diablo on Philippine shores. I have seen a few pristine and untouched examples of the Diablo on our shores before and I stood in amazement at the brutal yet elegant lines of the Marcelo Gandini designed exotic car. In the case of this example, I must say that this resto-mod project is done well enough that it would be mistaken as a specially ordered unit from the Lamborghini factory. The color choice, interior coordination and minimal mod list strikes a good balance between keeping it original and customizing a car that boys of all ages used to (and probably still do) dream of driving and parking in their garage even once in their lifetime.
Technical Specs
| Make and Model | 1995 Lamborghini Diablo |
| Engine | 5.7 liter, 48-valve, DOHC, 60-degree, V-12 |
| Engine Mod | Innotech Performance Exhaust (iPE) system |
| Engine Output | 492hp (peak horsepower), 428lb-ft (peak torque) |
| Transmission | 5-speed Manual |
| Suspension | Bilstein coilovers, Electronic active suspension with auto and manual control |
| Brakes | Brembo servo assisted 4-wheel disc brakes, H-type hydraulic circuit |
| Wheels and Tires | DMC Diamond Forged 3-piece carbon fiber wheels (19 x 8.5/20 x 13), Pirelli P Zero Rosso (235/35R-19 / 345/25R-20) |
| Interior Mods | Custom upholstered interior with black Alcantara leather and custom dyed Arancio Ishtar leather |
| Exterior Mods | Jota carbon fiber upgrade kit, conversion from pop-up headlamps to fixed headlamps |
| Color | Arancio Ishtar 231.524 |
| Body and Paint | Unique Autowerkes |