Eccentrica start-up to recreate Diablo V12

FORMER Lamborghini chief technical officer Maurizio Reggiani has joined start-up Eccentrica to help produce its V12-powered Diablo restomod.

With deliveries scheduled to begin in June 2025, Eccentrica’s restomod Diablo will retail from around €1.35 million ($A2.28) and will combine 1990s style with contemporary features to provide well-heeled buyers with luxuries including modernised steering, gearshift and braking systems, climate control and LED headlights.

Though the 19 reproductions are neither associated with nor endorsed by Automobili Lamborghini, they will utilise a genuine 5.7-litre Lamborghini V12 as featured in the first-generation Diablo (1991-94).

Like the remainder of the car, the powerplant has undergone a renovation of sorts, featuring new components including reprofiled camshafts and electronic butterfly valves.

Speaking with Bloomberg this week, Mr Reggiani said the Eccentrica offers him “an exceptional possibility to work on a reminder of what happened 30 years ago with something that is of today”.

“We will create an exciting experience for a small number of customers who want to have, let me say, as much Diablo as possible,” he enthused, while taking a gentle lend of electric recreations of classic sports cars.

“Electric technology is a solution in terms of reducing emissions, but it is clear that the added weight takes the fun out of the drive.”

With 404kW and 601Nm on tap, the Eccentrica ‘Diablo’ promises 37kW more and 50kg less weight than the original car – while continuing to deliver the Lamborghini’s iconic V12 roar. Performance figures see triple digits struck in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 335km/h.

“People want to have something with as little as possible electronic control and as much as possible human control and emotion – a car like this can fulfill this kind of dream,” added Mr Reggiani.

Making its debut at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Eccentrica restomod cleverly boasts a longer wheelbase and shorter overhangs when compared with the Diablo, and adds carbon-printed intakes and vents, rectangular headlights (with three-stage pop-up function), LED daytime running lights, and pumped front guards.

The alloys closely resemble the original Speedline one-make race series wheel – shod with modern Pirelli Trofeo R hoops – while other elements draw on modern computer-aided design to streamline aerodynamic efficiency and produce more downforce.

The rear deck lid is also changed, now with removeable covers to ensure the vehicle meets validation requirements, while further back the unmistakable Diablo rump is largely unchanged – save perhaps for the full-width, 3D-printed titanium vent, LED tail-lights, and more slender bumper cover.

On the inside we find a totally modern reinterpretation of the Diablo’s aviation-inspired cockpit with digitised primary gauges, all-new switchgear, improved ventilation, a gated shifter, and materials ranging from leather to Alcantara, and carbon-fibre to aluminium.