Javi Martin
Diablo. A name that evokes darkness, selfishness, power to do evil and many more things related to chaos, suffering and desolation. However, in the beginning, the Devil was an angel, the most perfect, beautiful and powerful of all, who also had the freedom of free will. His name was Lucifer, the bringer of light and he was the first angel that, according to the bible, God created.
The biblical story of the Devil could well serve the one that we are going to tell next, since we also speak of a Devil who could be considered as the bearer of light. However, although they share the same pride, our Devil was not banished like Lucifer, but entered directly into the Olympus of the most special and most desired cars by fans and also brought the light at the end of the tunnel, a German light, but light after all.
It is also true that the name of the Lamborghini Diablo has little to do with being biblical. The origin of the name that Lamborghini used for this car is Spanish bullfighting, which Ferruccio Lamborghini liked so much and which has dominated the designation of Sant'Agata's signature models except for two: the 350 GT and the Countach. In this specific case, Diablo was an especially brave bull bred by the Duke of Veragua, that on July 11, 1869, in Madrid, José de Lara fought and that served to confirm his alternative, as it is said in bullfighter slang.
Born with Chrysler, died with Audi
The Lamborghini Diablo was presented in 1990, when the signature of the bull was under the control of the Americans Chrysler. It came as a replacement for the Countach, which was one of the most spectacular cars of the 70s and 80s, marking the future of Lamborghini to this day. It was with the Countach, designed by Marcello Gandini, when the marked wedge line was established and the use of “scissor-type” doors that are now used by the most powerful models of the firm.
Taking inspiration from the Countach, which had been hugely successful, Gandini once again created a silhouette that started from an extremely short front and low, up to a very high and very marked rear, with a single stroke. No one would dare to call a Lamborghini Diablo a minivan, but to use the meaning of that word strictly, the Diablo is a minivan. Spectacular, of course, but its bodywork has a single volume that marks the whole personality of the car.
Compared to the brutality of the Countach, the Lamborghini Diablo seems even simple, with a body without exaggerated attachments although its forms denote that it is not a conventional car. However, it contrasts quite a lot with current designs, which sport elaborate and exaggerated shapes to be more brutal and yet looks just as wild as any current brand brother. It is one of Gandini's best drawings together with the Lamborghini Countach P400 and the Lamborghini Miura.
Project 132, the internal name of the Diablo development, began to take its first steps with the company still in the hands of Ferruccio, but the project was finished by Chrysler. At first, the brand always claimed that it was a job that started from a blank page, although in reality it could be considered an evolution of the Countach by maintaining the same profile and the same mechanical and suspension configuration. The opening of the doors, as we all know, is the same.
A name that lived up to his temperament
The gestation of the Lamborghini Diablo hides some anecdotes that make its existence more special. For example, the Diablo we all know is not the same Italian supercar that Gandini designed, when Chrysler took control of the brand it commissioned in-house designers, with Tom Galo at the helm, to analyze the shapes in the wind tunnel and smooth out the shapes. general. Marcello Gandini's initial project for the Lamborghini Diablo is said to have shaped the Cizeta Moroder V16T.
In those years Lamborghini did not have much economic fluidity, on the contrary, they made a living out of selling units of the Countach, a car that was more outdated every day and was beginning to age. So there are things that were not taken care of and ended up being a problem once the car began to be sold in the dealerships. It seems that his name honored his temperament and behaviorAlthough Sandro Munari, World Rally Champion in 1977 with a Lancia Stratos, assisted in the development of the model.
The first units of the Lamborghini Diablo were born when electronics had not yet arrived. An electronics that helped manufacturers lose their fear of making crazy cars. Therefore, things as the ABS were not present in this spectacular sports car until nothing less than 1999. In fact, it didn't even have power steering until 1993. Imagine what it must be like to drive a car like this, equipped with a 12-liter 5,7-hp V492 block without power steering and without ABS… it was truly a drivers car experts.
We do not know if this motivated the large amount of criticism that the Devil received regarding his behavior and driving. As stated in some publications, everything was going well until things were forced and the limits were sought, at which time, the car behaved erratically and unpredictably. In addition, vibrations and tremors dominated the situation, the shift was abysmal and did not allow for smooth ratios to be selected, and the engine heat inside the span was so poorly managed that the pilots and rear deck melted.
All-wheel drive, restyling and final goodbye
All those criticisms and those failures that haunted the model during its early years, began to be corrected little by little. Lamborghini began developing and launching new versions of the Diablo, with the first to come, the Lamborghini Diablo VT, standing out. It had a system of all-wheel drive “Viscous Traction” (hence the name VT) with viscous coupling, capable of sending up to 25% of the torque to the front axle. A transmission that came from the Lamborghini LM002, the famous SUV that they designed in San'Agata as a military project.
During the evolution of Diablo, Chrysler sold the company to Megatech, then sold all of the assets to Audi. At the same time the convertible version and the Diablo SV (Super Veloce) appeared, in addition to the Diablo GT. However, the arrival of Audi was a shock for the brand and of course, for the model. The first thing they did was to carry out a restyling, improving the quality of materials and manufacturing, the ergonomics of the cabin as well as its adjustments were improved and it was the German firm who installed the anti-lock brakes.
Audi ceased production of this Italian supercar to make way for the first Lamborghini "by Audi", the Lamborghini Murcielago. Before that, he renewed the engine by raising the displacement to 6.000 cubic centimeters and launched what is considered the most radical Diablo: the Lamborghini Diablo GT, a version of which only 80 units were manufactured and that had a variant of the V12 6.0 with 575 hp.
The Lamborghini Diablo was once the best-selling brand in historyAlthough after 11 years on sale, it cannot be said that it is an achievement. The Lamborghini Murcielago easily surpassed it, to be later equally surpassed by the Gallardo, the Huracán and the Lamborghini Urus, which sold a total of 10.000 units in just two years.
