Vehicle Description
-Single Owner From New Vehicle
-580 Original Miles From New
-Ultra-Carefully Cared For Preservation Special
-Ordered new with Ultra-Rare Optional Bruguet Chronometer
-Optional Alpine Combined Stereo, CD and Subwoofer System
-Special Order / Special Request Interior
Year 1991
Make Lamborghini
Model Diablo
VIN ZA9DU07P0MLA12185
Production Sequence 185 of 401 examples
Body No A 351 0
Engine No 188
Transaxle No 188
Exterior Color Impact White (Code 231023)
Interior Special Order / Special Request Bright White Full Leather
with Red Piping
Completed February 1991
Mileage 598 Miles
Options: Bruguet 4330 Chronometer
Alpine Subwoofer
Alpine Remote CD System
Special Request Interior Color and Trim
Background:
Lamborghini's flagship mid-engined, 12-cyliinder Contach had been
in production in various forms for ten years. The complicated
design was difficult to both build as well as service and after a
decade , the once striking design was starting to show its age. in
1985, Lamborghini's Swiss-based owners', the Mimran Brothers funded
a design study for a replacement under the code-name "Project 132.
Their only direct input was that the new model be capable of
reaching 315kph / 196mph.
As with the previous Countach, Marcello Ghandini was tasked with
the new vehicle's design. Work started in June of 1985 but it was
not until Chrysler bought Lamborghini in 1987 that sufficient
funding was available to see the project return practical
results.
The main focus was on improvements and refinement or the Countach
theme into a more practical layout and to take advantage of more
modern production methods. Under the skin, the new vehicles was a
marvel of engineering and design but Ghandini was insisting on
exterior features that remained very angular and to senior staff
more than a bit dated. Ghandini's services were terminated and a
new design team took over working extensively on the exterior
features, softening of the body shape and adding a far more
curvaceous appearance to the final prototypes.
Running prototypes were extensively tested and by mid-1989, the
name Diablo had been selected carrying on Lamborghini's tradition
of naming its cars after breeds of fighting bulls. The Diablo was
named after a ferocious bull raised by the Duke of Veragua in the
19th century, famous for fighting an epic battle with "El Chicorro"
in Madrid on July 11, 1869. In the words of Top Gear presenter,
Jeremy Clarkson, the Diablo was designed "solely to be the biggest
head-turner in the world."
The production Diablo was presented to the public and offered for
sale on January 21, 1990. Its power came from an all new,
5.7-liter, 48-valve version of the existing Lamborghini V12 but now
featured all new, dual overhead cams and computer-controlled
multi-point fuel injection, producing a maximum output of 485bhp.
The new Diablo could easily reach 60mph in under 4.5 seconds and
had a true top speed of 202 mph!
The Diablo came far better equipped than the Countach with standard
features that included fully adjustable seats and steering wheel,
electric windows, climate control system and and a state of the
art, Alpine stereo system. There were just a few options available.
These included, a custom-molded driver's seat, remote CD changer
and subwoofer, rear spoiler, factory fitted luggage set priced at
$2,600 and an exclusive Breguet Chronometer for the dash with the
astounding price of $10,500! Many owners opted for the optional
Alpine subwoofer and remote CD system, which was the most popular
of the options. This was followed by the rear wing which somehow
never looked quite right in most buyers opinions and the fitted
luggage. The rarest and most expensive of the options was of course
the unique Bruguet Chronometer. During the production run of the
Diablo, Bruguet built only 50 of these specialty clocks, but just
21 are known to have been fitted new to actual vehicle. The
remainder were purchased by collectors and never fitted to vehicles
new. Those fitted new featured both a unique "Series" number as
well as the vehicles individual chassis number on the front of each
time piece.
Although not publicly advertised, special clients were given some
consideration for "unique" request options and features, such as
special exterior and interior colors, wheels and trim.
Lamborghini's Diablo remained in production nearly as long as had
the Countach and like the Countach it was given a variety of
updates, improvements, variations changes and a several name
changes reflecting major changes to the design. These included, the
Diablo VT, SE30, SE30 Jota, SV, VT and VT Roadster VT 6.0 and VT
6.0 SE. Despite still selling well ten-years after first being
seen, Lamborghini's new owner's, Volkswagen Audi Group were looking
to completely modernize the Lamborghini line and this more than
anything else led to the end of the Diablo in all its many
variations.
Chassis No ZA9DU07P0MLA12185
This particular Diablo is a standard North American Market
Production model built in February of 1991. It was however one of
only 21 known examples fitted from new with the very special
Bruguet Chronometer option, which cost an astounding $10,500 in
1991! It was also fitted with the optional Alpine subwoofer and
remote CD system. The interior was a special request white leather
to match the exterior paint but fitted with contrasting
red-piping.
Despite being a normal production, USA model, this Diablo was sold
new and shipped direct from New Jersey to Japan where it was
road-registered for just one year. Upon arrival in Japan, this
Diablo was issued plates "33 1817" on March 4th, 1992. The
registration expired the following year, on March 31st, 1993. It
was then stored in a private museum until our purchase earlier this
month. This true "Museum-Quality" example has covered just 598
miles from new and it is very likely the finest preserved and one
of the lowest mileage examples that still exists.
This Diablo is sold with all services and safety checks completely
current and up to date in excellent running and driving condition
with all services and invoices fresh from Lamborghini of San Diego.
Please note however despite being completely "turn-key" ready and
absolutely "showroom-new" this rare example is clearly a
"preservationists-dream" and should be carefully treated as
such.
Cold compression test results are as follows:
Cylinder No Lbs per Square Inch
1 205
2 207
3 212
4 207
5 206
6 208
7 210
8 212
9 215
10 215
11 215
12 215
This Diabolo is sold complete with correct leather wallet and
manual as well as both tool and jack kits as delivered new. Please
contact me at your convenience if I can assist further with
inspections, test drives, the purchase and shipping of this very
special machine.
