Vehicle Description
Chassis No. ZA9DU21B3XLA12193
When the Lamborghini Miura first arrived on the scene in the
mid-1960s, it set the automotive press on fire, utterly shocking
journalists and enthusiasts alike with its otherworldly design and
industry-leading performance. The Raging Bull from Santa'Agata
never really looked back after that, continually pushing the
boundaries of what supercar manufacturers were otherwise doing,
first with the Countach, the iconic poster car of the 1980s and
then the Diablo, which held the same esteem for its own decade, the
'90s.
It is important to recognize that the Lamborghini firm of this era
was considerably smaller and more boutique than it is today,
hand-building super sports cars in extremely limited numbers. In
fact, from 1990 to 2001, only about 2,900 Diablos were built, or
about 240 per year. The "SV" iteration first appeared in 1995,
bringing back the "Spinto Veloce" or "Super Veloce" designation
first introduced on the Miura three decades earlier, here with an
expected increase in power to 510 horsepower from its 5.7-liter
mid-mounted V12. Powering only the rear wheels, this was a sports
car in the truest sense, replete with aerodynamic modifications,
larger brakes and wheels, and optional wild graphics.
The Diablo SV offered here, however, is altogether more rare. As a
model year 1999, it benefits from the design facelift that only
affected the final three years of Diablo production and is
immediately recognizable by the attractive fixed headlights and
revised, more sophisticated interior which replaced the flat
dashboard with a more integrated wave-like design. Engine output
increased to 529 hp for this particular SV and 446 lb-ft of torque
- simply staggering numbers for the late 1990s, courtesy of newly
introduced valve timing management technology!
Interestingly, however, by model year 2000, only the VT 6.0
remained, and Lamborghini halted production of the SV after only
about 100 examples were built, rendering this particular car
especially rare. In fact, the 1999-only SV represents only about
3.5 pecent of total Diablo production. Equally impressive is the
car's extraordinarily low mileage of approximately 5,114 miles at
the time of the cataloging and its cosmetic condition is certainly
commensurate with that figure, from the tidy engine bay to the
interior upholstery, which clearly shows only minor signs of wear.
The car presents exceptionally well, finished in a classic color
combination of red over beige leather with complementary red piping
and matching beige carpeting. From the black five-spoke,
three-piece wheels to the dual roof scoops, exposed headlights, and
iconic rear wing, the car is immediately recognizable as an
"SV."
Delivered new to its first owner in Racine, Wisconsin, this
particular Diablo was enjoyed by the same individual until 2007,
before it was sold to its second owner, who in turn enjoyed the car
until 2012. Each of these three private owners resided in the same
city, as per the CARFAX Vehicle History Report, further
corroborating the car's mileage and its well-cared-for life by
enthusiasts. While any Diablo SV is a particularly rare sighting,
an example from the singular design year of 1999 with such
incredibly low mileage almost certainly presents an unrepeatable
opportunity to enjoy and drive the most extraordinary hypercar of
its era, in its purest and most desirable form.
