Every car nut has a favorite Lamborghini and if you are old school, you probably remember the Lamborghini Diablo very fondly. Automobili Lamborghini is now celebrating the 30th anniversary of this iconic supercar. It was in 1990 when Lamborghini debuted the Diablo. Codenamed Project 132, development of the car actually started five years ago in 1985 when it was planned to be a replacement of the Countach. The iconic design of the Diablo was penned by the renowned automobile designer Marcello Gandini. Chrysler, who at the time had a majority stake in the company, got it partially revised by its own design studio.
If you compare the Diablo with modern day Lamborghinis, it bizarrely looks understated. The clean and sharp lines have a maturity to it. But this surely looked wild on the streets 30 years ago. But apart from design, a Lamborghini is also very much about its engine and this bull was powered by a 5.7-litre V12 naturally aspirated engine. It was capable of producing 485 hp and as much as 580 Nm of peak torque in the 90s.
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The engine was also pretty modern for its time. It featured 4 overhead camshafts and 4 valves per cylinder with multi-point electronic injection. All this made the Lamborghini Diablo the fastest production car when it debuted in 1990. Yes, you probably didn't know that. Before the Porsche 959 S and the Ferrari F40, it was the Diablo which was the fastest production car in the world with a top-speed of 325 kmph. You can thanks for the Diablo's absolute dynamic nature to rally champion Sandro Munari who was also involved in the development of the car.
Then in 1993, Lamborghini launched the Diablo VT. It was the first Lamborghini Granturismo that came with an all-wheel drive system. It also saw a series of mechanical upgrades and was made to look a little aggressive, which were then implemented on the rear-wheel drive version as well. Lamborghini followed that with a series of special editions and the last ones actually had their power boosted up to 523 hp. Did we mention it was a manual all along. 5-speeds.
The Diablo is also one of Lamborghini's most produced models with 2903 units made in 11 years when it was in production. It was then replaced in 2001 by the Lamborghini Murcielago. The Countach, Diablo and the Murceilago are a beautiful series of one of the truest supercars the Italian automaker has ever produced. Raw, exhilarating and raging like a bull.
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