A Collector and His Two Luscious Green Lamborghinis

In collecting, especially watches, the hunt for a specific item can be half the fun. Some people even state that the joy stops when the ownership starts, but this is debatable. Apparently the same can apply in collecting cars, which I can fully understand. Hunting down a specific car, with specific specs can be a joy, and frustrating at the same time. So again a parallel between watches and cars! In today’s episode, we cover the hunt for two very special Lamborghini’s, both owned by the same collector and finished in a luscious green paint job.

Most of the time, it is not just a generic model that a collector lusts after. Personally, I have a specific-looking Angelus Chronodato in mind I would one day like to add to the collection. It needs to tick a few boxes before I can mentally pull the trigger at one point, with the financials secondary to that. The same goes for car collectors I guess, judging from the two stories I found on Petrolicious.

Petrolicious interviewed the owner on his two quite special Lamborghini’s late last year and the cars are just too cool. Both done in a splendid tone of green paint and a light leather interior. It is perhaps not the first colour to think of when hunting down a Diablo or Countach, as red, yellow and white were far more popular, but they look stunning nonetheless.

1994 Lamborghini Diablo VT

The Diablo was the much-needed replacement for the Countach for Lamborghini and was developed with the help of then-owner Chrysler. Penned by Marcello Gandini it was a much softer take on the supercar compared to the wedgy-and-edgy Countach. But a true supercar from bumper to bumper. Low, wide, uncompromised, fast. The search started with the dream of owning a Countach, but the road to it led him from a Porsche 911 Slantnose to a Ferrari 355GTS and ultimately; this. Why? Checking a review on a purple Lamborghini Diablo SE30 in a magazine.

This green Lamborghini Diablo is a VT model, which stands for Viscous Traction, an all-wheel-drive system first used by Lamborghini in the LM002 super-4×4, but adapted for use in the Diablo. It is a mechanical coupling full of plates and a viscous liquid, which transfers torque rotation apparently. Only about 400 from the total of 3,000 ever built featured this all-wheel-drive system. The owner had a certain set of specs in mind; a pre-facelift Diablo (so pop-up headlights!), a coupe, anything but red and yellow. Oh, and no wing as he believes it distorts the look of the car too much, where it emphasizes the bold look of his Countach perfectly. The special green paint is a Lamborghini original colour, which was only applied to half a dozen Diablo’s or so, according to the owner’s research so far. 

Along the way, it had a few tweaks and upgrades to make it a touch more reliable and easier to drive. Lamborghini’s from the eighties and nineties are renowned for their super heavy controls, especially the clutch and gearbox. Other than restoring the car to original spec and quality in a few areas, a new lightweight exhaust system is installed and that is about it for upgrades.

The full story and interview on the 1994 Lamborghini Diablo VT is available on Petrolicious, including some very nice photography.

1980 Lamborghini Countach LP400S Series II

Where the green Diablo is special enough in its own right, the 1980 Lamborghini Countach LP400S Series II sharing its garage is even rarer. The LP400S version of the Countach is the automotive pin-up we probably all have in mind when we think ‘Countach’. Wide and angular arches, massive rear wing, aggressive air-intakes. The Countach didn’t start out life like that and in fact, the earliest P400 prototype was a very sleek and lean looking machine. It evolved into the era-defining brutish looking supercar we know and love in the early eighties. 

This particular Lamborghini Countach LP400S Series II is different from all Countachs out there in one big area: it is supercharged. And no, this is not a factory standard, but a supercharger developed by a former owner of the car. Originally, the car was white and was a standard LP400S. Strangely the LP400S was less powerful than the LP400 that came before it, due to emissions and noise regulations. To bypass this, the previous owner decided to fiddle around with the car a bit, and in the process update the exterior and cabin of the car too. Luck would have it that man was an F1 engineer for Sauber so he knew exactly what he was doing. No less than six different setups have come and gone before landing with this seventh “build” that includes the supercharger.

When the current owner bought it, it still was white and it featured a load of modifications to it. Not discouraged by this, the exterior and interior of the car were brought back to original specifications. The engine remains supercharged to this day though, currently offering around 400 horsepower with a bit more “tune” left in the engine. The Countach is painted in a 1980 Lamborghini factory green called ‘Verbe Adete’ and sits on gold wheels. 

Once again Petrolicious detailed the story of this very handsome Lamborghini Countach LP400S and covers the path of sourcing all original body parts, including a shifter know for a thousand bucks!

All photos by Marco Annunziata for Petrolicious