My first stop in the Motorvalley was at the Lamborghini Museum (okay, the actual first stop at the closed family museum did not count). The Museum might be no match for the largest ones, like Museo Alfa Romeo or Mercedes Museum, but provides a stylish insight into the history of the brand by recalling its iconic models reinforced by a few one-offs and special milestones.
The design is refreshing, reflecting the various decades, but could not hide its typical Italian way of organising. The site did not offer any parking places for visitors, leaving them in doubt whether they will find their car after the visit. This must be an Italian thing, see my memories at MAuto Torino.
A few years ago, the Museum was refurbished and renamed to Museum of Technologies (MuDeTec). Still, in essence, it remained a Lamborghini museum, as the iconic models and tours of the production lines tell the story of over 50 years of Lamborghini.
The exhibition starts with a timeline that counts down to the early models, including the very first 350GT, that is the first car that awaits visitors in its physical reality.
The ground floor houses the pre-2000 cars (unveiled before the VW group ownership) with many unique pieces.
Still, the collection was far from comprehensive, I do not recall an Urraco or a Jtalpa, so the fleet is limited to the most memorable cars, such as the Espada, the first successor of the 350GT.
While the Espada seemed rather tame with its dark colour, the shiny golden Miura is quite the opposite. This brilliant model was often cited as the first true supercar with a rear mid-engine two-seater layout housing a no holds barred V12.
Next up is the undisputed champion of kids posters in the ’80s, the legendary Countach, in its purest form, with the original Gandini design, free of over the top spoilers. The car proved to be a worthy successor the acclaimed Miura. Its impressive design conceived by Marcelo Gandini was also purposeful, correcting some the Miuras weak points. The passenger compartment was pushed forward to accommodate a larger, longitudinally-mounted V12 engine. This technical layout was chosen to eliminate problems of the predecessor model, caused by the transversal engine. In my books, the Countach is the most iconic Lambo of all time, and its late editions with a wide body and V-shaped rear spilers are the quintessential epitome of the 80.
While the sales figures would not justify, the exhibition includes an LM002, one of the strangest creations of the company. Some cars are so much out of context that people say they were ahead of their time (while they were instead out of their time). In the case of the LM002, cars with similar attributes actually got quite popular a few decades later, as the entire Hummer range illustrates it quite well.
Unfortunately, the LM002 was washed away by the oil crisis, and the project seemed too far fetched even for the oil-tycoons. Thus the Rambo-Lambo remained a true rarity.
The floor concludes with two specimens (racing and a street edition of the a facelifted version, sadly none with the popup headlight) of the last model presented before the VW takeover, the Diablo.
There is one exception in the ground floor, from the VW Era, it houses a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento. This car is one of the first small-series production Lamborghinis, essentially a Gallardo with extreme use of carbon fibre.
The upper floor is dedicated to the new models introduced under the VW ownership, including a few interesting concepts.
The year 2000 includes the first car unveiled in the VW era, the Murcielago, a model the revitalised the brand.
This period also includes a special edition car, the 2016 Lamborghini Centenario, a limited production sports car based on the Lamborghini Aventador to commemorate the 100th birthday of Ferruccio Lamborghini.
There was another Aventador-based limited production hypercar on that floor, the 2013 Lamborghini Veneno. This model celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Lamborghini car company. Its price tag of USD 4,000,000 makes it one of the most expensive production Lambos of all time. The car showcased in the Museum is actually a prototype, the Car Zero finished in Grigio Telesto with an Italian flag on both sides.
There were also road cars from the current line-up, like the Huracan or the brand-new SUV Urus. As usual in a museum, the cars exhibited are not for testing, and all of them remained closed. For a seat-probe, you probably have to find a test drive company.
The models were also highlighted in the media room at the end of the corridor.
The line-up concludes with a brilliant concept car, the Lamborghini Asterion is a hybrid concept car unveiled at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
The car is named after a Minotaur called Asterion, and the half-bull half-man is a rather fitting name for a hybrid model.
Despite the brilliant design and the forward-looking technology, the car remained a concept. The resources were ultimately poured into the production of the Urus. It took many years for Lamborghini, to finally offer a hybrid model (unveiled at this year’s IAA).
Another strange concept car is the Concept S, a vehicle based on the Gallardo, featuring a no window speedster design. It was unveiled at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. Despite the fairly dysfunctional concept, there were rumours of a limited production, that never happened.
In the end, only two cars were built, the one showcased in the Lamborghini museum is the high-window prototype with no engine. Also, a running low-window prototype was featured at 2015 Pebble Beach Concours. Following a few unsuccessful attempts, it was ultimately auctioned in 2017 for a whopping 1.3 million USD.
With dozens of high and exotics, rarities, concepts and milestone cars, the Lamborghini Museum is a must-see when visiting the Motorvalley. I also found it a perfect start before visiting Ferrari’s Modena site.
The Engine Museum is a lovely addition to the Enzo Ferrari Museum
FOR AN OVERVIEW OF ALL THE CAR MUSEUMS I EVER VISITED, CHECK OUT THE INTERACTIVE MAP:
