Late final yr, after a 29-year stint in Sant’Agata Bolognese that outlined the fashionable Lamborghini supercar, Maurizio Reggiani introduced his retirement. It marked the top of a legendary profession that started in Maserati engaged on the Biturbo, then Bugatti on the EB110, and eventually, with the raging bull for the higher a part of the final three a long time, or so we thought. In the present day, Reggiani broadcasts that he’s stepping again into the trade, this time as an advisor tasked with serving to Eccentrica Automobiles develop its reinterpretation of the Lamborghini Diablo.
We sat down with Reggiani for a fast chat forward of this newest announcement. Some responses have been edited for readability.
“After spending so a few years, you might be actually glued to the enterprise of the tremendous sports activities automobile,” says Reggiani. “Once I joined Lamborghini, it was within the time of the Diablo SV, and in the present day, to work on a product that’s what occurred earlier than my arrival at Lamborghini is like closing a giant circle that is kind of 30 years of the historical past of Lamborghini.
Reggiani arrives in a pivotal yr for the San Marino-based carmaker. It has been over 12 months because the startup model unveiled its tackle the Lamborghini Diablo, which it defines as a “restomod.” Flash ahead a yr, and Eccentrica is gearing as much as showcase a working and driving car at this yr’s The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. It’s at this inflection level, earlier than the reimagined Diablo begins its growth cycle, that Reggiani steps in.
“An increasing number of petrolheads need to have this sort of product. There’s an increasing number of of a love of what had been the extra pure automobiles produced within the final 20, 30 years. It’s clear that folks love this, however they want to have one thing extra precise by way of design, but in addition by way of performance,” says Reggiani. “The large job is to have the ability to do one thing that’s coherent with the DNA of the unique automobile however making a sort of refresh. From a technical viewpoint, it’s saving the purity of the automobile whereas permitting for some enhancements which are capable of remedy or decrease the criticisms current on the time when the automobile was launched.”
Eccentrica is exclusive within the resto modding world as the primary fashionable firm to reinterpret one in all Sant’Agata Bolognese’s icons. Working straight with Reggiani, who labored on the Diablo when new, provides quite a lot of credibility to the San Marino-based outfit. Nevertheless, tempting an automotive legend to step out of retirement isn’t any straightforward job. Fortunately, Reggiani dropped hints concerning what enticed him to return so shortly.
“It’s additionally a chance to supply clients one thing slightly bit extra wild in comparison with all of the standardization of in the present day,” says Reggani. “As a result of automobile being born beneath the homologation guidelines of the 90s, it’s clear which you can have rather more freedom in comparison with the OEMs in the present day that should launch a totally new automobile fulfilling all the brand new laws that must be available on the market for ten years…Petrolheads, I believe, can admire one thing in a section that’s tremendous unique however can present distinctive feelings…In the event you speak about a donor automobile that could be a Lamborghini, you’re already in a section that’s on the high of the highest.”
Whereas Eccentrica plans to unveil its first working and driving prototype throughout this yr’s Monterey Automobile Week, Reggani shared that the corporate goals to start buyer deliveries subsequent summer time. When requested concerning the quick growth timeline, Reggani responded, “In the event you bear in mind the time I spent usually creating restricted vehicles just like the Sian, just like the Countach and the Veneno, we’re speaking a couple of comparable timeline… It’s formidable, however nothing not possible.”
Count on to listen to extra particulars about Eccentrica’s first reinterpretation because the yr rolls on. Nevertheless, this newest announcement clearly reveals that what already regarded like a promising addition to the restomod world has picked up some severe potential with its growth now guided by somebody that’s nothing in need of a residing automotive legend.
