Maurizio Reggiani has joined Eccentrica, the company working to preserve internal combustion in the face of a growing EV market.
Maurizio Reggiani, who retired in 2023 from his position asLamborghini chief technical officer, has taken a job at Eccentrica, a new company thatmodifies classic Lamborghinis.
Reggiani, the engineer behind Lamborghinis such as theMurcielago, the Reventon, the Aventador and the Huracan, will advisetheSan Marino-based resto-mod firm on how to produce amodernized versionof the Lamborghini Diablo supercar that debuted in 1990. His first appearance with the company will be in August duringMonterey Car Week in Carmel, Calif.Eccentrica is neither associatedwith nor endorsed byAutomobili Lamborghini S.p.A.
The company says it will produce 19 updatedDiablos for €1.35 million apiece. Each Eccentrica will start with a donor car andretain the general look of the original Marcello Gandini-designed Diablobut will have modernized steering, shifting and braking systems, traction control, and air conditioning, among various cosmetic upgrades including modernized headlights.
Power will come from a naturally aspirated 5.7-liter V-12 taken from the first generation ofDiablos and reengineered with new components, including a new camshaft and electronic butterfly valves.
“This is anexceptional possibility to work on areminder of what happened30 years ago with something that is of today,” Reggiani said in aninterview with Bloomberg on July 11. “We willcreate an exciting experience for a small number of customers who want to have, let me say, as muchDiablo as possible.”
It’s a rebuke to electric-vehicleproponents who have dropped electric motors intoreimagined classics, ranging fromthe Porsche 911 tothe Ford Mustang.
“[Electrictechnology] is a solutionin terms of reducing emissions, but it’s clear that the addedweight takes outthe fun of the drive,” says Reggiani.
Eccentrica’s V-12promises 550 horsepower and 442 pound-feetof torque, both of which surpass that of theoriginal Diablo, which registered less than 500 horsepower. “It is much more important to be 50 kilo less compared to 50 horsepower more,” Reggiani says. “This continues to be my vision.”
Thephilosophyruns counter to automakers from Bugatti Automobiles SAS and Bentley Motors Ltd. to Ferrari NV and Porsche AG, whose marketing around recent introductions indicates that any additional power fromhybridization offsets the weight gain. Bugatti unveiled its 1,800-horsepower Tourbillonhybrid onJune 20; Bentley came out with a 771-horsepower Continental GT hybrid on July 11. Ferrari and Porsche are already selling six-figure hybrid sports cars of their own.
But Lamborghini owners love the notorious roar and rumble of the V-12, Reggiani says.
“People want to have something with as little as possible electronic control and as much as possible human control and emotion,” he says. “A car like this can fulfill this kind of dream.”
Others share the sentiment. During Bloomberg’s Hot Pursuit! podcaston July 5,Tom Wagner, the co-founder of Knighthead Capital Management, predicted that as EVsbecome more prevalent, small-batch internal-combustion carswill becomecoveted jewels.Knighthead Capital fundsSinger, the California company that sells million-dollar sports cars updated from old Porsche 911s.
“The fundamental reality is that most EVsdon’t inspire the same kind of passion that certain other vehicles do,” Wagner said. “People can use EVs as themode of transportation, low cost, high tech.But on the weekend, maybe you want to go out and have a different experience. Let’s call it digital versus analog.”
Deliveries of theDiablo-inspiredV-12 produced by Eccentricawill beginin June 2025.
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First Published Date: 15 Jul 2024, 23:58 PM IST