So I was wondering. Given all the discussion on the two recent one-off
privately comissioned Ferraris (Yoshiyuki Hayashi's 575GTZ by Zagato
on a 575M chassis, and Jim Glickenhaus's "P4/P5" One-off on an Enzo
chassis).

Is it appropriate for a Lambo enthusiast to do something similar only
with a Lambo chassis ?

Namely commission the design and fabrication of a custom one-off
Lamborghini, say out of a Murci or Gallardo.

Please understand that I am NOT dissatisfied with the work of Centro Stile
at all ! No criticism of them intended here.

It's just that there are other Italian design houses and some that haven't
done a Lamborghini in a long time. And we may be entering a new era here
where these one-offs become popular again.

Also I'm not saying anyone will do this, just wanting to bring up the topic
to see if there are any opinions.

Would Lamborghini be offended, do you think ? I would hope not! But what
do people think?

Larry

Well, you might start to wonder what that naked Gallardo body was doing right next to that 575 GTZ...
Was it there just for a respray, or is it also getting a Zagato treatment?

Last one-off Lamborghini's I can think of are the Raptor and the Fulgura Laraki, but I guess that last one's a different story.

Attached Images

GallardoZagato.jpg (139.8 KB, 180 views)

I visited Zagato mid August 2004 and saw a Murciélago body just in the same fashion, naked to the body and possibly waiting for re-spraying...

I was not allowed to take as many pictures as I would have liked, but in the showroom there I could finally admire a fully finisthed and gorgeous orange example of Lamborghini Canto. Those who hate it should see it in in the flesh, and then they might kindly close their big mouths for a full year.

A few meters away, under a silken blue cover, there was a very flat and wide roadster thing with a very distinct horse-shoe shaped nose.... I suggested "... a special Bugatti for a customer?" An uncertain smile came as an answer. I am pretty sure it was a rebodied EB110...

Marcel, remember the Pregunta!!! It came in 1998. Still, Heuliez wasn't one of the coachbuilders to be commissioned by Audi to bring a proposal to rebody the Canto before selecting Donkerwolke's proposal, as was Bertone, or Zagato, once again...

WOW!

I had not seen that picture !

Both for the 575GTZ and the Gallardo!

Thanks!

Larry

You are very fortunate !

I also like the Canto and if I had known that Zagato had retained a finished
version I would have defiitely made a point to see it last summer when I
was in Italy. I expect/hope they still have it. I love the Murcielago, and
Luc's genius. But I also love the Canto. I have been hoping that we might
have a few that get built.

Also, right next to Christina's desk at the Lamborghini Museum, is a wonderful
Lamborghini V12 development poster, showing the different V12 supercars
that have been designed (not all built). The Gandini Super Diablo and
other never built Gandini Diablo variants are depicted as well. I tried to buy
that poster but it wasn't in the store for sale. I shot video of the poster
once I realized I couldn't buy it, to at least have some record of the
designs on it, and I noticed while watching it on my TV that Christina was
attributed at the bottom of the poster as having helped develop it. I need
to contact her and ask if it is available. But some of the designs there are
interesting as well.

And then there is just commissioning a new design from one of those great
houses!

Again not to slight Centro Stile ! One should approach them as well, but I
expect that they have their hands full giving us the great designs they
have been giving us. But maybe not. Maybe they also want to do custom
work! They could grow their staff for that. I don't know if that's possible.

During the LP640 coming out at Geneva, ITALIASPEED had very interesting
photos of Luc giving Ken Okuyama (Pininfarina Creative Director and
Ferrari Enzo designer) and Jason Castriota (Maserati 75th Anniv Birdcage and
Ferrari 599GTB designer) a detailed tour of both the LP640 and the Miura
Concept. They seemed to be quite interested. I would have loved to drop
in on that one! I have some interesting theories, but I'd probably get
myself in trouble.

Scramjet; it's me who made that poster for Cristina, drawing each and every piece; it took me nearly half a year, and most of my free time. She indeed helped so much providing some info about some of them, but also M1ura was key. I should be making a sort of "mark II" version in the near future, rather late this year, I guess, including some more interesting and little known V12 cars we have discovered lately. I shall then print again a handful of them. So, why don't you email me and go on talking about Cantos?

As soon as I saw your name I also recognized it as it is also on the poster !
I feel like an idiot, but I've very happy to finally find you !

That's an awesome poster you guys did! I thank you for it because it
has given me a lot of enjoyment looking at the cool designs, many of which
I've never seen before ! I just about flipped when I saw it hanging next
to Christina's desk there on the ground floor of the Museum last summer.
It was like finding gold to me. I was bummed when I asked at the store for
it and they didn't have it available.

I've been trying to find you since last summer! Doing searches etc.
with no luck. At least I have my video of it.

Why don't you offer it for sale? I think many on this site would be interested !

Anyway, I'll definitely PM you because I want a current one if you still
have any (sounds like you might not) and I would like to order some
new ones when they are available. I'm anxious to see the new V12 designs
you've uncovered too !

I'm glad someone else also likes design, just for design sake, especially
of our favorite subject!

As far as the Canto. I bought the Zagato 1990-2000 book by Marshall
because of its coverage of the Canto including the nice Harada color
drawings, which are very nice. I assume you have that book. I was using a shrunk version of one of Nori's drawings as an avatar till just recently.
Was the Canto you saw at Zagato a real one or the full size styling model,
which is also pictured in Marshall ?

Anyway, if there is a Canto at Zagato, I will have to make a trip back to
Italy sooner to see it. Plus drop in at Lamborghini to see the latest art that
the dream makers are producing.

I'm a Zagato fan anyway, and when I was in Italy I was thinking of calling
them up, but the schedule didn't permit it.

Anyway, you should probably write a book with all the never before seen
designs you probably have. I'd love to see them. You probably made shots
at Zagato of the Canto as well, I'd love to see those sometime too.

Does anyone have any idea of a real count of how many Cantos still exist?

Zagato would definitely be a place to explore a custom Lambo !

Larry

The orange car at Zagato's is a real car, only missing a "Canto" logo anywhere... Remember that was a sort of joke name of Di Cappua, but for sure it wasn`t to be that and, in the end, it maybe was never decided one... Canto in Spanish means either "chant" or song, or "stone" or the thickness part of, say, a coin; so, little to do with bulls... You may have wondered if I was talking about the orange-red 1:1 mock-up model they built in 1995 for Lamborghini staff to review... A couple of pictures of this mock-up one are indeed at Joanne Marshall's book as well. It's not that one I was referring to, whose fate I ignore; the one I saw is a real fully finished, fully trimmed definitive car really worth the visit.

Still, some veil of secrecy surrounds the car, for it was the only one they didn't allow me to depict at their showroom. I do not know if it is still there, but I suppose it is.

I do not know how many rolling Cantos were built, but I guess that no less than three...