Behold the Lamborghini Gallardo restomod
Cavën Atelier's Hommage 26 reimagines the first V10 Lambo, with Giugiaro input...
The Lamborghini Gallardo is enjoying something of a moment right now. The reaction to the Temerario has been uncertain, the Huracan was never available with a manual gearbox, and the other 21st century Lambo that did have three pedals - the Murcielago - is now many hundreds of thousands. So people are turning to the baby bull: as recently as 2022 you could buy a sub-50k manual for £75,000; now a slightly later manual Spyder with a few less miles is for sale at £140k. Little wonder, therefore, that the recent PH auction lots have had so much attention…
Now there’ll be additional competition for the best Gallardos thanks to the announcement of this, the Cavën Atelier Hommage 26. Which sounds like a piece of furniture, but it’s actually a brand new reworking of the much loved V10, complete with design input from Fabrizio Giugiaro. He originally penned a Gallardo vision while at Italdesign in 1998, which evolved into the 2003 production car; this Hommage is what he believes the car could be ‘using materials and technologies that were not available or practical in 1998.’
Just five parts - roof, side mirrors and bases, windscreen and side windows - are carried over from a donor Gallardo (there’s a phrase not used before), the rest crafted in carbon to create this. New features for the Hommage 26 include active aero flaps at the rear (not unlike a Ferrari 12Cilindri, in fact), an openable hatch for the V10 and what are being termed ‘pop-down’ headlights. You wouldn’t be alone in preferring the look of an unmodified car but, hey, there’s a reason we aren’t car designers. It looks different, the carbon will save some weight, and it’s super rare - that’ll be enough boxes ticked for 25 very wealthy folk to be intrigued.
Especially with a little more power on offer. The 5.0-litre V10 (the earlier Lambo engine, not the later Audi 5.2) has been refreshed by Italtecnica; as well as 8,500rpm potential (where only 8,000 was possible before), power is increased from 500hp stock to either 540hp in a GT variant or 560hp in a Performance grade Hommage. Unsurprisingly, this new Cavën creation will be manual only, though given the e-gear was an automated manual anyway it shouldn’t matter which kind of Gallardo is donated.
Additional changes underneath include new brakes, those 20-inch wheels and suspension that can be adjusted between comfort and sport settings. The usual contemporary supercar mod-cons, then, just with the unrepeatable joy of a manual V10 along for the ride. Which sounds pretty great, even if we thought the Gallardo was too young for the restomod treatment as well.
Obviously the 25 buyers will have free reign when it comes to customisation choices, not least because they’re paying for both a donor Lamborghini and the €900,000 needed to make a Hommage. Probably best to just call it a million, when transport and taxes are also factored in. Some way from Covid-era £60k cars, but then 2020 feels more and more like another planet with each passing day. Giugiaro added: "It's an opportunity to show the world that many things can become better and better if we continue working on them with care, and in a delicate way… It's a beautiful challenge: rather than creating something entirely different, we're evolving an archived concept. Some elements remain just as I designed them back in 1998, especially the front end, which is almost exactly as it was originally. Others are completely new and contemporary, like the rear design and some of the ideas for the interior." Coming to a concours lawn near you soon, no doubt…
Not sure it's an improvement looks wise either, a bit too aftermarket looking especially the lights, and aftermarket from a few years ago at that. And where is anything on it that couldn't have been done in 1998 or 2003, except maybe the LEDs?
What you'd hope for given the designer & cost is OEM++, especially with the promise of modern materials & tech, but to me this doesn't deliver that.
Give me a well looked after Balboni over this any day, and it'd be significantly cheaper too.
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