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“We are here to turn dreams into reality and light up the senses: we give adrenaline a shape”. It is always a pleasure to visit the Centro Stile Lamborghini and meet Mitja Borkert, who is as passionate as ever. He takes us into the presentation room to inform us that the idea of the Temerario is as old as 2016 when Borkert assumed the leadership of Lamborghini Design.
The origins
The first project he worked on with his team, he says, was the Revuelto, Lamborghini’s flagship V12: ‘We also had to think about what comes next to the Huracán which is a slightly smaller car, of course’. To ensure that the two cars were not seen as too similar right from the start of their development, we traditionally focused on the wheelbase, which emanates the impression our designers and engineers envisaged. When it was built the Temerario had no name and the layout was incomplete, but we created a model that was always very similar to the evolving Revuelto”.
A new design language
Two supercars with different purposes though one of them is the natural continuation of the lineage of Countach, Diablo, Murcielago and Aventador while the ‘younger’ Huracan is the Gallardo’s successor though ‘Lamborghini built down to the last screw’ says Borkert. A new high-strength aluminium spaceframe construction underpins the Temerario. This meant that because the car was designed from scratch there was required a new design language “but it has to be unmistakable”, says Borkert. “I have adhered to one core principle since I first set foot in the company: every Lambo must be a ‘Lambo’ and reflect the brand DNA, but something new must be delivered.
Symbolic motifs: the hexagon and the Y
It is worth recognising that the tradition of mid-rear-engined super sports cars is still very important for Lamborghini. Scales are as important as before, though with a decidedly less obsessive touch than the Countach silhouette – wedge-shaped, rising to a peak mid-way. Here, however, it is the hexagon that becomes a recurring design element and is found in the taillights and exhaust outlets. Hexagon is one of the most recognizable and persistent Lamborghini design features, whose roots can be traced back to the Lamborghini Marzal concept car. It has gradually progressed into the Y-shaped icon evident in several of the brand’s current automobiles. One of the examples is in Revuelto headlights.
Feel like a Pilot
The interior slots into the Revuelto’s ‘Feel like a Pilot’ philosophy, designed with great attention to roominess, particularly headroom: “It’s a sports car that one can take to the track and even wear a helmet while driving, one of the key aspects because the designers are always keen to make a Lamborghini as low as possible. Therefore, all the proportions had to be enlarged in our case to expand the ceiling and be the ideal Temerario”.
A range of over 400 colours
The sitting position is nevertheless decidedly low, in a setting by a light dashboard decorated with iconic signs. For a second time, the hexagon dominates the controls to air vents added in this model. No less important is the activity of the Art & Colour Atelier the style centre department which is responsible for materials and colours. And, by the way, the choice of colour is also vast: there are more than 400 of them within the Ad Personam programme.
“We are the wizards of colour”, jokes Borkert, who with his team always likes to dig into other segments provided that they get a chance to do that. Lamborghini has evolved drastically in the last twenty years of the company, examples of other affiliations include the Lamborghini 63 Tecnomar Yacht and Ducati Streetfighter V4 Lamborghini Motorbike.