Yeah, is it 1 of 1? I remember seeing a pic of this car or its twin at Bob Forstner collection, so how manny were made?
Hard to say, I have been told as many as 6 were made, but no where to confirm this.. PS, I do not own this car, nor do I know who, noe am I representing it for sale...so no need for more PM'S on it reagrding the sale price..I have no control over this car.
MR collection made a nice 1/43 model of this, and Looksmart will soon re-issue it. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm pretty sure it was the only one built. The car was built to pitch a race series in North America when Lamborghini NA was still in Jacksonville, it was before Audi and before Vik. The series was being put together by Ron Attapatu of Star Racing, Stefane Ratel and Johannes Badrutt with help from Bob Branner who had been the President of Lamborghini NA Jacksonville until Joe Grecco took over. I was working with Lamborghini NA's Sales Manager Jim Stock when the car was presented at Pocono to a large number of our participants that were competing in the Ferrari Challenge Series. I don't remember the exact number of drivers that were needed to make the series economically feasible but it was somewhere in the mid to upper teens. The interest from the Challenge drivers at Pocono would have filled about 60% of the required field. After Pocono the car was next scheduled to appear at Concorso in Aug. where it was expected to generate enough interest to fill out the field, so production could begin for the next year's racing season. The only problem was that the transport company didn't get the car to Concorso in time for the show and the whole thing fell apart. By the next year Lamborghini's ownership was in talks to sell the company to the Qvale family (also fell through ironically at Concorso). They then sold the NA distributorship to Vik along with the Roadster R and Lamborghini Jacksonville was closed. I still have copies of the Racing Program brochures. Joe Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
From searching around, here's what I found: The SV Roadster was never put into real production but strangely enough some do exist, the factory actually built a couple of prototypes, some even with the 1999 redesigned headlights, but they never actually put it into production. The US-distributor at that time requested a Diablo SV Roadster for their market but after Audi took over, all the rear wheel drive only projects (SV) were canceled. A Lamborghini Diablo SV Roadster still remains a very rare car, only a handful were ever built, some sources state only 6 SV Roadster were made by the factory, with only two RHD models, one of which was severely damaged during a crash. Note that most of these SV Roadsters were 1999 models, only the orange metallic prototype and a yellow car were 1998 models, the other cars were all based on 1999 specification models. However, there is little information as to the SV-R Roadster....with the exception of the following: "In order to bring additional publicity to their pro-am series in 1997, there was a roadster version of the SVR, called VT Roadster R, despite being based on an SVR chassis with everything that its racecar variant has and lacking the four wheel drive system of the VT". My research indicates that this car could very well be the only SVR Roadster, or VT Roadster R as outlined above, known to exist while there is a small handful of SV Roadsters out there someplace. Great find! Will go nicely with the other collectibles you have!
I bought my SV-R #24 (USA Flag car) as well as my ex GT-R from Ron Attapatu. I got the GT-R with in days of it leaving the US via a boat out of Florida. Last I spoke to Ron, he had moved to Colorado Roy
The car in question is #01 of a planned 36. It was built in late 96 early 97. As I mentioned I have the complete information package on the car. I have never seen a picture of another one anywhere. We've had a number of Diablo race cars running at Pocono. BTW that is Valentino in the Ecotec car lifting the inside front wheel. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Currently this car is not in the Forstner collection. He has the SVR #1 but not the Roadster. Attached are two pics of the SVR, the first one taken some weeks ago, the second one was taken last year in the old museum location. But I too thought he had the Roadster at one point, but I don't have a pic or saw the car in person so it's possible that I also mix it up with the SVR... Martin Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
1 of 1 as far as I know. Not sure what Lambo was thinking when they converted a roadster into a racecar Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Joe: The gentleman exiting the car in the initial picture you provided is John McCann of Austin TX. I don't know if you were ever aware, but I was involved with this car at its inception in 1996 by the car's owner Ron Attapatu, and by my friends Stephane Ratel & Johannes Badrutt. Ron & Stephane wanted me to help promote a one-make race series in the USA modeled on the successful Phillipe Charriol Supersport Series using Diablo SVRs in Europe. Stephane talked Ron (already running an SVR in the PCSS in Europe) into commissioning this car's build at Sant Agata. ONLY ONE CAR WAS BUILT. I thought this was common knowledge, but apparently not. It cost Ron approximately $500,000 (anyone who cares can confirm this can do so via myself with Ron in Florida where he remains running his shipping company. We are still in touch). I recall the enthusiasm it received at your event at Pocono as relayed to me by several prospective series participants. However, the deal called for a substantial upfront investment and at the time the Lamborghini brand did not have the presence in the USA that it does today. As I recall, most of the people the series was pitched to opted to go with the then-successful Ferrari 355 Challenge Series with full Ferrari dealer support. In fact the response I got from the few people I spoke with was lukewarm at best and skeptical at worst. They thought the car it self was very cool, but I recall one well-known racer asking me: "How do I know Lamborghini are going to be in business 6 months from now?". I also recall explaining all this to Johannes Badrutt when he visited my wife & I at our home that year. Accordingly, it came as no surprise when the series was stillborn. As a footnote: perhaps Jim Stock felt sorry for me because shortly thereafter he offered me the last USA Diablo SE30 at cost (even though he knew I was an F40 owner!). I said yes immediately, and at the time I recall feeling that it was all I could do to support the Lamborghini marque. Hope this helps, but lets all be clear, there was only one made. The car was subsequently owned by the USA distributor, and now resides with a local enthusiast. As with all the Diablo race cars, they belong on a race track doing what they were built to do - racing. Hopefully, this car will one day be used for the purpose for which Ron funded its build.
Great info, thanks for sharing.. Was your SE30 Red, car #27, now being offered for sale with Steve Waldie..? Wonder why his price is so low on the car..what's the story behind it..??
Joe, John was an annual participant in the event (until he got married). That was during the early years of the Ferrari Challenge, Pocono was more or less a feeder event for the Challenge series. There was a lot of interest in the Lamborghini series. Our Challenge drivers really liked the car and the program, one even described it as being too good to be true compared with what they got with the Ferrari Challenge. Besides Braner there were two other former Presidents of Lamborghini in North America at the event, Joe Nastasi and Bob Grossman, both who have long histories in racing. They all wanted to wait and see if Lamborghini got enough people to move forward with it, and as you mentioned it didn't help matters that at the time Lamborghini's future was in question.
No idea. I kept that car for 12 months and drove it 4 times. Hated the poor finish (gear knob broke, window trim came loose, windows laminated) and thought the performance was significantly sub-par to that of my F40. Sold it back to Lamborghini in 1998 for what I paid so I cant account for its history from then on. I was at the factory in 1994 & 95 when these were being built and Eu sales director Peter Leonard-Morgan told me that funds were tight and quality-control down so maybe that has something to do with the original finish of the SE30s. In my experience, everybody likes the look of the SE30, but few will pay what is asked of them, and that's why they sit around for so long. I bet that has something to do with Steve Waldie's pricing, plus, it seems to have significant mileage too. I encountered it in Carmel about a decade ago looking the worse for wear, clearly in the hands at the time of someone who didn't care for it. Perhaps its been refurbished now.
Joe: As Stephane Ratel will tell you, when it comes to a race series, interest means nothing, checks or wires do. The bottom line is not a single person ponied up the six-figure commitment to participate. It was a great idea, a good try, and a cool car, but it just didn't work.
Joe, Agree, the difference in this case is these people were going write the check, they were going to race the next year. The only question was if it was going to be in a Ferrari or Lamborghini. With Ferrari they knew what they were getting. Joe
I can second what Joe is saying about quality of late-Chrysler to early-MegaTech ownership period. I conclude that the quality was very inconsistent, as I have seen extremely well built ones and extremely poorly finished cars within the same model and year! So, since Diablos are now also 'old' Lambos, they should be approached the same way as all the other older models, imo, without any preconceptions about anything....Each one must be evaluated on its own merits, and condition, considering not only how it was used and maintained, but also how good it was brand new! Some were great, and others were poor, even as they rolled out of the factory! I think that is why we see such large Diablo price variances, even across similar, low mileage cars.
