Earliest reliable Diablos?

Say hypothetically, a former Countach owner was looking to make a Diablo his next Lamborghini. What is the earliest year car that he could look for with some confidence of reliability? Granted yes, cars are to be taken into consideration on a case by case basis, but... whats the year when the "bugs" were reasonably worked out (are they ever really?)...

Could some of the dealers/brokers, and some owners, chime in on this one?

 

The ones that were actually driven.

Actually I've always heard relatively good things about Diablos, except for some clutches going out fast.

 

I thought there were quite a few bugs happening with the 91/92 cars....

I guess it might just end up a case by case thing again though like it was with the Countach.
I really want to just find one in the lower $ range, that is reliable but may need some cosmetic work, which I'd do anyway to personalize it a bit more...

 

I have no personal experience, but from what I've read here and other sites.

I think it's just one of those hit or miss things. 2 identical cars. One could be flawless, the other could be a nightmare. As you go up in years the more reliable they become. Generally speaking, any first year cars are generally plauged with more bugs than latter.

 

None.

 

I'm so sick of people saying early Diablo are problem cars. I have 94k on my car and 40k+ on my clutch. I don't baby it. Get one and will never regret it. The early cars are the best. Less to fix (computer controlled shocks and power steering crap) and faster then the other Diablo's I have driven (SV,Roadster,VT). Only complaint I have with early cars is the week brakes. This is a reasonably priced upgrade, but you do have to go with 18 inch wheels.
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agree. my best diablo ownership experience has been the 91/92 production era.......

 

The 91/92 series cars, are amongst the best genuine 200mph, bargain Italian exotic supercars available today. This and the 512TR, are priced quite similar, offer similar perfomance, and look to complete the same mission. At 85K+/-, what else are you going to find, that offers this much performance in an exotic package ? As for D cars, it is amongst the fastests of the series.


Check the clutch
Has the chain tensioner been updated ?

Has the car been driven, on a semi-regular basis ?

Have the car pass a PPI, and you will have a lot of car for the money. As a bonus, it is fully depreciated-you simply pay for maintainance.

 

Im with CHris.

 

Okay. I'm thinking instead of a Countach, who's prices are rising, I might end up shooting for an early Diablo. As I said, I had only heard of 91/92s being problematic, but that wasn't from a wide selection of owners so thanks for your inputs! I'm just wondering if the older cars can fit the newer Diablo body parts? Say if I wanted the SV hood and a 6.0 front/sides? I know, some might think thats a horrible idea to do to an early car but... I'm beyond trying to restore anything to factory condition... I just want a car I can enjoy, instead of spending time and money trying to re-perfect it to day 0.

 

+1, and Chris, you are dead correct. I think 91/92 cars are less likely to become problematic.

 

You done did it now!.

Thats my favorite pic you posted up.

 

Iv'e seen a few early Diablos fitted with Diablo 6.0 bumpers and SV parts to, I would check with Spengineering because they did a Diablo 6.0 into a GT which really looks nice.

I was thinking about buying a used Diablo under 100k insead of doing a complete replicar or buying an SRT-10, ZR1 09. I really want one like Detriot Detomasos except ice blue and performance parts that could blow away almost any performance bike especially the Hayabusa but iv'e never a lambo capable of doing that yet which is why iam still in the debaiting state. I have little experiance with them but Iv'e seen these cars in action and they are great I would perfer a first gen Diablo over almost anything new at this point.

A friend of mine has a 91 Diablo that was owned by Mario Andretti and sadly he lets his dumbass employees drive it and they distory his Diablo and Testrossa everytime I see it at the shop, that car is sittin there right now as we speak. The only thing that scares me of a Diablo is its interior space since I have a large body frame like an NFL lineman, I could barely fit in his Diablo, maybe the seats where to far up front?. The car needs a ton of work but otherwise its a great car for being in such horrible condition .

 

Well, I guess I might be the minority here, but I didn't buy my Countach for performance, and I wouldn't be buying any other Lamborghini at this stage for performance. When I have a few M in the bank and can drop some "toy" money on a track car, then I'd be looking at numbers and such like that. Right now I just want a nice, appealing car... and the Countach appeals to me over anything else, ever. Diablo I think comes in second (tied with a few others, but this one's within my price range). So I'd be getting it for crusing around town, nothing too crazy, just to enjoy on a sunday drive or something.

 

Buying a classic performance exotic, does not obligate you to purchase the fastest car on your street. Buy whatever makes you happy. I found the Diablo, a little too tame in relation to the Countach, aside from the potential for greater terminal speed and the ability to brake more efficiently. I may have found the 91/92 series of cars, much more desireable than the later over-boosted power steering autos and the easy to use clutches-but I am also in the minority with my views. You have to love the Countach, with the compact cabin and smaller dimensions.

 

Totally agree with you there. We have similar tastes! I also bought an early Diablo (1991) becasue it just felt more raw. However if I had to have only one the Countach is still my baby.

 

- I see you have a precious bianca Countach.

With this being the case, I will gladly pin you with a Gold Star for the week !

 

Yeah,

I'm considering an early (lower cost) reliable diablo as a plan B ... Plan A will be get "MY" countach back again if I can ever find it up for sale (or within range of making it become "for sale"!).... and Plan A(#2) would be a replacement countach...

Plan b is really down at like ... #7 on my plans check list... but one to consider and weight in none the less.

I'm severely addicted to the Countach and would probably end up with a Diablo, only temporarily until I could wrangle a Countach (if price becomes an limited factor).

 

But is it possible to modify like an early model Diablo or even possibly a late countach to outrun something like a GSXR1300 Hayabusa? it may sound stupid but thats my dream lambo and I want to know now before I get to deep in buying one in the next few years to experiance a very costly disapointment.

The Countach is still a great performance car even in todays modern day performance. I love the countach and the diablo but I just want mine someday to be one of those sick fast cars that can hunt busas and ZX-14's.

 

The early cars had head gasket issues, chain tensioner issues, and a few minor electrical gremlins. Some of the Early cars also had weak pinions which tended to snap on heavy acceleration. There is an update for them.

The brakes on the early cars are not the best, way to small for a car capable of such high speeds. Build quality was not the best and that terrible gauge binnacle is just brutal to look at and obstructs the view out the windshield like nothing else. Clutch slaves, masters and the clutch rod from the salve to the pivot are weak points as well. The rod is quite well known to bend or even snap at the worst times. There are updates for these aswell.

Over all the early Diablos are a stout machine, as long as the updates have been carried out. A car with good mileage on it will more then likely have had all these things done to it already. A low mileage garage queen might be a bit worry some for an early car.

 

you better stick to high performance kit cars. You will be disappointed.

 

I refuse to believe this guy isn't a 16 year old kid.

 

Nope, 17.

 

It sounds to me like the both of you are the 16 and 17 year olds here.
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So even with modifactions like allans old SV done to a lambo its not possible?