It's one of the most striking, agressive yet clean and precise shapes I have ever seen, and I have no idea who deserves the credit. Your vast knowledge is appreciated. Forza, Cavallini
It is 100% true that the headlights are from a Nissan 300ZX. If you go to www.slantback.com and look at pictures of a Diablo, you'll see the top of the headlight has a strip of carbon fiber on it. If you ever ripped off that strip, you'll uncover the letters "N I S S A N" stamped on the headlight. All exotics are made from parts made all over the world.. Thankfully the headlights are Nissan too -- Maxes HID upgrades easy, and if you ever get a broken headlight they are super easy and cheap to find. -Ben
No way, the Diablo came out in 91 Designed by Gandini, long before Chrysler was on the scene. In my opinion, the original design was much better. The 6.0 is not near as raw looking, and is too refined.
Chrysler had much influence on the Diablo. They owned Lambo well before the Diablo was in production. The original designs were turned down a couple of notches by Chrysler design. Sorry, its true.
Aj, Nice to see you around. Whoever designed it certainly wasn't related to the guy who designed the Enzo! thank god for that!!!
The 6.0 is the same basic design as the first Diablo. Yes, headlights are different, front facia is revised over the years, but its the same. The car was produced for 11 years, with minor changes. That is why it will go down in history as one of the most timeless designs ever produced in an exotic. You can drive a 91 Diablo, and get the same reaction from people as you would if you were driving a 6.0. AMAZING STUFF.
Thats crazy! the 300ZX was in production from 90-96 so maybe lamborghini got some lights when the car became ghost in 96 and they brought the 6.0 a few years later to cover it.
More specifically, the fixed headlamps were designed and manufactured by PIAA for the 300ZX. When Nissan ceased production, PIAA was fortunate to find a new use for them. 6.0 Diablo is an all-time fav of mine!
The Diablo is a Gandini design albeit a compromise with the Chrysler folks but not enough for him to pull his name off the car. He also did cars like the Fiat X 1/9, Maserati Quattroporte, Muira and Countach. The Diablo Roadster actually incorporates more of the original Gandini design (rear cooling ducts etc). Luc Donckerwolcke (an Audi designer and a German) did the 6.0 update. He then went on and did the Murciélago. The last countach update (25th anniversary) was influenced by Chrysler and so was the Diablo. Chrysler owned Lamborghini 1987-1994. Around 1974. The cancellation of a big tractor order (his other company) started things downhill. The oil-crisis added fuel to the fire. The Nissan lights were first installed on 1999 model year Diablos ie prior to the 6.0 -mick
This is the reason there are no Gandini signature badges on any 6.0s. I believe his original design was diluted too much that he asked to have his name removed from the 6.0 Diablos.
The Cizeta V16T was first shown in 1988 and available in 1991. As far as what came first, it would have been the original Diablo design as offered to Lamborghini by Gandini. In fact, the Gandini/Diablo work dates back to 1986. It was after Chrysler altered the Gandini/Diablo design that the original Gandini "Diablo theme" was offered to Cizeta - since the needs of the V16T were different (much wider for the transverse engine mount), it too is a departure from the very 1st design but did retain "critical" features like the grills in front of the rear wheels. -mick
i don't know my jap car history too well, but i'm sure i've seen mid-80's 300ZX's scooting around here before, chunkier design, i know they became very sleek around '89/90 though and don't know whether they share much more than a name.
Marcello Gandini designed the Diablo (his original design was the Cizeta Moroder), Chrysler didn't like it, cleaned it up a bit; and Luc Donckerwolke put the Diablo under the knife to create the 6.0 Voila !
