Diablo

Like the Countach, the Diablo was 204 cm wide, making parking and exiting the car almost impossible. Therefore, Lamborghini retained the familiar scissor doors for which the brand has been famous since the Countach.

The 492 hp was sufficient for the Lamborghini Diablo to regain its position among the supercars, together with the Bugatti EB110 with its 560 hp and the Jaguar XJ-220 with 550 hp.

The Diablo was presented to the public on 21 January 1990 at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo after more than five years of development. Diablo means devil in Spanish and is the name of a bull owned by the Duke of Veragua in the 19th century. This bull was famous for fighting an epic battle with 'El Chicorro' in Madrid on July 11 1869, and it became so legendary that it was felt that the name was aggressive enough to be used for a Lamborghini.

The design of the car was contracted to Marcello Gandini, who had designed its two predecessors. In 1987, Chrysler bought Lamborghini and injected many millions of dollars into completion of the car, and since Chrysler’s management was uncomfortable with Gandini’s designs the design team in Detroit was commissioned to execute an extensive redesign.

But the design was still remarkable and, in the words of Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson, the Diablo was designed "solely to be the biggest head-turner in the world".