# The Legendary Cars That Defined Lamborghini | Otto Explains | AutoTronix **Section:** Otto Explains **Canonical:** https://autotronix.om/otto/lamborghini-legendary-cars **Language:** English **Arabic version:** https://autotronix.om/ar/otto/lamborghini-legendary-cars --- ## Short Answer Seven cars changed Lamborghini as a company. The 350 GT turned Ferruccio Lamborghini’s idea into a carmaker built around the V12, the Miura made it a maker of mid-engined supercars, the Countach fixed its design identity, the Diablo carried it from Chrysler into the Audi era, the Gallardo added a second model line and brought profits, the Urus opened a new market, and the Revuelto began the hybrid era. --- ## How did Otto decide which cars changed Lamborghini? A car is here only for what it changed in the company: its engineering, its commercial position, its identity or its markets. Fame, rarity or beauty alone is not enough, which is why cars such as the Espada, Murciélago and Aventador appear instead in Otto’s ten iconic Lamborghinis. The seven cars below are in date order, each with the change it caused and how that change still shows today. --- ## How did the 350 GT turn Ferruccio’s idea into a car company? Presented at Geneva in March 1964, less than a year after the company was founded, the 350 GT was Lamborghini’s first production car and proof that a tractor maker could build a refined grand tourer. More lasting was its engine: a 60-degree V12 with double overhead camshafts, designed by Giotto Bizzarrini for competition and made usable on the road by engineers led by Paolo Stanzani. That V12 became the backbone of the early cars, and Lamborghini describes today’s Revuelto as heir to a lineage that began with the 350 GT. --- ## How did the Miura make Lamborghini a supercar maker? Until 1966 Lamborghini built front-engined grand tourers. The Miura, presented at Geneva in March 1966, placed the V12 crosswise behind the cockpit, making it the first mid-engined Lamborghini and the first car the media called a supercar. Orders poured in, surprising both Ferruccio Lamborghini and the coachbuilder Nuccio Bertone, and the Volkswagen Group notes that the factory was expanded and the workforce grew. Lamborghini built 265 P400, 338 P400 S and 150 SV cars, and its flagship cars have kept the engine behind the driver ever since. --- ## How did the Countach define the way a Lamborghini looks? Shown as the LP500 prototype at Geneva in 1971 and built from 1974, the Countach gave Lamborghini its wedge shape, drawn by Bertone, and its scissor doors, an absolute novelty for a production car at the time. Those doors became a signature of all 12-cylinder Lamborghinis and returned on the Diablo. The Countach stayed in production for 16 years, with 1,999 cars across five versions, and its influence was strong enough that Lamborghini later built 112 examples of a hybrid tribute, the Countach LPI 800-4, to mark fifty years since the first prototype’s Geneva unveiling. --- ## How did the Diablo carry Lamborghini into the Audi era? The Diablo was completed under Chrysler’s ownership and unveiled on 21 January 1990 as a rear-wheel-drive car, then the fastest in the world. Many consider it the first modern Lamborghini. It brought two lasting changes: the VT of 1993 gave the V12 flagship four-wheel drive, which became standard on the Murciélago, and its GT1, GT2, SV-R and GTR versions marked Lamborghini’s official racing debut. After Audi bought the company in 1998, the third-series Diablo with a 6.0-litre engine was the first product of the new owner, and 2,903 had been built when production ended in 2001. How Audi itself grew is explained in Otto’s [history of Audi](https://autotronix.om/otto/audi-history). --- ## How did the Gallardo change Lamborghini’s business? The Gallardo, launched at Geneva in February 2003 for the company’s 40th anniversary, gave Lamborghini a second model line for the first time in years, which Lamborghini calls the heir of the earlier Urraco, Silhouette and Jalpa. Its aluminium body and V10 were developed jointly with Audi, and the same V10 later powered the Audi R8. The Volkswagen Group says the Gallardo returned Lamborghini to profitability: in its first year 933 were sold, about three quarters to new customers, and overall sales tripled to 1,305. It also took Lamborghini back to racing, as the car of the first Super Trofeo series in 2009. --- ## How did the Urus change Lamborghini’s market? Lamborghini had built an off-roader before, the V12 LM002 of 1986, but the Urus of 2018, which Lamborghini calls the world’s first Super Sport Utility Vehicle, made the SUV a core product. Powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, it widened the range, became a sales success and led Lamborghini to enlarge its factory; its production line in Sant’Agata is called Manifattura Lamborghini 4.0. In 2024 the Urus SE became the first plug-in hybrid Super SUV. --- ## How did the Revuelto start Lamborghini’s hybrid era? Launched in 2023, the Revuelto was Lamborghini’s first hybrid production car and the first of what it calls High Performance Electrified Vehicles (HPEV). Rather than drop the V12, Lamborghini combined a new one with three electric motors for 1,015 CV. The change spread quickly: by 2024 the Temerario and the Urus SE had followed, and the whole range now consists of plug-in hybrids. The difference between hybrid types is explained in Otto’s guide to [hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric cars](https://autotronix.om/otto/hybrid-vs-plug-in-hybrid-vs-electric). --- ## Common Questions **Why isn’t the Aventador among the cars that changed Lamborghini?** The Aventador of 2011 was a major step, with a carbon-fibre monocoque and a 700 CV V12, but it continued the Murciélago’s role as the V12 flagship rather than changing the company. Otto includes it in the ten iconic Lamborghinis. **Which Lamborghini V12 first had four-wheel drive as standard?** The Murciélago of 2001, the first all-new car of the Audi era. Four-wheel drive had already been offered on the Diablo VT from 1993, which could send up to 28 per cent of the torque to the front wheels. **What does HPEV mean on a Lamborghini?** HPEV stands for High Performance Electrified Vehicle, Lamborghini’s name for its hybrid super sports cars. The Revuelto was the first and the Temerario the second. --- ## Related Otto Explanations - Different Engine Designs Explained: Inline, V, Boxer and More: https://autotronix.om/otto/engine-designs-explained --- ## Related Services - AutoTronix PERFORMANCE: https://autotronix.om/performance - Performance Car Pre-Purchase Inspection: https://autotronix.om/performance/performance-pre-purchase - Performance Vehicle Maintenance: https://autotronix.om/performance/performance-maintenance --- ## Book a Service WhatsApp: +968 9966 8600 https://api.whatsapp.com/send/?phone=96899668600&type=phone_number&app_absent=0 Location: Mabellah Industrial, Street 7, Muscat — Saturday to Thursday, 9 AM to 9 PM