Yes, the Car of the Week section is back after a long absence, as we were way too busy with other stuff around here. This week’s car is really special, one of my all-time favourites: the Lamborghini Diablo SV.

The SV was launched in 1995 as an optional package for the standard Diablo. It inherited the revised dashboard and larger brakes of the Diablo VT, but kept the hairy-chested RWD system from the base model and scrapped the electronic suspension to save weight. However, this wasn’t just a mix of bits from other models. It got its own three-piece adjustable spoiler, air intakes, rims, and an extra 18 hp. The resulting Diablo was possibly the most insane Lamborghini ever, sending all 510 bhp through a five-speed manual to the rear wheels in a car which weighed just over 1500 kilos. The top speed was rated at 204 mph and 0 – 100 kph could be dealt with in just 3.9 seconds. However, this car isn’t about the figures, it’s about the sheer madness. It’s a proper Lamborghini. You got scissor doors, pop-up headlamps, no rear window, a five-speed manual, rear wheel drive, and a V12 which made a fantastic noise.

Sadly though, it lost some of its madness for the 1999 model year, when the whole Diablo range scrapped pop-up headlamps in favour of fixed headlamps. Nonetheless, it was still insane, up until it was replaced by the Murcielago. The Murcielago never had a RWD variant, and it never had pop-up headlamps. It was much more sensible, you even got a rear window, albeit a small one. That’s not to say the Murcielago was a bad car, it was still fantastic, but deep inside me, I knew it couldn’t possibly replace the Diablo’s special place in my heart.

So there you have it, this week’s Car of the Week: the Lamborghini Diablo SV. A legend which the car world shall never forget.

Picture credit: M. Basil (1) (2) | Post processed by Igor Magun | CC BY-NC 2.0