Staggering Lamborghini Diablo SV-R for sale
The first Sant'Agata built race car still has the power to amaze, 30 years later
There have been some truly great one-make racing series over the years. Think Clio Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup, Ferrari Challenge, BMW M1 Procar, the Jaguar Intercontinental Challenge with XJR-15s (!) and so on. Close racing is guaranteed because the cars are identical, and a grid of matching cars with great engines means a spectacular sound as well. One of the forgotten single-make series is Philippe Charriol Super Sport Trophy; it sounds like it should be an equestrian event, but was actually a championship exclusively for Lamborghini Diablos. And what could be cooler than that?
Moreover, the cars used were factory-built, not third-party converted. So the Diablo SV-Rs (Super Veloce Racing) used in the Trophy were all straight from Sant’Agata, the first motorsport machines built by Lamborghini. Which, 30 years later, is pretty significant. From this car came a Diablo GT-R (built from the later GT, as this was from an SV), then all the 21st-century racing cars from Squadra Corse like the various Huracan GT3s, the SC63 and now the Temerario GT3. This car represents the beginning of Lamborghini as a motorsport manufacturer.
So, of course, it’s awesome. While using the rear-drive, 525hp SV as its base, the SV-R was a little more powerful (at around 540hp), usefully lighter at less than 1,400kg and kitted out with all the necessary racing goodies like bigger brakes and better suspension. While retaining the manual gearbox (with shorter ratios), slamming that Gandini wedge right down to the tarmac was some proper aero. No wonder the super-rich of the mid-'90s were intrigued; depending on where you ask, between 31 and 34 SV-Rs were built for three seasons of the Super Sport Trophy from 1996-1998.
This is the eighth such Diablo built, and it raced in every season; it was actually one of the cars used by the 1997 championship winner. From there, the SV-R raced in France and the USA, before coming to the UK in 2017. A reasonable racing career then, as attested to by the 16,000 miles. It was built explicitly for competition, and that’s exactly how the Diablo has been used. This isn’t some story of an abandoned racer that needs recommissioning. It’s been driven and enjoyed as intended, and looks ready to race into its fourth decade as well.
That's a tribute to a huge restoration effort undertaken by the most recent owner, who spent £150,000 with BBM Sport in Daventry on a respray, retrim and rebuild to get it looking like this. The interior in particular is sensational, actually inspired by a Diablo SE30 Jota road car. It’s one of those wonderful things, this SV-R, that as a production-based one-make racer could now go on to all sorts of things. The seller says it’s ready to race (with a spare set of wheels included, and Ohlins suspension now fitted) as well as being not far from road-ready, should you wish to invest in MOTing it. Either use promises the sort of visceral thrill only a V12 Lamborghini can offer. And it’s yellow - the best Lamborghinis are always yellow.
The SV-R is for sale at £650,000. An awful lot by anyone’s standards, of course, but when you look at what’s asked for the latest breed of track-only, production-derived nonsense that can’t be raced, a Diablo with actual competition pedigree begins to look like fair value. Let’s not forget that the road car has enjoyed some considerable appreciation of late, too, with two roadgoing SVs on PH available at more than half a million. So a bit more for the rarer, faster, freshly rebuilt racing version? Worth every penny…
Interesting point in a Doug DeMuro video a few weeks ago that the lower bumper on the Diablo wasn't originally supposed to be there and was added as a US safety spec item. Apparently the design was supposed to be like this SVR all along.
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