When shopping for a kit or replicar to build, how do you decide on which one to go with? For Chuck Gibson, who owns more than a dozen vehicles of all sorts of makes (including an Everett-Morrison Cobra), the decision was a little easier. Even with his personal collection bulging with unique vehicles, he really wanted a Lamborghini Diablo.
But Chuck, who runs a demolition company near his home in Pearland, Texas (just outside Houston), didn't want just another car that would sit in the corner of the garage and gather dust. He wanted a dependable driver, and he set out to have a car built to his standards. After finding a builder, Gibson thought he was on the right track, but when it took longer and longer to get anything done on the car, he began looking for another shop to do some of the custom touches he wanted on his car.
Gibson visited several shops around the country, but it wasn't until he found Italian Designes on the Internet that the ball started rolling in the right direction. Italian Designes, located in Claremore, Oklahoma (www.italiandesignes.com) is owned by Kelly Hays, and Kelly was advertising a Diablo chassis for sale on the Net. Gibson called Hays, the two hit it off, and the pair soon realized they had the same vision for Chuck's Lambo. Gibson yanked the unfinished project from the first shop, and soon delivered it to Hays' facility.
Italian Designes operates out of a 2,400-square-foot shop, which is next to a 4,800-square-foot office and entertainment facilities for their customers. (Hays offers the use of their guest suite when customers visit the facility during the build process.) With over 20 years of experience in building custom cars (from '55-57 Chevrolets, Corvettes, Sixties musclecars, street rods, and Lamborghini replicas), Hays believes the difference is in the details (not only in the fit and finish, but in form, performance, and function, too).
Gibson found that Italian Designes strives to make their customers happy, and they invite clients to come visit the facility to get to know them first-hand. Gibson did just that, visiting his car sometimes twice a month so he and Kelly could discuss how Chuck wanted each aspect of his car's design to look. Having owned a few musclecars himself, Chuck was familiar with the build process, but was surprised, because the extra work needed to complete this particular kit.
The scissor doors with fully functional door glass and locks are a little tricky for the first-time builder, but something Italian Designes has become proficient at doing. The mid-engine application is typically more costly and challenging than a front-engine car to build, but on the plus side, no other car compares to the attention level or celebrity status of the Lamborghini. That makes building a Diablo the top of the game as far as skill goes, and you soon find out there is nothing "kit" about these cars because each is hand-built and custom-fabricated. Chuck believes that's why 90 percent of the Diablo kits never seem to get finished or finished correctly.
Some of the work that had already been done to the Diablo was removed (such as the rollcage), as Kelly and Chuck completely redesigned the car from nose to tail. The body started off as an older D&R body, and it would soon be fitted to one of Italian Designes' chassis. An IFS/IRS setup (with coilover shocks on each corner) from Held Motorsports went in, and after some body panels-belly pans, really-were bonded to the chassis, so the only openings are for the suspension and the engine.