Paul Gold’s D&R Lamborghini Diablo

Anyone who has ever owned a Lamborghini knows it is a sure thing that he and the car will attract attention wherever they go.

But, in a town that has seen everything, how does one go about getting noticed? This is a question that was easily answered by Las Vegan, Paul Gold. In the first quarter of 2001, he placed the finishing touches on his D&R Lamborghini Diablo. We all have reasons to build the cars we do--but Gold's is, simply and honestly put--"to attract the fairer sex." However, this sort of attention wasn't the only thing on Gold's mind when he built the Diablo.

Like most people who lust after the Italian-influenced body style, it was the curves and the gullwing doors that attracted him to this kit car and a previous project--a 25th Anniversary Countach--which helped him attract more than the ladies. His first project attracted an employer who gave Gold a job as a casino sign painter. As Gold told us: "It involves, basically, sometimes being up as much as 200 feet and working on the massive pylon signs seen around Vegas. It also involves a lot of airbrushing and different rainbow fades. I've painted the New York New York's Statue of Liberty, the two 200-foot signs for the Bellagio, as well as the Aladdin hotel sign and neon-flower wall. When I first got the job, I had the 25th, and it was the car that got me the position. I started the Diablo shortly afterward." And when you're 200 feet up in the air looking at the lights of Vegas, there's nowhere to go but down--the "Strip."

Gold cruises the Vegas boulevards in his Lambo, which is built on the original '86 Fiero V-6 that has a stretched frame. He assures us that it..."was an easy way to build the car. It didn't take a lot of effort, was very cost-effective, and it moves pretty well." He laments that he can't often allow the car to live up to its image as a high-speed toy, as there is a 25-mph speed limit on the Strip, and he has a stock 2.8L Fiero engine under the hood.

Other stock items relating to the project include the exhaust with Mazda tips, A/C, general wiring, and the steering column. Gold added, "It all still works, so why change it?" But this isn't enough to fit in with what could be called America's most glitzy city...

Starting with the original manual four-speed transmission, Gold chopped and lowered the stock Fiero shifter to give it a lower, more European look and feel. He then set to work on his Diablo body, which was provided by D&R--a company with which he is associated.

First he chopped the roof, and then modified the '01 Lambo body, transmogrifying it into a '99 by changing the horizontal side vents to vertical. He then went as far as separating the trunk from the wing so that they open separately. "When D&R makes the rear trunk, it comes as one piece. I cut it into two pieces as with the original car--two decklids." He's wired these in with an electric solenoid release via his alarm system--a Clifford 7000. Along with his custom-shaved doors, the decklids are now part of the keyless-entry system that opens everything (separately) with a touch of a button. After this, he removed the pop-up headlights and fabricated a '00 version that sits inside the headlight pod.

When it came to paint, Gold went with House of Kolor's Violet Pearl Shimmer applied in four separate coats. And to match the paint, and the theme of the city, neon-tubes were installed under the doors, inside the air intake scoops, and inside the vertical vents. All six are powered by a single transformer.

The stock gauges were removed and replaced with a set of VDO's Cockpit series, and his braking power is translated through a set of original Diablo taillights provided by Platinum Motors, a name many of us are familiar with. The stock A/C and heater vents were removed as well, and placed in the same position that the Diablo uses. After adding a Grant steering wheel chopped 1-inch at the mounting bracket, and a custom-made gray interior that he installed, and helped design--Gold was ready to spend nights cruising the streets upon flush-faced wheels, all to the tune of a complete Alpine sound-system--in keeping with the company utilized by Lamborghini in the Alpine Edition Diablo.

Future modifications will include an Anniversary wing, work on the wheelwells, and an upgrade to the suspension. And since this was written, a purple flame job was placed on the interior of each door.

"A car like this will definitely change your life. I was once driving down the street and a car full of girls was trying to flag me down. For the most part, when I meet a girl and take her out in the car, she is floored by it. It's definitely worth a call back."

And as Gold wanted, he got attention by spending 24 months and more than $20,000 on his dream project. "I've had girls flash me--a friend and I were sitting at a stoplight when two girls pulled up and propositioned us. And I've even taken the car to a local strip club where about eight of the dancers came out and posed all around the car."

Sometimes, as Gold told us, the attention can be too much, "It's almost scary, everybody is staring at you. You're not too sure what they're thinking. It's kind of intimidating. Eyes are on you all the time." Gold added, "At a recent show these three guys just jumped into the car and I wasn't sure what was going on. Then, one of their friends started taking pictures. I thought this was pretty disrespectful. But, generally, people are pretty respectful of the car. Car shows are different, you're there to show off the car. I usually get one of two things with this car--jealousy or envy." A good example of that was at a Las Vegas car show where one gentleman was so fooled by the car that, "once he found out that it was a replicar, he got so mad that he left the show grounds."

Other types of attention have come in the forms of trophies and awards of which Gold has several. Some of these include a Peoples Choice from Vacation Village Las Vegas, second place from Castaways Casino Las Vegas, Chamber of Commerce Top Vehicle Pick, and, at the recent AHA Knott's Berry Farm show, where Gold placed second in the Lamborghini division.

"People will stop and look or check it out. Little kids freak out, and the older people have no idea what it is, but still love it. I stopped at a bank once to make a deposit and a guy started yelling at me and ran across the street. He was ready to purchase a Diablo and had no idea mine was a kit car. Once I explained what it was, he didn't believe me until I showed him the engine. In Las Vegas, the people assume the car is the real thing because of all the money here. He offered me $50,000. I turned him down because I want to enjoy my car and money wasn't an issue. Why sell your dream?"

And while SOME people may consider this nothing more than an expensive Fiero, to Paul, it IS as good as Gold, and quite an attention-getter--proving it was a sure thing all the way.