Lamborghini went bankrupt in 1978, but the assets were acquired by investor Patrick Mimran in 1980, who rebuilt the company financially before selling it to Chrysler in 1987. Under Chrysler tutelage, the Countach was replaced by the Diablo in 1989. Under its sexy skin, the Diablo was an upgraded and improved Countach with a more powerful version of the V-12 engine. In 1992 Lamborghini added a four-wheel-drive version of the Diablo: the VT.
In 1994 Chrysler, faced with a recession at home, sold Lamborghini to a group of Indonesian businessmen, who in turn sold it to Audi in 1998. This gave Lamborghini the technical and financial support it needed to move forward. In 2001 the Diablo was replaced with the stunning 580hp Murcielago, and a svelte roadster version was added in 2004. A smaller Lamborghini, the Gallardo, came out in 2003 with a 500hp V-10 engine and all-wheel drive. The $275,000 Murcielago and the $175,000 Gallardo are currently in production and proudly carry on the Lamborghini tradition of building high-speed sex symbols.
The Attack Of The Clonesthe MiuraThe oldest Lamborghini to be copied by the kit car industry was the Miura. No American company has built a Miura clone, but the English have made a few. A semi-convincing replica was offered by Cheetah Cars in the '80s, using English Ford running gear. The quality was poor and only a few were made. A much better effort came from Prova Designs, who used a space frame chassis (designed by Richard Noble) that was also fitted to the Ultima kit car. Power was by a Renault V-6.
Prova recently went out of business. Lamberti Classic Cars also have Miura molds but have not started selling them yet. Parallel Designs recently showed the prototype of a new Miura replica to be sold only in turnkey form. All replicas are of the final SV version, which had no "eyebrows" around the headlights (they are difficult to make).
The CountachThe Countach was such a popular supercar that it didn't take long for the kit industry to take notice. By the early '80s a number of kits were introduced. In pre-Fiero days most had special tubular steel chassis with mid-mounted V-8 engines. In England, Renault V-6 engines and trans-axles were the most popular, but some had muscular Rover V-8s installed. In the U.S., most kits were based on Chevy V-8s and Porsche or ZF transaxles. Lambo kit bodies could generally be split into two types: those molded from real cars, and those sculpted from photographs. Some are extremely convincing, while others can be downright laughable.
The best of the early Countach clones were made by the previously mentioned Prova Designs. They used the same chassis as their Miura kits, with Renault or Rover engines. Many Provas were also sold in the U.S., where they were usually fitted with Porsche transaxles and Chevy engines. Other high-end Countach kits were built in the U.S. by KMC, Elegant Motors, Ultra Designs, Exotic Dream Machines, Armstrong Motorworks, American Fiberbodies, Mirror Image, Marauder Cars, plus many others. Concept Automobiles in Canada also built a very high-end Countach kit with a mid-mounted Chevy V-8. These kits were plausibly accurate, but most were expensive to build and difficult to assemble.
One of the most unusual kits was the Garrish Countach, a modified Sterling body with Lambo bits tacked on. It rode on a simple ladder frame with a Cadillac Eldorado power package in the back. There was even a VW-based Countach kit built by Corbett Motor Cars in the late '80s, but it was more of a caricature than a copy.