Anne Christina Reck – författare

This book examines the Diablo in detail, starting with Ferruccio Lamborghini’s objectives for his eponymous supercar company and his diktat that it eschew racing, which would go on to heavily influence the Diablo’s design and development, even though the founder had long since left the company. Each of the model variants is examined in detail, as are the socio-politico-economic factors that that made designing and developing the Diablo imperative and unavoidable , and which forced the Sant’ Agata works into making evolutionary modifications as well as introducing radical innovations over the course of the Diablo’s long reign. Written by two passionate and deeply knowledgeable owners who for over two decades have run two wedge shaped, spaceframe, Bizzarrini-engined Lamborghini flagships, this book also delves into pre-purchase considerations, the Diablo’s known foibles and the value of a pre-purchase inspection, before discussing the buying process, the trials and tribulations of periodic servicing, preventative maintenance, and garaging, after which it shares the sheer elation and exhilaration of actually piloting a Diablo.

In 1971, the prototype Lamborghini Countach reset the supercar template. Its unique and revolutionary south-north engine-gearbox layout, its longitudinal rear mid-mounted Bizzarrini V12 engine and its equally singular and stunning design language marked it out as something entirely new. As a production car the Countach reigned supreme for an unprecedented sixteen years, during which time it evolved through six variants. It finally met its end in 1990 at the hands of a most unlikely assassin – its own aerodynamics. However, the Countach’s influence lived on beyond this. It spawned a dynasty that lasted until 2010 and included the iconic Diablo and Murciélago. These successors, like the Countach’s equally iconic predecessor, the Miura, were radical but ultimately derivative machines, rather than truly revolutionary cars. The seminal Countach, on the other hand, was a genuinely pioneering leap whose fingerprints can still be found all over Sant’ Agata’s latest flagships. This book sets out the hard, objective evidence for why the Lamborghini Countach should be regarded not only as the quintessential supercar, but also as the most instructive all Lamborghini’s flagship models to date.

Lamborghini’s Holy Trinity, the Countach, Diablo and Murcielago, reigned supreme for almost four decades. Taken together they virtually define Sant’ Agata’s early history.This is the first book that examines this supercar triumvirate as a single discrete entity.Here, two passionate Lamborghini enthusiasts, who have owned their Countach for a quarter of a century and their Murcielago for a decade, meticulously describe the conception, development and production of Lamborghini’s Holy Trinity, and each of the models’ sub-variants.Uniquely , the authors also elaborate on the evolutionary golden thread that weaves its way between and through these three supercars.Automotive evolution is a key theme that runs throughout this book – simply because it was an unceasing series of innovations and developments that kept Sant’ Agata’s Holy Trinity, and indeed Lamborghini S.p.A. itself, alive over a thirty-nine year period starting in 1971. Equally, evolutionary forces were wholly responsible for this dynasty’s death in 2010 - when external forces dictated that this bloodline could no longer adapt to be the fittest , and therefore no longer deserved to survive .This is also the first book that looks at how technological innovations, inter-manufacturer rivalry, and irrepressible socio-politico-economic pressures drove the Holy Trinity’s evolution forwards.This ground-breaking book, with almost a hundred drawings, illustrations and colour photographs, also investigates those highly disparate factors - air pollution legislation, climate change pressures, driver, passenger and pedestrian safety laws, wars and revolutions, economic crises and global recessions, fuel availability and prices, and Central Bank interest rates - that forced Sant’ Agata to transmute the revolutionary Countach first into the Diablo and later into the Murcielago.This book advances the unorthodox view that Lamborghini’s Holy Trinity transcend mere vehicular transport and are works-of-art and historical artefacts, and proposes that this bloodline tells the story of the zenith of the internal combustion engine and motoring itself.