Lamborghini Diablo
It's from 1990, before you were born.
- Iconic generation
- 1990 Diablo
- Origin
- Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy
- Designer
- Marcello Gandini
- Engine
- 5.7L mid-mounted V12
- Power
- 485 hp (492 PS)
- 0–60 mph
- approx. 3.9 sec
- Top speed
- approx. 202 mph (325 km/h)
- Price when new
- approx. $239,000 (1990, US)
About
As of 2026, it's 36 years old.
The Countach was a hard act to follow, so Lamborghini did the only sensible thing: it built something even more demonic and named it after a 19th-century fighting bull. The Diablo was the supercar that defined the 1990s, the angular wedge dragged into a new decade with smoother surfaces, scissor doors, and a top speed that finally cracked 200mph.
Marcello Gandini drew the original shape, naturally, but by now Lamborghini was owned by Chrysler, whose designers smoothed off some of his sharpest edges, much to his irritation. The result was still unmistakably outrageous, just slightly more livable, and properly, ferociously fast.
Under the rear deck sat a 5.7-litre V12 howling out nearly 500 horsepower, enough to make the Diablo a genuine 200mph car at a time when that was the stuff of legend. It was the poster car for kids who'd grown up on the Countach and now wanted something even wilder.
Over its long life the Diablo gained all-wheel drive, roadster variants, and ever-more-unhinged special editions, but it never lost its menace. It was the last of the truly analogue, slightly scary Lamborghinis, a fitting devil to close out the millennium.
Lamborghini Diablo through the years
Diablo unleashed
Lamborghini's first 200mph road car succeeds the Countach.
VT adds AWD
The Diablo VT gains all-wheel drive for better traction and usability.
SV and roadster
A lighter, rawer SV and an open-top Roadster expand the range.
Audi era facelift
Under new Audi ownership, the Diablo gets fixed headlights and refinements.
End of an icon
After ~3,000 built, the Diablo bows out, replaced by the Murciélago.
