2000 Lamborghini Diablo GTR No. 4/30

Building a field of 30 cars to compete in a one-make racing series reads like something only Lamborghini would do. Called the Lamborghini GTR Supertrophy – which has since evolved into what we now know as the Super Tropheo series – the Diablo GTR specially built for it was raced at Monza, Spa, Valencia and even Melbourne by professionals and gentlemen drivers alike in 2000 and 2001.

I couldn’t pass up on what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see one of the original competition cars in the flesh at the local Shannons Auctions house, where it is to find its next custodian. The air ducts that litter the front silhouette; the 18-inch Speedline Corse centerlock wheels; the 2 metre-wide rear wing that ties straight in to the rear space frame. It’s so unapologetically racecar.

Chassis No. 4 came to Australia from Europe after retirement to race in local series, and has since seen some modifications that deviate away from the original specification, but it still has the naturally aspirated 6.0-litre V12 that made the roadgoing Diablo GT great. What I would have done to hear it sing just once at 7300 rpm, though I’m happy to have simply spent a few good minutes engaged with its beauty.

Where: Shannons Auctions, 22 Lambs Road, Artarmon NSW 2064, Australia