Looks familiar doesn’t it?
Words by Dionysis Nanos
Ah the 1980s. What can one say about the decade of excess, pastel suites and drug lords that became successes on Netflix that hasn’t already been said? As far as cars go at least, many consider that car making reached its absolute peak during that time. Silly spoilers? Check. Crazy wired wheels? Check. And of course let’s not forget that the most menacing battle was taking place; a battle strong enough to knock your huge sunglasses of your face. Yes, we’re talking about the Testarossa and the Countach, two automotive titans that are still trading blows 30 years after the 80s ended. But as the 80s were indeed reaching their end something wasn’t right with this battle.
You see, the Testarossa was only 6 years old by the time the 90s rolled around. Not exactly new but still not that old, especially compared to the Countach that was first launched back in 1974, a good 10 ten years before its rival and quickly that was becoming apparent as no fender flares and no giant spoiler could hide the simple truth. The Countach was too old, meaning it was time for a replacement, but how could one top something that was already so mental?
The first Lamborghini Diablo we all know and love
The truth is, Lamborghini knew the Countach was too old since 1985 when development started on what was then named Project 132. The initial brief stated that no matter what, the car had to hit 196 mph (315 km/h), and with that in mind Marcelo Gandini, who was also responsible both for the Miura and the Countach, started designing a car that would both take the fight to Ferrari and also look as stunning as its predecessors. And all was well with the world. Until…
Sometime in 1987, Lamborghini switched hands again, this time being sold from the Swiss Mimran brothers to the Chrysler Corporation and Lee Iacocca, who decided that he would keep funding the Countach replacement project. That’s as far as the good news go though as it was immediately decided that Gandini’s proposed design was too risky. That led to a heavy redesign by a Detroit-based design team, resulting in a design that left Gandini so historically displeased, that he decided to leave from the project all together. The redesigned car ended up being the Diablo and the rest is history. But what happened to that other design?
Gandini’s design for the Countach replacement
Gandini decided that he was going to take his design and go elsewhere, which he did, when he joined forces with another Italian designer, Claudio Zampolli, and refined his initial shape even further. Moreover, Italian DJ and record producer Giorgio Moroder helped pay for the art development of the car. That involvement also led to the car’s name and thus the Cizeta-Moroder V16T was born. Mind you, right after the car was launched Moroder left the project and the company was immediately renamed Cizeta, but oh well…
The V16T at first glance seems like a dinosaur. A classic tubular space frame over which a hand-formed aluminum body is stretched. Go deeper though and you’ll see something that Lamborghini is still dreaming of 30 years later. No puny little V12s here. Oh no. The V16T, as it’s name suggests, had a 6 litre V16 engine, formed from two Lamborghini Urraco V8s mated together at a 90 degree angle. The result of this madness? Power. Specifically, 540 hp and 543 Nm of torque, all handled by a 5 speed manual transmission. And yes, the V16T actually beat the Diablo to the showrooms, but we all know why we only hear of the latter nowadays.
The diabolical V16 engine
Cizeta was aiming at selling one car per month, but that quickly became impossible for a number of reasons. The car wasn’t street legal for the US market and while initially that was compensated by strong sales in Asia and the Middle East not soon afterwards Japan’s economic bubble burst, putting an abrupt end to the momentum of Cizeta. From 1991 until 1995, when the company’s headquarters were moved to California, only 12 cars were made, with 2 more, a Coupe and a Spider being made in 1999 and 2003 respectively.
But as much as a critical failure it was the story is not over. You can still order a V16T straight from Cizeta for the not-so-fair price of 650 thousand dollars for the Coupe and 850 thousand for the Spider. As no cars have been made in almost 20 years we can guess that not many are interested but still. You can’t go more prestigious than a brand new handmade V16 supercar from 30 years ago…