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Lamborghini close to joining premier LMDh class in IMSA

According to Racer magazine, Lamborghini hasn't officially said yes to joining the LMDh class in global endurance racing, but folks behind the scenes have green-lit the project and an announcement could come next month. Publicly, the brand's head of motorsport for the U.S. said work on a factory endurance program is "90% of the way there," the remainder to be sorted out by finding the right customer teams to lead the charge. Assuming this is what happens, Lamborghini will join Volkswagen Group siblings Audi and Porsche in the class, plus Acura and BMW. Cadillac hasn't made its intentions public, but observers expect the American luxury brand to come clean during this month's 24 Hours of Le Mans and show its LMDh challenger. Hyundai's apparently on the sidelines and leaning in, too. If all are counted, this would give the premier class for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship seven entries come 2024, and potentially add to the top-class LMH field in the FIA World Endurance Championship . As a refresher, there are two top-tier classes coming to global endurance racing. There's Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh) that begins in IMSA next year, and Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) that started competing in the WEC on May 1 this year. LMDh cars use a spec chassis provided by one of four suppliers, Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic, or Oreca. LMDh teams can use any engine and electronics they want, but they will all fit a spec hybrid unit supplied by Bosch, a spec lithium-ion battery from Williams Engineering and a spec gearbox from Xtrac. Max horsepower will be limited to about 680. Audi and Porsche opted for a Multimatic chassis powered by a turbocharged V8, and Lamborghini is expected to follow its family members. Every team can create its own bodywork, the limit being a 4:1 ratio of drag to downforce and a single aero package for the year to keep costs down. The LMH class is based on roadgoing hypercars, a manufacturer required to sell 20 of the retail hypercars over a two-year period to qualify. Although output's capped to around 680 hp as with LMDh, manufacturers can develop their own engines, gearboxes and hybrid systems. Discrete bodywork is allowed with the same drag-to-downforce ratio limit. There will be balance-of-performance restrictions imposed on LMDh and LMH fields, and measures such as torque meters mounted on driveshafts to monitor overall output of each powertrain.

Lamborghini Pregunta Paris concept offered at $2.1M [w/video]

When the Lamborghini Veneno was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show, there were those who connected dots from it to the Lamborghini Pregunta concept from 1998, and also to the Pagani Zonda that arrived one year later. Near the end of the turmoil that was Lamborghini's ownership through the mid-nineties, an order was placed with the French Carrosserie Heuliez for a one-off concept car that was "new, original and impossible to confuse with any other car's shapes," that would be built on a Diablo chassis. The result was the Pregunta.
It was an aerospace-influenced supercar with carbon fiber bodywork, a 530-horsepower V12 and a claimed 207-mile-per-hour top speed. It employed rear-wheel drive instead of the Diablo's all-wheel drive, was coated in the same paint used on the French military's Dassault Rafale fighter jet and had fiber optic lighting, rear-view cameras and a GPS system. It was shown to the world at the 1998 Paris Motor Show, and again at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show.
Thought to be the last concept built on a Lamborghini body before Audi bought the company in 1998, AutoDrome, a French specialist in vintage exotics, has the Pregunta for sale for 1.6 million euros ($2.1M US). You can watch it hit the runway with a Rafale in the video below, then give AutoDrome a call if you're interested.

Donald Trump's Lamborghini Diablo is up for sale

Back in Donald Trump's booming heyday, a car couldn't get much flashier, much more outlandish, much more... Trump than a Lamborghini Diablo. Turns out he actually owned one – a 1997 Lamborghini Diablo VT roadster, to be specific, like the one pictured above. And now it's up for sale. This VT roadster is one of just 200 or so that were made before the 1999 facelift. It featured the Viscous Traction (viscous-fluid coupling) all-wheel drive system that debuted on the Diablo VT, and the carbon-fiber roof panel could be removed and stowed over the engine cover. Short of the Ferrari 575M Superamerica with the Fioravanti-designed flip-top, we could hardly imagine a more fitting set of wheels for the mogul. Bear in mind that the Diablo was developed when the company was owned by Chrysler – which would not, of course, prove the last time Chrysler would be in bed with an Italian automaker. This one was built after the brand was sold to a Malaysian company (before it was absorbed into the Volkswagen Group). And in those days, Lamborghini was closely allied with US-based supercar manufacturer Vector Motors. The Diablo was about as American as an Italian supercar could be. Trump's is finished in French Racing Blue and appears to be in pristine condition. It's now been adorned with Trump stickers, seemingly well-documented as having belonged to Trump himself, and formerly registered in Palm Beach, FL. It's being sold by one Michael Digonis in New York via The Drive, who is asking $299,000 for it. That is a lot, but considering the celebrity provenance it could prove a sound investment – especially if Trump wins the Republican nomination and the general election next year. Related Video: