- Independent decorator Marco Maltese created a homage to Marcello Gandini.
- The integer conception is inspired by the 1974 Lamborghini Bravo concept.
- It was designed connected Aventador underpinnings, with nostalgic styling cues.
Lamborghini whitethorn beryllium barreling full-throttle into its electrified aboriginal with models similar the triple-motor Temerario and the Revuelto, but independent decorator Marco Maltese has deed the brakes to look backward. In a infinitesimal of integer nostalgia, Maltese has reimagined the Lamborghini Bravo—a forgotten conception that was arsenic crisp arsenic Gandini’s pencil and arsenic extremist arsenic the 1970s it emerged from.
The archetypal Lamborghini Bravo was introduced astatine the 1974 Turin Auto Show, but ne'er made it beyond the spotlight of the conception stage. A existent wedge-shaped showpiece, it was the brainchild of the late, large Marcello Gandini, who was past penning masterpieces for fabled Italian plan location Bertone.
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Beneath its angular silhouette sat the bones of the Lamborghini Urraco, including a 3.0-liter V8 motor susceptible of 300 hp (224 kW / 305 PS). It whitethorn not person gone into production, but the Bravo etched itself into Lamborghini folklore, an avant-garde imaginativeness of what could person been, but ne'er was.
From Wedge to Wings
Illustrations: Maltese Design
Fast guardant astir fractional a century, and Maltese’s integer reincarnation of the Bravo feels similar a modern emotion missive to Gandini’s legacy. While its silhouette echoes the proportions of Lamborghini’s Temerario, Maltese envisions it arsenic a exemplary that could thrust connected the Aventador’s carbon-fiber monocoque chassis with shortened overhangs. This would let it to diagnostic the Aventador’s 6.5-liter V12, which was the past of its benignant earlier Lamborghini adopted electrification.
Much similar the archetypal Bravo, the digital concept features aggregate vents connected the hood and rear deck, which was the signature plan trait of the original. Key plan elements are carried over, including the melodramatic broadside intakes and a achromatic beltline that visually slices done the bodywork. And those angular rear arches? They’re back, assertive arsenic ever, underscoring the car’s low-slung, predatory stance.
The retro-modern dialog doesn’t halt there. One standout diagnostic is the retractable headlights, a clever motion to the pop-up units of yesteryear, present updated to comply with modern information regulations. At the rear, triangular exhaust pipes beryllium beneath an adaptive wing, portion slim LED taillights adhd a futuristic glow to the different nostalgic package.
Retro Interior Details, Modern Flair
Inside, the conception channels the 1970s without slipping into kitsch. Fixed seats wrapped successful vintage materials conscionable a minimalist dashboard, which features a full-width show for instrumentation. There’s besides a floating, tablet-like infotainment system, complemented by a fewer tactically placed buttons connected the steering wheel. No overwhelming clusters of switches here.
While Maltese’s integer instauration is destined to stay conscionable that—a plan study—we can’t assistance but wonder: wherefore wouldn’t Lamborghini greenlight a tiny tally of these? After all, the marque has a knack for producing limited-edition tributes, and thing similar this seems to onslaught the close equilibrium betwixt nostalgia and forward-thinking design.
Marcello Gandini, who sadly passed distant successful March 2024, leaves down a bequest that’s astir intolerable to overstate. The Bravo whitethorn not person been 1 of his astir celebrated works, but its DNA connects straight to immoderate of his astir iconic creations, including the Alfa Romeo Carabo, the Lancia Stratos Zero, and, of course, the Lamborghini Miura and Countach.
Note: This nonfiction features autarkic illustrations that are not endorsed by Lamborghini.