1999 Lamborghini L147 Canto
Well, Mr Ferdinand Piëch decided the
1998 Canto prototype was not up to the Lamborghini standards like the Diablo
and the legendary Countach and Miura, so he halted the project. But in February
1999, the Lamborghini Design facility came up with a slightly modified Canto
proposal.
The complete rear part of the Lamborghini was redesigned, and looked
a lot more integrated into the overall design of the Canto. Also the front was
changed, the headlight units remained almost identical, but the fog lights
became more up to date using poly-ellipsoïde technology. The turn indicators
and driving lights are now on top of the front fenders instead of at the front
of them like on the first Canto prototypes. But the biggest change were the
rear, top mounted air intakes, now a little smaller but much better integrated
into the sweeping lines of the Canto.
Another problem Mr Piëch noted was
reworked too, the complete engine was redone, it remained the massive V-12,
with a 6.0 Litre displacement, but the engine management and the complete
electronics were changed, now the first tests showed a power increase up to 640
Bhp.
But according to the official press release, which Automobili Lamborghini
SpA published end of January 1999, the production unit will be detuned to 610
Bhp, this way the factory can maintain the same maintenance schedule as they
used for the 530 Bhp Diablo.
In the same press release, Automobili
Lamborghini SpA, stated this redesigned Canto prototype would be presented to
the public on the 1999 Geneva Motor Show and the Diablo would remain in
production for about two years. These two years would be needed to get the
Canto fully developed for public use.
For the Canto several interior designs
were created, but at this time nothing about the final looks has been revealed,
but a preliminary drawing was however found. But as we all noticed the 1999
Geneva Auto Show didn't have anything resembling the Canto on display,
Automobili Lamborghini didn't get the green light from Ferdinand Piëch to show
the nearly finished redesigned Canto from Zagato, the latest news is that
Bertone was again contacted to design the Diablo successor, and the Zagato
design will not be used after all.
