Lamborghini
Egoista Concept
Powered
by a 600 horsepower 5.2-liter V10 engine, the lamborghini egoista which was
unveiled at the final stop of the grande giro d’italia in sant’agata bolognese celebrates the company’s 50th anniversary with a design by walter da silva,
the head of designer of the volkswagen group.
The
single-seater concept is characterized by two fundamental aspects: its
architecture, and the materials used. the cockpit, designed like a tailor-made suit
for the driver, is a removable section which, once combined with the rest of
the vehicle, creates a perfect technical, mechanical and aerodynamic unit.
Influenced
by the world of aviation, specifically an apache helicopter, the cockpit can
be ejected in an emergency. ‘the cockpit, made completely of carbon fiber and
aluminum, represents a sort of survival cell, allowing the driver to isolate
and protect themselves from external elements,’ de silva explains.
‘We
kept an eye on the future when designing the egoista, with the idea that its
cockpit could have been taken from a jet aircraft and integrated into a road
vehicle, to provide a different travel option.
The
single-seater concept is characterized by two fundamental aspects: its architecture,
and the materials used conferring a futuristic dynamism where highly aggressive
lines drive towards the front end of the supercar, the exterior bodywork seems
to be dominated on its sides, by the stylized profile of a bull preparing to
charge its horns lowered. the plan view reveals a trimaran profile, where the central
hull forms a unique section with the cockpit, underlined by the carbon-fiber
cover on the front hood.
The
vehicle seems almost like a four-wheeled UFO as the body is made from a special
antiradar material the one-off ‘egoista’
uses LED clearance lights that look more like an aircraft than road car – which
determine its position not just on a single plane such as the road, but rather
in three dimensions, as is required in airspace. the vehicle seems almost like
a four-wheeled UFO as the body is made from a special antiradar material, and
the glass is anti-glare with an orange gradation. the rims are also made from
anti-radar material – flat and rough - embellished with carbon-fiber plates to
improve their aerodynamics.
The
upper part of the vehicle does not have aerodynamic appendages, but rather
integrated separate rear spoilers in the bodywork profile which act automatically
depending on the driving conditions. two rear flaps activate automatically at
high speeds to increase stability, while a series of air intakes on the back of
the engine hood provides the cooling air flow to the powerful V10 power plant.
The
cockpit’s interior is taken to the extreme with an individual racing seat with
a four-point seatbelt, each strip a different color, the airbags, and a bare
minimum of instruments. the focal point of these is a head-up display, typical
of jet fighters. to get out of the vehicle, the driver must remove the steering
wheel and rest it on the dashboard, open the dome with an electronic command,
stand up in their seat, sit down on a precise point of the left-hand bodywork,
then swivel their legs 180 degrees from the inside of the cockpit to the
outside of the vehicle. at this point they can set their feet down and stand
up.