1998 Lamborghini Pregunta

For Sale at Autodrome Paris | Paris, France

Honestly, I’ve never heard of this car. But I’m no fan of concept cars and there are quite a few of them out there. But here’s the story on it:

Lamborghini was to be signed over to Volkswagen (or, more specifically, Audi) at the end of July of 1998. It was being bought by VW from Indonesian ownership (some of the darkest days of Lambo’s history). A few weeks before this was set to occur, Lamborghini contacted Heuliez – a French coachbuilder with a design office in Turin. They gave them a Diablo chassis and running gear and told them to go crazy and create a one-off supercar prototype. I guess they were burning any cash the company may have had left with the security of knowing VW would be plugging that gap soon anyway.

Lamborghini put all kinds of strict wording in their agreement that the car couldn’t be shown to the public without their approval and it must cast Lamborghini in a positive light. The result is certainly not the prettiest supercar or prototype ever created (although it does follow that 90s trend of outrageousness), but Lamborghini approved it anyway and it debuted at the Paris Auto Show in 1998. Then it went to the Geneva show in 1999.

The engine is a 530 horsepower version of the Diablo’s 5.7-liter V12. Unlike some of the Diablos, this car is rear-wheel drive only. I’ve looked at all the photos available on the website that contains the listing and I can’t find a Lamborghini badge on it anywhere. Everything says Heuliez, the company that created it. It was shown at auto shows as a Lambo though, so whatever. I usually say “concept cars don’t count” but in any case I’d call it a Lamborghini. Just one that came about during a turbulent era. VW quashed all independent design projects Lambo had going on as soon as they were acquired.

Heuliez encountered significant financial troubles in 2010 and last year, most of the concept vehicles they had retained over the years were sold off at auction. This one escaped and was acquired by a dealer in Paris, where it is currently for sale for an undisclosed amount. Click here for more.

1984 Lotus Etna V8 Berlinetta Concept

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, England | June 29, 2012

There are a few Lotus concept cars/styling models on offer at Bonhams’ Goodwood sale. I chose to feature this one because it of its somewhat sad 1980s-vision-of-the-future styling – which is both a plus and a minus. It’s only a minus because it looks so dated. But that’s part of what makes it cool. The instrument panel looks like it was taken from KITT from Night Rider or something. The exterior was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and is very 80s.

It is based on a Lotus Esprit and you can tell. There is a lot of Esprit in there – maybe because both were designed by Giugiaro. It has a 4.0-liter V8 putting out 335 horsepower. It was also to have futuristic things such as traction control, anti-lock brakes, self-leveling suspension and active noise cancelling. The concept car was a hit on the show circuit in 1984.

But then General Motors trundled along in 1986 and bought up Lotus. The Etna was sent to storage. Fortunately, it was sold to the public in 2001 and the then-owner got the car into running condition. So here is your chance to buy a fully-functional road-going, one-of-a-kind Lotus. The price? $140,000-$200,000. For more information, click here. To check out some of the other Lotus concepts, click here.

Update: Not sold.