Lamborghini Aventador: the design

The video was originally published by OmniAuto.it and Virtual Car. Below you can find our exclusive translation (both with video subtitles and text), authorized for republication.

Good morning, I am Filippo Perini, Director at Centro Stile Lamborghini.

Today I will try to give you some indications on how the design of the Lamborghini Aventador was born and developed.

I am a lucky man, I hav e had the honor of working on what I think is the package every designer dreams of.

In our vehicles naming system we have this magic word – “Longitudinale Posteriore” (rear longitudinal) – which defines the engine position.

“Longitudinale Posteriore” means that the engine is located just in the center of gravity of the car, around this area.

This thing not only works very well in terms of performance, but it also works in terms of the car’s aesthetics, allowing us to create an extremely futuristic, modern car.

A designer working at the Centro Stile Lamborghini has a little problem: he has to design something that respects the quantity and the quality of the work done by past designers for our brand, while bearing comparison with iconic cars such as the Miura, Countach, Murcielago and Diablo.

Just think of these names: our cars almost always become design icons.

Well, we were asked to make a quantum leap, by creating a new-generation design compared to the Murcielago model that we were going to be replaced.

Our history is instilled in the “0Y”. We are the only supercar brand that can afford – this is the right word – to build a car with a single line that connects the front with the rear.

This is achieved through the package itself: all the masses and mechanical components are contained within the car’s wheelbase.

Starting from here, we began to vary our “recipe”, for instance by adding a bit of sensuality in the line that connects the front fender to the belt line without interruption, in a fluid, clean way.

The upper section of the car is extremely clean and linear.

Then we start playing in the side view, where we can find another very important line, very difficult to define in its simplicity, because it flows in the space in a very complex way.

This is the “Tornado Line”, that connects the very front of the car to its very end, the rear spoiler.

For us this line is essential in defining the character and the precision of the side view, as well as the general volumes.

Every aesthetic solution is oriented towards its functional and performance aspect – be it ergonomics, cooling or mechanical layout.

In the front end we find a trademark design element: the double air openings which provide cool air to the brakes.

The other cold air intake is connected to the power steering radiator.

Back to the side view, we can find the main difference in the mechanical layout compared with the Murcielago, which is the engine radiators position: they are located in the sides, about in this area.

From the need for an air opening originates the extremely sculpted surface of the body, characterized by the interplay of negative and positive, concave and convex surfaces.

These lines define the side air opening – an essential element – in a very strong, almost sculptural way.

While for the overall design we took inspiration from the aeronautical world, the rear end is really something extremely advanced.

The rear surface angle is reversed compared to what we are used to see, it adds to the car’s dynamism and at the same time it is a reminiscence of our history.

Then we find the bumper and the diffuser which integrates the exhaust system.

The rear spoiler is normally hidden within the surfaces and operates automatically only when it is needed for aerodynamic performance.

The two air outlets repeat the double openings styling cue, another design element rooted in function.

A last sketch to define the tridimensionality of the car in the three-quarter view. Let’s do it quickly.

Here the lines I described before become sinuous, smooth, almost soft. This car expresses tension, precision but also great sensuality, when you observe it carefully.

For us this represents a research of something that could be pleasing not only to purists who intend the car in an extreme way, but we want to appeal to a broader audience, for example when compared to some of our recent concept cars.

The front end clearly showcases another trademark design element: a kind of “Delta” dissection in top view, a pronounced “V” that became part of our “family feeling”.

And again, the silhouette extends the car’s body. You can see the simplicity of the design, and how the sketch is kept “enclosed”.

The car is extremely simple and linear. Only Lamborghini is building a supercar with this design.

It’s like watching the dreams of a kid who loves cars – me in this case – come true. Can you remember those cars featured in the sci-fi TV series? As a kid, I remember that they had always this single-line design.

And yet today Lamborghini is the only carmaker that can afford to build cars in this way.

Inspiration comes from the aviation world, the lines are very, very similar to those found in the stealth jets, where there is an “illogical” combination of aerodynamic and stealth solutions that generates extremely fascinating forms, that at the Centro Stile we use as a source of inspiration when we need to sketch something really innovative and advanced.

It’s really important for me to say that we are a very small Centro Stile, with just four designers, but you’ll see many other projects from us in the future.

A small team of people who get on very well and share a single common denominator: passion.

(Source: OmniAuto, Virtual Car)