Go to Ultimatecarpage.com

Car search: Quick Advanced 
  Ultimatecarpage.com  > Cars by brand  > Italy  > Lamborghini
Cala Concept
Never miss another Ultimatecarpage.com update, news feature or event report by subscribing to our mailing list to receive all the news in your mailbox ...


Lamborghini Cala Concept

Lamborghini Cala Concept Lamborghini Cala Concept Lamborghini Cala Concept Lamborghini Cala Concept Lamborghini Cala Concept Lamborghini Cala Concept
Click here to save all images    Image credits: Wouter Melissen 

    

Click here to download printer friendly version Lamborghini is best known for their outrageous V12 engined supercars, but the recent V10 engined Gallardo is not the first 'small Lambo'. In the 1970s and 1980s, the V8 engined Uracco and Jalpa models were quite successful alternatives for cars like the Ferrari 308. After the Jalpa production finished in the late 1980s there were no funds available to design and built a replacement and instead Lamborghini focused on the Countach replacement. To fill the void left by the Jalpa, the Italian manufacturer in 1994 commissioned Giorgietto Giugiaro's Italdesign to design a successor.

Launched at the 1995 Geneva Motorshow, the Lamborghini Cala was an immediate hit. Like many of Italdesign's prototypes, the Cala was a complete and driveable car. Right behind the passenger compartment a completely new and very advanced V10 was fitted, which showed how serious the production plans were. Even more striking than the technical details of the Cala were its stunning looks. More than thirty years after he designed his first masterpieces, Giorgetto Giugiaro proved he was still in top form.

Some selected journalists were invited to test the new Lamborghini and even though it was still a prototype they were impressed with the Cala's performance. In comes Audi, who purchased the ailing manufacturer in 1998 and immediately froze the Cala project. Just like it was ten years earlier, the company gave the V12 supercar replacement top priority. Eventually in 2003 the Gallardo, the successor to the Jalpa and Uracco, was unveiled, but unfortunately its design did not remind of the Cala.

Today the Cala is still in full running order, and resides in the Italdesign factory museum. It is seen here at a rare outing on the 2005 Amsterdam AutoRAI stand of Italdesign partner Vredestein.

Article by Wouter Melissen, last updated on 05 / 30 / 2005

Add your comments on the Lamborghini Cala Concept

 Regretfull  
Mdbgt40
11-01-2004
 The Lamborghini Cala definately should have been sold. It has an amazing 400 BHP and it's beautiful, well why not put this car for sale? If this car was for sale, definately thousands of people will buy that car. Lamborghini made a big mistake. It's already nine years since the Prototype was made, just get it on sale!
 True.  
Lucky
12-4-2003
 This is the car the Gallardo could have been. Yet this was made 8 years ago! All it needed was a slight modernisation of various bits (already pointed out by a few) and it would have been great. Why did VW dump such a beautiful car in favour of The Gandini "machette-surfacing" Gallardo. As if Bangles "flame surfacing" for BMW wasnt enough already, the VW group allowed a great basic shape to be hacked to pieces...Just when I thought i was coming to terms with the whole back- end of the murcielago.....
 to TurboDOHC  
Unknown
11-4-2003
 I'll tell you why this car was never produced. Actually, it was going to be put into production, along with its larger sibling, what we now know as the Lamborghini Canto. However, while these cars were undergoing testing and were nearly finalised, Audi came into the picture. Mr. Ferdinant Piech felt that the Canto lacked the Italian flair of its predecessors, so the design went down the toilet, and along with it went the Cala. Soon, what was once to be the Canto became the Murielago, and what was once to be the Cala became the new Lamborghini Gallardo. Sad, isn't it?

View all the user comments on the Lamborghini Cala Concept
      

General specifications
Country of origin Italy
Numbers built N/A (Prototype)
Produced in 1995
Introduced at 1995 Geneva Motorshow
Body design Giugiaro / Italdesign

Engine
Configuration 90º V 10
Location Mid, longitudinally mounted
Construction alloy block and head
Displacement 3.9 liter / 238 cu in
Valvetrain 4 valves / cylinder, DOHC
Fuel feed Fuel injection
Aspiration Naturally Aspirated

Drivetrain
Brakes vented discs, all-round
Gearbox 6 speed Manual
Drive Rear wheel drive

Dimensions
Weight 1293 kilo / 2850.6 lbs
Length / Width / Height 4389 mm (172.8 in) / 1900 mm (74.8 in) / 1222 mm (48.1 in)
Wheelbase / Track (fr/r) 2520 mm (99.2 in) / 1592 mm (62.7 in) / 1520 mm (59.8 in)

Performance figures
Power 400 bhp / 298 KW @ 7200 rpm
Torque 315 Nm / 232 ft lbs @ 4500 rpm
BHP/Liter 103 bhp / liter
Power to weight 0.31 bhp / kg
Top Speed 289 km/h / 180 mph
0-60 mph 5.0 s

Resources
Useful links


Ultimatecarpage.com - All Cars - Contact us - Privacy Statement - Top © 1998 - 2009 Ultimatecarpage.com