- #16 of 31 ever produced.
- First Lamborghini factory race car ever produced.
- 1998 Super Trophy championship winning car

This 1996 Lamborghini Diablo SV-R is one of 31 ever produced. As a full factory-spec racer, this Diablo SV-R has a mid-mounted 5.7-litre V12 sending 397kW/598Nm to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission. This example has 23,931 kilometres showing on the odometer.

The Diablo SV-R was the first Lamborghini to be officially intended for motorsport purposes and is a lightweight competition version of the Diablo SV. The Diablo SV-R was first revealed at the 1996 Geneva motor show and this example was the 16th car off the production line. While featuring the same fundamentals as its road-going counterpart, the Diablo SV-R upped the power, sports a stripped-out interior with roll cage and racing seats, plexiglass windows, cooling ducts in place of the headlights and aerodynamic body work.

This example still wears an iteration of its #666 Australian Nations Cup livery, featuring period sponsorship from Crazy John’s, Wilkinson Sword and Durex companies. It has a set of white 18-inch OZ racing alloy wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero tyres. Slotted AP Racing brakes measure 355mm at the front and 335mm at the rear. Its stripped-out interior contains red OMP competition seats, Alcantara dash, carbon fibre door cards, Sparco steering wheel and race switchgear.

This car was first campaigned in Europe where it won the Lamborghini Super Sport Trophy championship in 1998 with Fabio Santaniello, then brought to Australia to compete in the 2000, 2001 Australian Nations Cup Championships with driver Paul Stokell and Team Lamborghini Australia. Stokell steered this Diablo SV-R to victory in its debut race in Adelaide, beating Jim Richards in a Porsche GT3. It even managed to set a new lap record despite a 100kg weight ballast. That wasn’t the only highlight for the 2000 season, as it also put in an unforgettable performance in the pouring rain to take the win at Mount Panorama, Bathurst. It won 18 races overall in its two competition years in the Australian Nations Cup and finished as runner-up in the 2001 season.

It is a four-owner car; first was a European owner who used it in the original race series, second was Lamborghini Australia, third was a private collector in QLD and the fourth is the current owner who has owned it since 2016.

Now, the car has been fully restored back to race-ready specification, with current active invitations to the EU/US International GT Legends series which includes the prestigious LeMans Classic event. Alternatively, given its age, it could be converted for (heritage) road use from 2021 onwards after some slight modification. In addition to a $160k restoration by Lamborghini Melbourne that used brand new original parts to bring it back to race-spec, it also comes with a full set of spares including three wheel sets, three sets of tyres (2 x racing slicks, 1x wets), brakes, wheel gun, air jacks and radios.

This Diablo SV-R presents very well, especially for a race car. The black paint is near unblemished, though there are some minor stone chips and patina marks on the front bar. Carbon fibre parts like the rear wing show no sign of discolouration and all four OZ racing wheels are in unmarked condition. Inside, the OMP bucket seats hold up well with minimal fabric sagging. The steering wheel has some minor wear and tear marks, and the dash still lights up.

It retains all paperwork relating to its competition history (still has the original CAMS log book), with a number of folders documenting its racing data and set-up information for every race its entered. There’s also literature that describes the communication between Team Lamborghini Australia, the Lamborghini factory, the drivers and the original sponsors.

This listing is to the best of the sellers knowledge and is not misleading or deceptive in anyway. As per Trading Garage’s Terms and Conditions, although Trading Garage have completed the following checks, bidders must satisfy themselves to the accuracy of the description and do any research, they feel necessary before bidding. All listings are sold in Australian dollars.

This vehicle is currently unregistered and is not recorded as stolen or written off. There is no security interest or other registration kind registered on the PPSR against the serial number.