The sale of an Italian-built Roadster that was custom-built for Donald Trump drew a standing ovation at a recent auction held in Arizona.
The car that replaced the legendary Countach in Lamborghini’s flagship model line-up, the Diablo was manufactured between 1990 and 2001. Named as per this Italian brand’s tradition after a famous fighting bull, the Diablo was powered by a 5.7-litre V12 engine that initially sent torque exclusively to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission. Introduced in 1995, a new all-wheel-drive model dubbed VT (which translates to viscous traction) was showcased as a Roadster featuring a carbon fibre Targa roof that could be folded away with the press of a button.
A derivative that caught the attention of American property tycoon Donald Trump, of the 132 units destined for the US, only one was finished in an – yet unreleased – Blu Le Mans exterior colour and wore the plaque “Donald Trump 1997 Diablo”.
Complete with a cream and black interior, Trump reportedly put around 15,000 miles (24,000 km) on the car’s odometer before it was sold in 2002.
Twenty-two years later and with Trump since becoming the 45th President of the United States, his custom Lamborghini Diablo was lot #1407 at the recent Barrett-Jackson auction held in Scottsdale, Arizona. Offered with no reserve, it’s reported that the crowd in attendance gave a standing ovation as this one-off Italian sportscar sold for $1.1 million (more than R20 million), more than double what any other Diablo from this era had managed previously. By all accounts, the auctioneer made numerous mentions of the Trump connection during the bidding process…
A motoring journalist with more than 20 years of experience, Ian McLaren will be compiling a series of articles documenting his learning curve in all things auction. Find him on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok at @IanMcLaren76.
These articles aim to offer insights only and in no way encourage reckless or hit-and-miss purchasing decisions.