Talking about one-off concept cars, this one-off Lamborghini Concept S – based on the Gallardo – is going to be auctioned! The Concept S is to be offered by RM Sotheby’s at its ‘Art Automobiles’ sale in Manhattan on the evening of 18 November. The unique Lambo is expected to fetch between 2.4 and 3 million US dollars. So, if you still have some millions in your old socks, take your chance because cars like this are rarely for sale! The private collector who has owned it must have been in a tidying-up mood, I suppose…  Perhaps you now wonder, what about the CHB concept? Well this isn’t a classic yet, but obviously this one-off is going to be a very important part of the Lamborghini history if it isn’t already! So a promising classic for the future and CHB likes that!This indomitable Gallardo speedster concept car from 2005 with open roadster body is a design of Luc Donckerwolke – at the time head of the design department of Lamborghini. He utilized a ‘saute-vent’ instead
of a traditional windscreen, and divided the interior into two distinct compartments by continuing the bodywork between the seats, which also serves as an air inlet for the mid-mounted 5 litre V10 engine. By this he succeeded in increasing the aerodynamic flow. The car is packed with all the cutting-edge angular designs of the Gallardo coupe that had just debuted the year before.                                                                                Lamborghini was rumored to be building 100 roadsters for selected customers. However, like the Ghia Gilda, this concept was again more of a styling exercise than a vehicle for series production, so only 2 models were ever made. You will now think, do I read two? Wasn’t it a one-off? Yes there is only one running low-window prototype, the other one is the high-window engineless prototype that is still on display at the Lamborghini Museum in Sant’Agata. The photo below shows the high-window prototype, and watch the yellow car behind! It’s the 2006 concept of the Miura, one of my all-time favs of the Lamborghini classics!              The dramatic non-running one-off Gallardo concept form was to be shown at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. It was intended to be a modern interpretation of the single-seat roadsters of the past. The non-running concept made such an unforgettable impression at Geneva, that the Italian supercar maker produced a working concept for Pebble Beach that same year and this was the Concept S that will be auctioned now.

I came across yet another Lamborghini concept car, the Aventador J from 2012. It also has a ‘saute-vent’, which makes me wonder if this feature will be a new trend in the supercars of the future? It reminds me of a ride in a Bugatti T35 Grand-Prix racer (yes … a real one!) without any kind of windscreen. It was a great experience, but at speed you absolutely need to wear goggles to protect your eyes! Anyway, will this Lambo turn the world upside down and fetch a multi-million price? We shall see!Written by Rosemarijn Atalante Veenenbos