Let's go back to May 11, 2013, at the Lamborghini factory in Sant'Agata, during the day a lot of participants of the Grande Giro arrived for an impressive gala dinner in the evening as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of Automobili Lamborghini SpA by the late Ferruccio Lamborghini.
Earlier that year we already got the amazing Lamborghini Veneno presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March, only three would be built, in April we received the Lamborghini Aventador LP720-4 50th Anniversario edition, another limited edition model, this time 100 coupe and 100 roadster ... but Lamborghini wasn't finished yet, at the Gala in May something truly one-off was driven into the venue ... the Lamborghini Egoista.
And the Lamborghini Egoista was indeed an 'egoist' car, a single-seater Lamborghini intended for that one, very special customer, or as Stephan Winkelmann stated: "always different … always Lamborghini".
The Lamborghini Egoista was based on the Gallardo back in 2013, taking the 5.2-liter V10 engine from the Superleggera, but with an increase in power to 600hp, but it is the exterior design of the Lamborghini Egoista that really set her apart.
The jet-fighter-inspired styling was executed by Walter De Silva’s design team (Mr De Silva was Head of Design for the Volkswagen Group at that time), for the angular exterior design we can thank Alessandro Dambrosio while the bright orange interior has been put together by Stefan Sielaff.
Entering the Lamborghini Egoista involves a few steps to be handled in the correct order, first, the orange-tinted canopy has to be opened, it hinges at the front and tilts upward using electric motors, very impressive. Once opened you have to sit on the left side of the cockpit, on the right side you’ll find the fuel filler … which mentions ‘jet fuel only’ by the way.
Sitting on the side of the car you swing your legs into the cockpit, actually put your feet onto the bright orange seat with some of the most amazing stitching we’ve ever seen, and glide into a driving position, after which you mount the steering wheel back in place as it had to be removed and put on top of the dashboard to allow you to enter.
Today this unique Lamborghini is with a collector in Switzerland, together with a recreation of the original Lamborghini Countach prototype from 1971 and several other unique or very rare Lamborghinis, it has been rumored the Egoista was once valued at $117 million, but there is no official information on the amount of money it took the Swiss collector to convince Lamborghini to sell this one-off to him.
The scale model
As usual, MR was the first to release a 1/18 scale model of the Lamborghini Egoista, but in 2013 I just couldn't afford to add this model to my collection, it was priced at €390 at that time, so I had to pass on it and hope one day I might find one on the second-hand market.
However, by the time I was able to afford this specific model, prices went through the roof on it, despite it not being extremely limited at 399 units in this fighter grey shade, some sellers were listing this model at €1,000 and more, totally insane, but it seemed like those who owned this very special Lamborghini model were in no hurry to sell it, and even today, over a decade after MR produced it, you still can't find one listed for sale.
Fortunately, I found an auction listing for the MR LAMBO013, and even better, it was local to me, less than an hour away from my house, safe to say I put in a bid, but still, it went a little over the price I was comfortable with, at nearly twice the original MSRP, but in the end, I managed to be the high bidder, and I arranged to pick up the model in person to avoid any risk during shipping.
So after years of searching for the MR-made 1/18 scale Lamborghini Egoista model in the original fighter-grey shade on orange wheels, I managed to add my unicorn to the collection back in 2021, and today, three years later, I still admire the model in my display case whenever I walk by it, some really don't like the design of this car, but for me, it's one of my most prized models in the collection.
Exterior | 9/10 | |
Interior | 9/10 | |
Engine | Not visible | |
Accuracy | 10/10 | |
Overall rating | 9/10 |