Do modern Lamborghinis just not do anything for you anymore? Some of them almost seem like caricatures of what a Lamborghini should look like, yet the engineering underneath is rather intriguing. The Temerario, which replaces the Huracan, has a V8 with a 10,000 RPM redline. That sounds nice, but wouldn’t it be a little bit nicer if that sky-high redline involved two more cylinders? Well, you might be in luck, because something called the Etna is in the works. Croatian outfit Tedson Motors calls this reimagined Gallardo a restomod, and while the former half of that compound word is eyebrow-raising here, this machine seems to be modded to high heaven.
See, the Gallardo cribbed enough from the Audi parts bin to hold up fairly well, including major climate control system components and even iron front brake discs. They’re actually fairly reliable by supercar standards, few fell hard enough in value to be severely neglected, and the even-fire V10 is quite stout so long as you keep the correct amount of oil in it and don’t let the battery run low. However, just because the Gallardo isn’t old enough to warrant full restoration doesn’t mean all examples are sorted enough to not warrant modification.
See, the early cars caused some complaints, and an update in 2006 rectified most of them. Lamborghini shortened the gearing, changed out the entire steering rack, opened up the exhaust system, and managed to find an extra 20 horsepower. However, one big shortcoming by modern standards — the brusque E-Gear single-clutch automated manual transmission — remained, as few buyers ticked the box for the traditional manual transmission.
Starting with an early Gallardo with the five-liter V10, Tedson Motors plans to fit heavily revised internals, a new intake, and a special titanium exhaust system to let it shriek to 10,000 rpm. It’s claimed the Etna makes more than 600 horsepower which feels fairly conservative given the newfound headroom at the top of the rev range, but horsepower is only one side of the equation — we also need to talk about weight.
The revised bodywork might not be to everyone’s tastes, but it seems that Tedson Motors has pulled a cue here and a cue there from Lamborghini history to honor the marque. The Y-shaped taillight elements are very Huracan, the slats behind the quarter windows are an extremely tamed-down take on the Urraco’s C-pillar inlets, the quarter-panel air intakes have a whiff of Aventador to them, and the sharpened front bumper alludes to early Countach styling.
The most interesting thing about the bodywork, however, is its purported weight. See, it’s carbon fiber, as are the seats, and when combined with the titanium exhaust system and some new suspension components, Tedson Motors claims the Etna weighs 450 pounds less than a standard Gallardo. Considering a regular Gallardo weighs 3,560 pounds as per Edmunds, the Etna treatment should drop the actual curb weight down below 3,100 pounds. Conservatively, we’d be looking in the ballpark of 5.11 pounds per horsepower, better than you get in a new Porsche 911 Turbo S.
Better yet, Tedson Motors plans on throwing single-clutch automated manual E-Gear mechanisms in the bin, replacing the mechatronics with a standard shifter and clutch pedal setup to give the Etna a proper manual gearbox. The firm claims to be focusing on E-Gear cars due to the rarity of original manual Gallardos, and this seems like a smart move. The premium a factory manual car pulls is huge, so why start with one if you don’t need to?
Moving to handling bits, the springs and dampers are to be supplied by JRZ, beloved in the Porsche community for high-quality suspension systems that make a difference on track. Several suspension arms come from the Gallardo GT3 and Super Trofeo race cars for increased negative camber and track width. It all adds up to the promise of an engaging experience that should engineer out most of the more gratingly dated traits of the original Gallardo.
There’s just one little thing to be aware of: The Tedson Motors Etna is still about a year and a half away from being an actual car, so we’ll have to see how this all comes together. Judging by the firm’s previous effort, a Porsche 911 restomod called the Daydream, hopes are high. I don’t have any doubt the Etna will actually be made, and while pricing hasn’t been announced, it seems a bit more interesting than the other 10,000 RPM Lamborghini coming soon, the Temerario. With just 77 examples slated for limited production, better rev up those Roth IRAs. The car you wanted as a teenager seems like it’s about to get even better.
Top graphic image: Tedson Motors
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A few reasons why this is awesome:
-Cool phone dial homage wheels
-Deleting automatic Lamborghinis from existence and rebirthing them with the correct transmission
-10,000 NA rpm. The noise will be absolutely glorious
-Despite what many esteemed prestigious experts here think, it looks pretty damn good
-Carbon Fibre body that saves 500 pounds
The only thing I dislike about it is the target demographic of douche bags that got rich off the pandemic while us working people got poor.
I like the idea, but I’m not sure I could drive a car called Tedson.
Do you think they could get Ted Danson as spokesperson?
I feel like the fender shapes are nice, and the rounded side vents certainly bring that out more. It’s certainly different from the original Gallardo’s blocky appearance, which was and still is controversial because of how flat faced and functional it is. But one of the greatest design aspects of the Gallardo that should never be altered is the taillights and rear vent arrangement. It’s perfectly balanced but still has a rough barbarian quality to just how big the taillights are. Many of the iconic shots of the Gallardo in media have never been from the front, but the rear to showcase the endcap to the design.
It looks better than any modern Lambo, but I feel it looks worse than a stock Gallardo. And the R8 looks better than both.
To the opening point: for some companies, they are defined most by an era forged from the major contributions or leadership of a particular individual or group. Sometimes, that person or group is part of the foundation, sometimes they come in later (Peter Wheeler, TVR). Some companies can lose these people and carry on to new eras that become iconic for a younger generation, others stagnate and try desperately to bring back the past or become just another bland product. For me, Lamborghini died when Gandini was no longer involved in their design. As for this thing, It’s a pastiche of old stuff, not anything really new, and I suspect the front photos are conspicuously at dramatic, somewhat obscuring angles to save the audience a grimace. However, I never cared much for the looks of the Gallardo and they’re all Audis to me, so all I can do is shrug.
People bought them for being an audi while not being an audi. I think if you want an old lambo, buy an old lambo.
Say what we want about Audi/VW reliability but I’m certain that I wouldn’t want to deal with vintage Lamborghini frequency of repairs (let alone cost). A re-skinned Audi should be both more reliable and easier to maintain.
I suspect, though, most owners aren’t racking up mileage on them to care, though.
This is a great concept, but the cosmetic changes here are straight up awful. The beauty of the Gallardo was the simplicity and honesty in the styling, here the company decided “more is more” and they were wrong.
A wedge/cyberpunk looking front to ape the Countach, but trying to rip the rear off a Huracan, as many slats as possible on the top surfaces, curvaceous siding surfacing with an NA1 NSX side air intake and blended-in spoiler is just a mess. It just goes to show what happens when you blindly take a bunch of ideas that are all neat in isolation and throw them together without thinking about the end product.
This actually has less vents than the original somehow. Especially the convertible version. The original had vents all along the deck lid and tops of the rear fenders going back to the taillights facing both forwards and backwards. And the glass behind where the window opened acted as yet another. It’s just the design was so blocky they blended in.
I think a bigger issue is… I can’t see a way to actually open the engine compartment. And it doesn’t look like it lifts off. Unless the entire top of the body from the windshield back is supposed to come off as one part like it’s a shell over the original roof and buttresses, which is absolutely stupid.
To me Lamborghinis and Ferraris are like my Spotify playlist. Everything from the 80s and 90s are cool but what they’ve released since then just don’t interest me.
Sees that the Gallardo is getting restored/restomodded now… checks calendar…oh, I’m aging. Can’t believe the early Gallardos are 20 years old now.
Ok but still, it seems a little soon. Are we going to start resto-modding S197 Mustangs and FJ Cruisers too? Or would that just be considered regular modding?
Gallardo and Murciélago are peak Lamborghini for me.
You can just call me old without shivving me like this.
Perfect timing. I just saw on Facebook marketplace yesterday a Gallardo that was advertised as the cheapest in the US. $87k with over 100k miles on the odometer.