Have you ever thought a Lamborghini could make for a fine commuter car, but worried about the running costs of an Italian-built V12? Me too. Well, a seller in (where else?) Las Vegas has capitalized on the fiery remains of a scorched Lamborghini Diablo to swap in a rather conventional LS3 powerplant to make daily commuting in an Italian supercar a reality for mere mortals. Of course, us mere mortals likely still can’t justify the $105,000 asking price for the swapped Diablo, as listed here on craigslist. Still, it’s fun to dream. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Pat L. for the find.
The seller notes he was driving a “conventional” V12-powered Diablo but didn’t enjoy wondering when the exotic drivetrain was going to cost him untolds sums to repair. So he sold that and bought a Diablo (this car) that suffered from an engine fire, a not completely unheard of phenomenon with mid-engined Italian cars. He proceeded to orchestrate an LS3 swap mated to a Porsche 911 G50 gearbox, and notes that the replacement engine makes more power and weighs less than the original V12, not to mention is a hell of a lot cheaper to maintain with parts that can be found at your local Napa store.
The wheels were upgraded to Lamborghini Murcielago Hercules rollers and the interior cleaned up with black leather and alcantara with orange stitching. The interior really is a high-brow affair and doesn’t feel cheap or overlooked compared to the rest of the car, which is not always the case with conversions like this. The seller does make that point, however, that the work was done to a high level and the title is still clear – the fire-damaged car was never listed as salvage, apparently, and the work undertaken by the seller didn’t render it to kit car status or some other unflattering designation.
The LS3 looks right at home inside the massive Diablo engine bay, and some of the space of the cavernous compartment is offset by what looks like custom paneling. The seller notes the car returns over 20 MPGs when running at maximum efficiency, and that he added some creature comforts in addition to the easier-to-live-with engine: cup holders and heated seats, two features that weren’t exactly a priority for Lamborghini at the time. While the provenance will always be a questionable at best, having a Diablo that you can drive confidently every day seems way better than dusting an original in your garage.
If it were me, I would have dropped a Cummins in it!
Blasphemy! I love the car, hate hate hate the drivetrain conversion….
But hey, I drive an Accord, who am i to judge? Lol!
Love the concept. Save a roached out Italian supercar, with a fire destroyed engine, put in an economical and proven North American engine, that makes killer power and cheap to maintain, and save the car from the crusher.
Love it.
You just confirmed what I said above, putting a North American engine into an Italian supercar is a crime! Save your LS3 swaps for the old Camaros and farm trucks and leave Italian engineering alone! I love how everybody thinks that an LS swap is how everything should be done, it’s not the answer for everything. You want a kit car, buy a kit car and put an LS in it, but this is not a kit car and should be left with its original Drive train….
I see you’re passionate about maintaining Italian engineering. However, I wonder how much it would cost to restore the car with the V12?
$50-60,000? I don’t honestly know. Then afterwards you’re left to consider if it would’ve made more economic sense just to buy a better Lambo that had a clean title. Not to mention of how it would resell with an R title. Then presto! You see a wrecked Vette listed in an auction!! Yes!, yeeeesss….yes indeed! As far as I can see it’s saving a great Italian design at an economically feasible level and not bending over to take it in the backside trying to maintain the original, albeit costly V12 and associated items. Raise a toast to the Italian Americans!
“Italian Engineering” you mean constant electrical problems? Occasional engine fires? You ever heard the saying “Fix it again Tony” They earned that.
@Timothy cox,
I restored British cars for 20 years, I’m used to it by now. LOL
I’m all in favor for original # matching cars, but by no means would I consider myself a purist. With that being said, I do like this. Just taking this in for regular scheduled maintenance, you’re dropping 5-10k, so to have a dependable and cheap drive train, and a head turner that you’re not afraid to drive…..why not. I personally think it’s a little pricey, but tip of the hat to the builder!
Isn’t there an unwritten rule that one must *increase* cylinder count, when performing an engine swap? This need a second LS3 in that engine bay.
Unless you are doing a Wankel conversion.
There’s room…
Yes, its common knowledge the cost of maintaining theses Lambo engines it outrageous. The benefit is keeping the vehicle value high with its originality factor. Once the engine fire happened, it is unlikely any sane person would invest poorly in returning the car to original.
Selecting the most dependable, popular and powerful easy to package widely distributed engine that by all accounts will go down in history as an epic design – was solid choice. Its all about driving your cars instead of looking at them on a trailer. Grab some gears and enjoy your new steed.
I concur.
I wonder if they would throw me out of the local Lamborghini meet if I turned up in this?
Maybe but it would be a big hit at an LS Fest!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣Some guys that have never even owned a Lambo are getting their knickers in a twist over this LS swap!!!🤣🤣🤣
Billy1, just don’t open the hood, simple.
Now put a huffer on top. Then it will really run.
Since the car burned I have no problem with the LS swap.
Italian vehicles are an acquired taste. I’ve been riding Italian motorcycles since 1990.
“On a long enough timeline, everything gets an LS.” — Mr. Regular
Too bad he didn’t put in a LSV12 that a company in Australia is producing. Now that would turn some heads!
If an American V8 in an Italian body was good enough for Alejandro de Tomaso, it’s good enough for me.
Totally agree!! If it works and allows you to enjoy it, who cares?? I’m enjoying my lambo!!
LS swap is how everything should be done
As good as an LS is I’d opt for a 6.4 Hellcat if going modern. Tastes may very.
Half the price of a regular Diablo with none of the engine hassles or expense, what’s not to like?
Let’s be honest, in twenty years most cars like this will probably be retrofit with electric motors or sitting in dusty museums.
Or maybe……people will have seen what a gigantic scam the current electric-car craze was and cars like this one will be running alcohol-fueled steam engines!!! :-) :-)
While driving the pantera on a Sunday, it breaks down
No auto parts open on sunday
So i walk in to canadian tire and order a part for a for torino 74
Walk out , replace and drive
Try that with a lambo
Ls is great , shoehorn the biggest one and enjoy !
A modern day Pantera! Once you get beyond the romantic nature of a high-string V-12, domestic power makes perfect sense. Same as it did for the Cobra, Jensen Interceptor, Pantera and countless Jags that had heavy, slow and problematic engines replaced by an American V-8. A great way to salvage what surely would have been a written off and crushed Italian exotic.
I know a mechanic that has a black 95 diablo. He took me for a ride once in it. One of the most uncomfortable cars i ever was drivin in…yet probably the fastest.
Modern day Pantera.
Surely the same comments apply to a lot of cars with transplants like the Shelby Cobras?
To all the haters of American Muscle in an Italian car, have you forgot about the Pantera?
Exactly what I was thinking in my previous post.
I love the Pantera.
I see where you’re going with this incredible work of art. So get the crager rims, some 70 series white walls, and head over to the Lamborghini club and rub elbows. Paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa for extra points. It just seems like the epitome of taking something nice, and reduce the value to junk status. I absolutely Hate it! May you be forgiven your bad choices!
I would like to think we all come to this site because we are ENTHUSIASTS. Someone with a limited budget, and evidently some pretty good mechanical skills resurrected this back from the dead. Not everyone can walk into the bank and walk out with an endless supply of cash. Junk status?? That’s pretty much what it was when it caught fire. I really appreciate that this person applied his skills and kept this on the road. This hobby wouldn’t exist if we all have certain rules to follow.
Indeed Bob!
I’m looking at the drivetrain picture, and wondering how he mated the LS3 to a Porsche transaxle? Would you need a custom machined bellhousing?
Danno, usually an adaptor plate between the transaxle and engine is all that is required for these kinds of swaps.
Easy as pie. Especially since people swap LS motors into Porsche 911s as well.
http://www.superlitecars.com/engine-transaxle-adapter-plates
I think the Diablo is the prettiest car Lamborghini ever gave us. I am usually not a fan of pulling the original engine in favor of an American V8. Fairly common exercise for many Maserati QPorts and Ferraris. But in this case, since the engine was toasted anyway, it seems like a reasonable option and the execution looks to be done well. Beside, there are a number of manufactures that have given us a precedence, namely De Tomaso and Iso. Besides, what is the alternative? Crushing this beautiful car or relegating it to parts-car status?
I say well done. However, I would have chosen something from the Ford stable, like a hot Rousch engine
Who cares ? That LS looks like it belongs in there with that big plastic cover on it. just pop the lid up and say “Yeah, I know but this is the big motor you had to special order” then “Oh wow that’s right wow” they say “cool”. I’d rather smell burned rubber in the cabin then smoke Later……………………JIMMY
IIRC, the Shelby Cobra did not have a “transplanted” engine. The Cobra was Shelby’s idea, he looked at various cars to implement his ideas, and his second choice was the AC (Ace?). I cannot recall what his first choice was, but it seems to me that he was mulling over the Sunbean Tiger. He had AC redesign the car & build them to his specs, they built & shipped them, and Shelby completed them in LA. The Cobra was not an AC Ace, and never had any other engine in it, than the Ford. However, I do stand to be corrected, of others have better memories of periodicals of that time.
Not know how this is relevant to the Lambo but…
Shelby got the idea from Lance Renentlow and Sydney Allard, but the idea of dropping a big engine in a small car goes back to the 20’s.
AC Ace’s originally came with a bristol straight six, but they stopped making the engine in 61 and AC needed an engine. Shelby contacted AC and said he had an engine if they could supply the car, he went to ford with the same story. Oh originally he wanted a SBC but could not get GM to deal as they had the corvette.
I don’t know if he looked at cars before the AC ace but the Sunbeam tiger definitely came later. Rootes group was trying to enhance their image and saw what he was doing with the cobra.
Oh AC did not redesign the car, they basically gave Shelby the chassis. Phil Remington did the design of the cobra and turned it from a POS into a race winner. Remington was a mechanical god and without him we would likely of never heard of Shelby. Remington was a rare breed. To go back to this Lambo, unless you have someone with STP’s skill set then it likely drives like a POS.
Sorry not that great.
Start with the engine, a base ls3 crate engine makes 430hp, a 2005 vette makes 400 for reference. Sure it can be hotrodded but as hp goes up fuel economy and reliability goes down. Looking at the engine it looks pretty standard but could be hiding more.
The lambo in base form would have had between 480 to 550 hp depending on specs, and surprise these can be uprated to over 700 without to much trouble.
The real problem with this is the transmission. The G50 is a nice transmission and it handles hp well, what it doesn’t handle well is torque. It maxes out at about 350 ft-lbs. On a road course you can feather the throttle and make the transmission last, but it seems that most people with a LS mindset are into drag racing, and this will toast the G50. I have worked on a couple of FF GTM’s which is a wicked car, but the trans and clutch were the weak points. And the same basic setup as this car.
In the end you would do better just buying a replica, and I am not even sure that this car is not a replica that is trying to be passed off as a real lambo that has been converted. I base this off the K-mart wheels and the quality of some of some the replicas that I have seen. Google up Road &Track replica Diablo for an example.
dat chebby needs more scoops, 8
aint enough, right color though 8^0
Coulda been worse…
Put a John Deere or Massey-Ferguson engine in it, Lambo was a tractor company after all.
Remember, What happens in Vegas… Stays in Vegas
Just a thought…
what a waste of italian machinery . i probably could not even get into the darn thing , let alone get out of the car. does it come with a transfer winch for the drivers side. thats probably why he is selling it . cant get in or out of the car…
Only time I would complain about this swap is if he did it with a Miura.
Perfik!
The Diablo isn’t exactly the most desirable Lamborghini. Much less the most desirable Italian V-12
I smell scam, if you google the VIN you dont get very much at all, but you do get a strange post from 2016 where the price is $20k …..and full of misspellings like the CL ad.
SWEET!
I had a 1974 Jag with a tuned port injection Corvette small block and R 700 4 auto in it. This was prior to the newer LS engines. She was pretty, fast, and very dependable, with easy access to drive chain parts. Of course the little Jaguar facility believed I was the Devil incarnate for having, in their mind created this Frankenstein of an abomination. Hey, I like the looks of a Jag for sure but come on, I like it start when I turn the key. Remember Lucas ‘prince of darkness’,,,
Just needs a bundle of snakes set of headers and a pair of turbos.