To understand supercars, you need to factor in a few different qualities to fully grasp why some fly higher than others. While limited production and scorching performance are both two key ingredients, there’s other less tangible qualities that cause some cars to be valued higher than others, even though they’re largely similar when it comes to 0-60 times and whiz-bang features. The Lamborghini Diablo will always hold a special place in the hearts of enthusiasts as it truly represents the end of the line for the company before transitioning to Audi ownership, which has a significant impact on the brand. Check out one of the last Diablos made here on the Broadarrow Auctions website.

Now, by the time you read this, the auction will have concluded; however, I’m guessing if you were potentially in line to own this car, you were well aware of it already. The car was one of the featured lots at the annual Chattanooga Motor Car Festival, a terrific assembly of truly special vintage and modern sports cars and classics. The Diablo would feel right at home here, nestled among cars including the likes of the Ferrari F40 and Jaguar XJ220. The Diablo, like those models, were from an era when supercars were still highly analog and you wouldn’t dare imagine ordering one without three pedals.

But that’s a sign of just how much things have changed. I have to imagine the engineers working at Lamborghini at the time knew that they were part of a sort of final frontier for the brand, the last stand before Audi’s corporate take-over and a brand revamp that seemed to suck some the soul out of the company in the interest of higher profits and streamlined supply chains. Lamborghini would also increasingly step away from the manual gearbox, joining other supercar builders in making quick-shifting race-inspired gearboxes the standard go-to. This Diablo is equipped with a 6.0-liter, 550-hp V-12 and a variety of improvements made the final-fling model easier to drive than earlier editions.

Of course, you can’t look at this car and not talk about the color.  It’s one of just six painted in Viola Ophelia and also comes with a “….Bianco and Nero cabin with accoutrements in Alcantara and carbon fiber,” according to the auction listing. The Diablo, of course, has obscenely low miles with just 16,000 on the clock, but at least it’s been driven enough to demonstrate that prior caretakers have taken advantage of the improvements made in the final year. The Diablo is a hallmark of 90s supercar engineering, and will always be remembered as a swan song of a brand that would become like so many others more interested in technology and taking the driver out of the equation; you can be quite confident this model will never lose value.