In what’s being touted as an epic midlife crisis, iconic automaker Lamborghini unveiled a one-off design that beats any superhero ride you ever sketched in bout of boredom during your high school civics class. Officials debuted the aptly named “Egoista” (which translates to “selfish”) at its 50th birthday celebration in Italy – and immediately revved up a global controversy.
Drawing love-it-or-hate-it coverage, the Egoista was designed by the famed Walter De Silva and inspired by the look of Apache helicopters. It’s powered by a 600-hp V-10 and seats just one passionate and unapologetic driver.
Says DeSilva: “I wanted to pay homage to and think up a vehicle to underline the fact that Lamborghinis have always been made with passion, and with the heart more than the head… This is a car made for one person only, to allow them to have fun and express their personality to the maximum. It is designed purely for hyper-sophisticated people who want only the most extreme and special things in the world. It represents hedonism taken to the extreme, it is a car without compromises, in a word – egoista, or selfish.”
That whole heart vs. head thing is evident in the Egoista, many say. Reviews point out the stealth fighter jet-like cockpit, fitted LED warning lights rather than headlights, and a front end that one reviewer said “looks as if it could julienne a pedestrian.”
The orange-tinted cockpit canopy slides forward and requires the driver to remove the steering wheel, open the dome with an electronic command stand up in their seat, sit down on a precise point of the left-hand bodywork, then swivel their legs 180 degrees to exit the vehicle – Top Gun style.
“Whoever drives this assault on the pupils must be dominated by ego,” one auto journalist wrote. But we here at E3 Spark Plugs think perhaps one (many) doth protest too much. Admit it – aren’t you just a little bit envious that you’ll likely NEVER drive the Egoista? After all, Lamborghini officials are adamant that they’ll never build or sell the Egoista. So there! Egoista, indeed.
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