“Can you imagine if we had tried to launch something like Polo Storico before Lamborghini reached a point of health like we have today? It would not have gone so well.” Explained Enrico Maffeo, director of the new “Historic Hub” (roughly translated) division of Automobili Lamborghini.
Polo Storico fills a gap in what just about everyone has seen in the major marque restoration marketplace. BMW Classic, Mercedes Benz Classic Center, and of course the Italian stallions up the road from Sant’Agata Bolognese have all been chugging away at the work of keeping legacy products on the road for decades to come, and finally, Lamborghini has a seat at the table.
As evidenced by last year’s Quail gathering by anyone with eyeballs, people have been restoring Miuras and other classic Lamborghinis virtually since they rolled off the assembly line. However, they’ve been doing so largely in the dark; opaque records-sharing processes and a genuine lack of parts availability (for example, Polo Storico currently has only 65% of the original parts inventory required to assemble a full Miura, and is working on re-engineering the tooling required to manufacture the other 35%) but what will predominantly interest bullish collectors is a long-awaited ability to fully verify and certify every inch of their Lambo.
Outrageous pains have been taken—both on paper and in person—to assemble the braintrust responsible for the preservation of Lamborghini’s history. Legendary figures from the early days of the marque have been brought back to personally certify restoration jobs as accurate: “Comitato dei Saggi” as they’re calling it is comprised of three members, one from inside the company and two external experts. The first is Maurizio Reggiani, current Director of Research and Development at Lamborghini, who has been with the company since 1998. The external experts include Giampaolo Dallara, technical director of Automobili Lamborghini from 1963 to 1969 in the years that saw the birth of the 350 GT, the Miura, the Marzal and the Espada.
And rightly so, considering that of the roughly 10,000 cars ever produced at Sant’Agata Bolognese have an estimated auction value of approximately $4bn if Lamborghini’s calculations are as accurate as they seem.
As everything else in the Lamboghini universe post-1998 acquisition by Volkswagen Group, the facilities in which the cars are being worked on, as well as the client facing spaces, are hermetically and Teutonically buttoned up. The actual archives themselves are in a room with an airlock and are displayed with meticulous organization. Presentation of the work rendered on client projects comes with beautifully bound project books and color-matched swatch samples of nearly every element of the car. I can imagine visiting Ferruccio at the factory to spec-out your Miura in period to be a rather laid-back affair accompanied by wine, revelry, and a certain sense of rakish irresponsibility. By comparison, the level of attention to detail in Polo Storico feels downright militaristic, with an exception given to the wine—they’ve certainly kept that.
All of this is to say that this is a massive step in the right direction for a brand who through the use of cutting-edge technology to create one record-setting hypercar after the next, has in some ways lost touch with its past, a past that it has drawn and will continue to draw so much life from.
As far as pricing goes, expect to pay a premium over your local Miura restoration shop. That might sound like a bad thing, but when looking at the way the market is treating fastidiously accounted for classics, you might very well be able to price that premium in to the long-term value of the car.
For more information on how you might be able to contract the services of Polo Storico, please head on over to Lamborghini’s website.
