Striking one-off Lamborghini Concept S heads to auction

Lamborghini was planning to make a hundred of these, but only one ended up rolling out of the factory.PHOTO BY RM SOTHEBY'S

GALLARDO-BASED ROADSTER WAS DUE GO INTO PRODUCTION BEFORE SANT’AGATA PULLED THE PLUG

Automakers' concept cars rarely survive to make it into the collector-car market, and that's been true as much for producers of everyday economy cars as well as makers of supercars. But occasionally someone with deep enough pockets has a chance to buy what is essentially a running prototype.

Such a machine from Sant’Agata Bolognese will soon head to the auction block, where well-heeled fans of Lamborghini will get a chance to drive home a one-off Concept S roadster from 2006.

First unveiled at the Geneva motor show in 2005 as a non-running model, the Concept S was meant to be a modern reinterpretation of a classic single-seater racing car. But instead of having a single seat, it saved room for a passenger, with their own separate windscreen. The non-running design study attracted a great amount of attention at Geneva, prompting Lamborghini to plan a 100-car run of the concept to be based on the production Gallardo chassis and drivetrain. Most of the car was already there, after all, and all that remained was making the striking side-by-side configuration production-ready.

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The Concept S derived just about everything but the body from the Gallardo, so this means a 5.0-liter V10 sitting midships.PHOTO BY RM SOTHEBY'S

This meant extensive aerodynamic testing as well as crashworthiness -- the kinds of things that have for years prevented automakers from putting small-volume models into production. But this was 2005 and Lamborghini was setting sales records years after year, so it could afford a diversion for the fans.

Lamborghini went on to build a running prototype in preparation for a limited run of examples to be offered to the public, showing the running version at Concorso Italiano. The radical appearance of the initial concept remained, with the running prototype gaining even smaller twin windscreens than those seen on the concept in addition to an air inlet integrated into the spine that runs from the very front of the car back to the V10 engine. Most of the innards are shared with the Gallardo, so this meant a 5.0-liter V10 engine producing 520 hp, connected to a six-speed E-Gear sequential manual transmission.

"The Concept S represents everything that Lamborghini stands for. It is extreme, uncompromising, and Italian," Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmann said at the time.

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The Concept S features even lower windscreens than were shown on the Geneva concept car previewing this roadster.PHOTO BY RM SOTHEBY'S

As it often happens with limited-run models from producers of supercars, runs get revised after the initial frenzy settles down. What started as a run of 100 units ended up being downgraded to 1, due to issues with the sheer expense of construction. At least that's the official story.

The sole example was delivered to its first and only owner -- the consignor at the upcoming sale -- and instead of disappearing into some Bond villain's lair, the car would go on to make numerous appearances around the world, including two stops at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Still, over the last nine years, it has managed to log a grand total of about 111 miles, most of that stated to have been accumulated during the initial factory testing prior to delivery.

It appears this could be one of those rare times when the factory drivers got more time behind the wheel than the owner of the car itself.

Needless to say, RM Sotheby's will not be offering test drives, and it remains to be seen just how many miles it'll accumulate during the next nine years of its life. The auction house isn't providing an estimate range for this example, but if you plan to bid, it may not be a bad idea to budget more than a regular used Gallardo from the 2006 model year.

Visit the auction website to view the full list of lots from the upcoming sale.