‘It Needs Cinematic Drama’: Lamborghini’s Design Director on the 1,065 HP Fenomeno

Lamborghini just unveiled its latest limited-edition hypercar, the Fenomeno (Obvious English translation: Phenomenon.) Like the nine “few-off” models that have preceded it over the past two decades, this seven-figure missile features a special body, designed around an upgraded iteration of the brand’s latest V-12 power-train configuration.

In the case of this $3.5 million exotic, which will cap its production at 29 units (plus one for Lambo’s archives), that means that it is based on the contemporary gasoline/electric hybrid that motivates its production flagship, the Revuelto. This is not a bad place to start by any means. But its design inspiration dates back further than that.

“My personal number one Lamborghini is the Reventón,” Mitja Borkert, the brand’s design director tells Robb Report, referring to the first “few-off” produced by the Italian marqueMarqueA brand name of a car manufacturer, particularly one associated with prestige, such as Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, or Aston Martin. The term emphasizes a make's heritage and identity beyond product lines,Go to Marque Glossary, based on its Murciélago, in 2007. “As you know, I’m born in East Germany, so I didn’t have this classic Countach poster on my bedroom wall, because in East Germany they didn’t deliver those to us. But when I was a younger designer at Porsche, I was absolutely impressed by this picture of the Reventón, with a pilot and a fighter jet. For me, this is totally Lamborghini.” Borkert describes the Fenomeno as “hyper-elegant,” but also aggressive. “We give adrenaline a shape,” he says.

Thus, its widened and lengthened body—when compared to the Revuelto—has been designed in a very graphical way, with fewer lines, broad shoulders and surfaces, a long tail, and a peaky front. The overall effect is quite selachian, and this is no accident. “It looks very much like a shark,” Borkert says.

And while the car hosts flamboyant cues such as an exposed V-12 engine and chopped rear fenders and valences, there are few of the carbuncular strakes, intakes, or wings that often define the brand’s offerings. In fact, the overall styling of the exterior is oddly restrained.

This, according to Borkert, harkens back to Lamborghini’s earlier vehicles. “When you look at the Miura, or when you look at the first Countach, the cars are designed in a very simple way. But the bandwidth we have at Lamborghini means that I can design a Lamborghini like a Miura, or like a Veneno,” he says, naming another few-off with a more brash and be-spoilered look. “I would explain it this way. At Lamborghini, we play music. And when we play, we want it to build up like a concert. We need to ensure that we don’t play, all the time, a provocative rock song.”

This restraint does not exactly carry over to the interior. Though it roughly mimics the Stealth Bomber–like cockpit layout of the Revuelto—with a small screen in front of the driver, and a narrow vertical one in the center console—it adds delightfully, and absurdly, sinister elements.

Above the central display is a ventilative protuberance sporting a pair of menacing ambient lights. The accent wouldn’t be out of place on the set of the original 1970s Battlestar Galactica. “It looks like an alien, like two alien eyes,” Borkert chuckles.

The new hard-shell racing seats have a similarly sinister, retro-modern extraterrestrial influence. Their strategically placed pads provide them with an almost android appearance, as if occupants would be sitting in the wadded lap of a less-than-benevolent robot.

These flourishes have specific, brand-aligned intents. “I found in the past that our interiors, they were heavy and full and not so well drivable. So, I wanted to have a more drivable generation of Lamborghini interiors,” Borkert says. “You always want to have a smile when you drive a Lamborghini. And when you drive it, it needs to have this cinematic drama.”

However, when pushed, Borkert admits that some elements of this joy and delight need not always be pragmatic. “It’s not making you a better driver and it’s not helping you drive faster,” he says. “It’s just looking cool.”

This article originally appeared in Robb Report US.