Automotive

Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: 200 mph with the gale-force wind in your hair

Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: 200 mph with the gale-force wind in your hair
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: 320 km/h with the top down will give you a heck of a hairdo
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: 320 km/h with the top down will give you a heck of a hairdo
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: really doesn't look very nice from the side, but let's not tell them
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: really doesn't look very nice from the side, but let's not tell them
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: certainly better from a higher angle
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: certainly better from a higher angle
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: built on the Lamborghini Huracan drivetrain and chassis
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: built on the Lamborghini Huracan drivetrain and chassis
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: full carbon bodywork
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: full carbon bodywork
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: targa-style removable roof
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: targa-style removable roof
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: interior is on the business side of luxury
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: interior is on the business side of luxury
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: nice looking rear engine hood
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: nice looking rear engine hood
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds should be enough for most folk
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds should be enough for most folk
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: 610 horsepower out of a roaring, naturally aspirated Lambo V10
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: 610 horsepower out of a roaring, naturally aspirated Lambo V10
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: interior
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: interior
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: looks its best from matchbox car angles like this
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: looks its best from matchbox car angles like this
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: custom electronics - although to what degree is unclear
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: custom electronics - although to what degree is unclear
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: the most limited of limited editions - only five will be made
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: the most limited of limited editions - only five will be made
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: 320 km/h with the top down will give you a heck of a hairdo
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: 320 km/h with the top down will give you a heck of a hairdo
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: we're not expecting many of these to make it to their first major services
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: we're not expecting many of these to make it to their first major services
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: interior and seats
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: interior and seats
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: looks nice in profile in Italdesign's photos, but the effect doesn't quite carry over in person
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: looks nice in profile in Italdesign's photos, but the effect doesn't quite carry over in person
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: all five of these should be built and delivered by the end of the year
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Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: all five of these should be built and delivered by the end of the year
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There are exclusive supercars, and then there's the Italdesign Zerouno, a Lamborghini-engined, 320 km/h (198 mph), 5.2-liter V10 made from carbon fiber, unicorn tears and the distilled consciences of a dozen top oil and hedge fund executives. It must be, given the price. Only five were built, which will make spare parts hard to come by, and yet that hasn't stopped these guys from deciding it needed an equally exclusive convertible version.

Meet the Zerouno Duerta, which does all the same silly things the regular old Zerouno does, but with a removable targa style roof. Built to pander to collectors and show off Italdesign's coachbuilding skills more than as a serious driver's car, the Duerta will nonetheless be fully road legal, certifiably mental to drive and the roof mods will in no way stop you from going the full 320 km/h (198 mph) top speed if you're prepared to hop out at the other end with your hair looking like Einstein's.

Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: interior is on the business side of luxury
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: interior is on the business side of luxury

The Duerta, like the standard Zerouno, is built on top of the chassis of a Lamborghini Huracan, with its dramatic, 610-horsepower, naturally aspirated V10 engine, 7-speed dual clutch paddle shift auto and all-wheel drivetrain intact. The entire Italdesign bodywork is carbon fiber – as well as a decent bit of the interior. Plenty of attention is paid to aerodynamics, as well as some interesting cooling solutions like wheel designs that suck heat away from the brake discs in motion.

Let's not mince words about the design itself. This car looks incredible from high angles, but frankly a touch awkward in profile, particularly if shot with a wide angle lens. I'm not sure how many likes you'll be pulling on Instagram with a side-on view like this:

Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: really doesn't look very nice from the side, but let's not tell them
Italdesign Zerouno Duerta: really doesn't look very nice from the side, but let's not tell them

Again, only five will be built, before the end of the year – and in all likelihood they're already sold, so pricing is purely academic at this point. The press release doesn't put a figure on the Duerta, but for reference the standard Zerouno started at US$1.7 million – five and a bit times the price of a boring old Huracan. On the face of it, it might not look like much of a bargain.

But if you thought that, you need to turn your thinking about supercars upside down. At a certain point, you become so rich that liabilities turn into assets and your money starts making money for you on your behalf. Nobody's buying these to drive, they're investments. Those well-heeled and well-connected enough to get their hands on one of these will almost certainly be able to sell it for double the sticker price almost immediately, such is the bizarre world of exclusive supercar ownership. By merely agreeing to sell you one of these things, Italdesign is probably handing you a million or more dollars. I don't think that works quite the same with the average Kia.

We got to take a peek at the Duerta at this year's Geneva Motor Show, where it may have been a little bit upstaged by Italdesign's other concept – a self-driving mini-car that clips onto the bottom of a giant quadcopter to become a flying taxi. Definitely worth a look if you missed it.

Source: Italdesign

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