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.
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:
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