It looks like a Lamborghini, but it has a supercharged LS engine. It is blue, it doesn't run, it doesn't drive, it has been sitting for four years, and it is in the UK. It will arrive by ship in the US, but it will take nine months. A car rebuild expert says he'll take it anyway despite all the setbacks.
The one taking on the insane challenge is Alex Palmeri of Legit Street Cars. Nine months after he got the call about the fake Lamborghini from his friend, Freddy, he goes to Florida to meet his new car.
The Lamborghini Freddy brought from across the ocean looks like a Diablo, but it isn't a Diablo. The replica saw the light of day in the shop of North American Exotic Replica Cars. The company does not exist anymore. It was on trial being charged with – what else? – replicating cars and lost.
Freddy, aka Tavarish on social media, convinced Alex to buy the car with no effort whatsoever. However, Freddy knows his way around advertising. He is trying to persuade Alex Palmeri that he is dealing with the best-looking replica of the Diablo.
In fact, he has been trying to get rid of the Diablo for over a year. An Instagram post from May 2023 revealed that he wanted to sell the replica because he needed more money for a McLaren P1 project.
The photos from back then showed a way better-looking car than reality shows right now. However, Freddy was completely transparent and warned Alex Palmeri that the photos uploaded on social media don't tell the whole story. But Alex wasn’t going to let the looks of the fake Lamborghini get in the way. He really wanted a blue Diablo, so he just had to have it, replica or not.
Photo: therealtavarish | Instagram
But during a quick walkaround, he realizes the blue paint is a mess, the doors teeter and don't close properly. They don't even have handles. The front hood just comes off because it has no hinges or latches. Meanwhile, the cabin is a mess.
The car rebuild expert thought he could get the replica running in just three days. He was planning to drive it back to Chicago. The supercharged LS engine is one of the reasons he accepted to take on this challenge. The LS reportedly pumps out 600 horsepower and is mated to a five-speed manual transmission from a Porsche, which is installed upside down because it usually sits in the back of the Porsche.
Richard Rowlings from Gas Monkey Garage owned this fake Lambo as well, sold it to someone called Sam, and then the car exchanged hands several times. Sam is none other than the owner of the "Hard Up Garage" YouTube channel.
He is the man who restored the 1966 Cadillac DeVille, which was up on stage with Snoop Dogg at the 2007 MTV Music Awards and on a world tour with him the following year. Sam even took the car to Paris, where the hip-hop star attended the 2024 Olympic Games, but was unable to reach him.
Photo: therealtavarish | Instagram
Eddy uploaded a video to YouTube last year to announce the arrival of the Lamborghini Diablo replica in his garage. Back then, the car looked like a million dollars, but now, it wouldn't exactly win a beauty pageant. Furthermore, it is completely dead, and it is going to need a lot of work to revive it.
The clutch is stuck to the ground, and the transmission seems to have a mind of its own, but Alex manages shift gears. The steering column has wires exposed and might not turn the wheels right or left, but the dashboard is covered in a nice faux leather. The brakes and wheels must have been donated by a C4 Corvette.
Once they get the car up in the air, they discover more Lambo-style mechanical solutions and several custom parts. The mice, however, had their way with the poor replica, as if all the damage wasn't already enough.
The Lambo leaks fuel, and the battery is dead. Alex decides to get rid of the old fuel and oil, puts in new ones, and the engine cranks. It smells bad, but there is still hope. Alex thinks his chances of driving the Lambo replica back to Chicago have just gone up to 20%.
Photo: LegitStreetCars | YouTube
Alex eventually fires up the engine, but it bangs and bams and sounds like a war has started in there. It misfires, and he suspects the injectors might be halfway stuck. Checking the spark plugs and wiring should lead to a solution. He also suspects a dead cylinder, due to some wires being disconnected.
When he starts the engine, it sounds even worse, like it is choking. He taps the injectors a little and it looks like that was actually the silver bullet. The engine sounds like it has finally come back to life, and chances have just hit 30%. But work on the Lamborghini Diablo replica has just begun.
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