Business 314
Mitsubishi lures back former owners and new buyers with reborn Pajero
In this issue
Business 314
Mitsubishi lures back former owners and new buyers with reborn Pajero
Culture 340
Seller offers 1999 Mazda MX-5 with 20,000 miles at auction
Economy 48
Three Tankers Reportedly Strike Mines in Strait of Hormuz
News 161
Private parking firms face pressure as UK motorists call for fairer rules
Politics 121
Burnham denies stopping ministers from discussing closer EU ties
Sports 296
Modified 1978 Ford Bronco with 460 V8 heads to auction without reserve
Technology 352
Electric motorcycles will replace petrol bikes, but not the way many expect
Design house GFG Style, founded by Fabrizio Giugiaro, is reviving the Lamborghini Gallardo as the Hommage 26. Only 25 units will be built, and the conversion alone costs 900,000 euros.
By George Kensington · 3 min read
Thirteen years after the last Lamborghini Gallardo rolled off the line, the model is making a comeback. Design house GFG Style has translated the legendary supercar to the present day under the name Hommage 26. It is a modernized version of the original, and only 25 examples of this modernization will be built.
The original lines of the Gallardo were once drawn up by Fabrizio Giugiaro, son of the well-known designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. At the time, this was done on behalf of the design house Italdesign Giugiaro. Today Fabrizio works alongside his father within GFG Style, the company that has now brought the design of the Gallardo into the present. The Gallardo was launched in 2003 and remained in production for ten years, before being succeeded by the Huracán and later the Temerario.
Notably, the Hommage 26 adopts clear elements from the 2008 facelift version of the Gallardo. That facelift was the work of Walter de'Silva, not Giugiaro. The new front and rear lighting, the bumpers and the front and rear fenders make it immediately clear that this is not an unchanged old Gallardo. According to GFG Style, only the roof, the side windows and the side mirrors have remained original. The entire body is made of carbon fiber. The headlights are of the flip-away type, and above the taillights are movable flaps that form part of the active aerodynamics.
Under the bonnet sits, just as in the pre-facelift version of the Gallardo, a 5-liter V10. Italtecnica has reworked this ten-cylinder engine so that it now revs up to 8,500 rpm. The engine is coupled to a manual gearbox and delivers 530 hp. The Performance version developed by GFG Style reaches 560 hp.
Only 25 examples of the Hommage 26 will therefore be built. For the conversion of an existing Gallardo into a Hommage 26, the buyer pays 900,000 euros excluding taxes. A Gallardo must therefore be supplied for this. The cheapest Gallardo that could be found costs almost 90,000 euros. That brings the total investment to at least one million euros.
The return of the Gallardo fits into a broader trend of restomods, in which older cars are restored and fitted with modern technology and styling. One critical voice in the discussion is that the original designer is not always given due credit in this project. Comparing the options shows that anyone wishing to buy a modern Gallardo in 2013 could do so at a much lower price than the Hommage 26.
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