Lamborghini looks forward with stylings of its second SUV
Urus takes few cues from the LM002, says famed Italian firm’s design director
Designing one of Lamborghini’s super sports cars looks almost as fun as driving one. Drawing the Urus, however, was considerably more challenging.
There was no precedent. The only other off-roader present on the company’s family tree is the Hummer H1-esque LM002 introduced in 1986 and swiftly nicknamed the Rambo Lambo. Mitja Borkert, the head of the company ’s design department, gave us the inside story on how the Urus came to life.
“Lamborghini has a super strong design DNA; it’s maybe the strongest,” he told us on the sidelines of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. He explained the company’s design language traces its roots back to the Countach, which was designed by Marcello Gandini in the early 1970s. It’s a simple yet complex style that has influenced every Lamborghini model to date, with the notable exception of the aforementioned LM002. Borkert’s team integrated as many Countach styling cues into the Urus as possible.
“When you see a Lamborghini driving towards you, there’s always this typical architecture with the strong angle of the front window. We achieved the same kind of feeling when you look at the Urus,” he said while showing us a sketch to illustrate his point.
The distinctive angle of the A-pillars indeed gives the SUV a broadshouldered appearance while making it look shorter than it is.
Packaging restrictions evidently limited how far designers were able to stretch the Countach influence. They also looked at the LM002 for inspiration. The wheel arches, especially, are similarly shaped but rendered with a more dynamic twist.
The muscular hood is another bridge between the two models, though it looks much sleeker on the Urus than it does on the LM002. Finally, look for the vents chiselled into the fenders; those come from the LM002 as well. Borkert’s team tweaked the design, rotated the vent, and added a small emblem of an Italian flag to proudly highlight the SUV’s origins.
“There are some similarities between the LM and the Urus inside, too, even though they’re 30 years apart,” he noted.
He pointed to the sloping centre console, which on the Urus houses one of the two touch screens and an array of switches. The LM002’s console also slopes down, but it’s hollow to clear up space for the gear lever.
Borkert emphasized the two pieces of aluminum trim that start at the base of the centre console and underline either side of the dash.
“The driver needs to feel like a pilot; that’s the philosophy we work with when we design the interior of a Lamborghini. For me, the aspect of being part of the machine is most important. When you sit inside, you have to be immediately integrated into the car.”
The aluminum trim fulfils that purpose. As does the seating position, which is appreciably lower than in less extreme performance SUVs, such as the Porsche Cayenne.
The Urus takes Lamborghini into a segment it has never competed in before, so it inaugurates new features and production methods. It’s the firm’s first model to be offered with open-pore wood trim on the dashboard and the door panels, for example. You won’t find that in an Aventador.
It’s also the company’s first fiveseater, though a four-seat configuration is also available. And, of course, it’s the first turbocharged car in the company’s 55-year history. “High-tech meets Italian luxury; that’s another one of our guidelines,” Borkert said.
His team never seriously considered surfing the retro wave, he said. Heritage is important, especially to a brand like Lamborghini, but he’s not interested in resurrecting the past.
“There are some student models of a modern-day LM but no, we never considered it,” he said.
“Personally, I’m really convinced Lamborghini should never do a version 2.0 of a car. We have to be innovative. Inspiration from past models should shine through, of course, but I want to find something new, something unexpected, a new interpretation.
“The retro feeling is something we want to avoid. This is, for me, what Lamborghini stands for. We have to be pioneers,” he said.