Lamborghini hasn’t been too interested in the Formula 1 Racing scene but now it seems the sports marque is reconsidering its position. Twenty-six years after its first appearance in Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Italian marque has revived the Minardi M191B chassis #003 car which had the Lamborghini LE3512 V12 engine. The same concoction that took part in the 1992 Grand Prix.
Lamborghini Squadra Corse contrived the idea and Lamborghini Polo Storico with the help of engineers from Lamborghini’s original ’92 F1 team restored the original car and put the idea in motion. The F1 car was sitting in display at the Lamborghini Museum in Sant’Agata Bolognese when Polo Storico recovered it and restored it to its original working condition. Vehicle components like tires, fuel tank, the ECU and the fire extinguishing unit were changed, while the engine was oiled up and cleaned.
Chief guests at the occasion Mirko Bortolotti, Lamborghini factory driver, and Giancarlo Minardi were full of joy. “Seeing the models of 25 or 30 years ago is still exciting. They are the last cars before the beginning of telemetry and automatic transmissions. Apart from the growling noise, which still today brings back those wonderful times, it was a very flexible engine with enormous power starting from the low rpms.”
The Minardi M191B chassis car ran test laps and brought up no problems. The smooth running of 20 laps shows that the car is still capable of making it to the front lines.