Lambo’s roofless Concept S revisited
Autoevolution’s Geneva retrospective spotlights Lamborghini’s 2005 Concept S — an open‑top, split‑cockpit Gallardo variant that stunned at its debut but never reached production, a high‑profile example of Geneva’s one‑off design experiments. The piece frames the Concept S as a glaring missed opportunity in modern supercar design lore. (autoevolution.com)
Luc Donckerwolke is credited as the Concept S’s creator while he served as Lamborghini’s head of design at Centro Stile. (rmsothebys.com) Lamborghini initially showed a non‑running design study and later built one fully functional example plus at least one static show car. (rmsothebys.com) The operable car carries a rear‑mounted 5.0‑liter V10 rated at roughly 520 horsepower and has logged under 200 kilometers since new. (rmsothebys.com) Company documents and later listings indicate Lamborghini planned a 100‑car limited run before the programme was halted because the hand‑built, time‑consuming production proved prohibitively costly. (rmsothebys.com) For road homologation the twin “saute‑vent” wind deflectors were lowered from the concept’s original height, and the finished prototype was shown at Concorso Italiano and twice at Pebble Beach (2006 and 2008). (rmsothebys.com) When offered at RM Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi the sole drivable Concept S carried a presale estimate of $1.3–$1.6 million and was recorded as not sold at that auction; its chassis is listed as ZHWGE32T86LA00001. (rmsothebys.com)
