When Lamborghini design boss Filippo Perini and his team started work on the Asterion concept -- the Italian supercar maker's first plug-in hybrid -- they wanted to create a look that moved away from the angular and aggressive forms of recent Lamborghini models.
For the Asterion, which debuted in October at the Paris auto show, they sought to borrow less extreme features from renowned Lamborghinis of the past, such as the Miura.
"We need to understand if we can open another window in our future to be not so extreme but also a little bit more politically correct and elegant," Perini said.
A key reason for the design shift was that the Asterion rides differently from Lamborghini's current models. As Perini describes it, in most Lamborghinis occupants have the sensation of being pushed by the car's power. The feeling in the Asterion is akin to being pulled.
"For this reason we decided that this car needed a new dress, a dress that is much more classic, much more GT, and inspired by the Miura," he said.
Perini points out that Lamborghini started as a maker of Grand Turismo-style cars such as the 350GT. Later, founder Ferruccio Lamborghini built cars more aggressively shaped such as the Espada, Jalpa and Urraco, all of which established the company's design direction.
"We were taking inspiration from our heritage" in the Asterion, says Perini. "You can see flavors of the Miura and flavors of the Espada, and this is because of the platform."