The Lamborghini Portofino is a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

developed for

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–1993) ...

by Kevin Verduyn, one of

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

's chief designers. Introduced at the 1987 Frankfurt Auto Show, it was a fully functional, four-door, four-seat sport sedan.

Design

In 1986, Kevin Verduyn designed a concept car model for Chrysler called the Navajo. The concept never went beyond the clay model stage, but when Chrysler acquired Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. in 1987, the design was resurrected and with some fairly minor tweaks, turned into the Portofino. The Portofino was built by

Coggiola Coggiola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northeast of Biella. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,285 and an area of .All demographic ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Italy on a lengthened Jalpa

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

, giving the car a

mid-engine In automotive engineering, a mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the rear-wheel axles, but behind the front axle. History The mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive format can be considered the original layout of ...

rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-wheel ...

layout. It also made use of the Jalpa's 3.5 L V8 water-cooled engine and 5-speed manual

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

. The engine could rev to 7,000 rpm, with 64.6 bhp/liter. The most interesting feature of the Portofino was the dual

scissor doors Scissor doors (also called flap doors, wing doors, beetle-wing doors, turtle doors, switchblade doors, swing-up doors, upswing doors, Lamborghini doors, and Lambo doors) are automobile Vehicle door, doors that rotate vertically at a fixed hinge ...

, enclosing a pillarless passenger compartment. The front doors pivoted forward and upward, as in Lamborghini's Countach. The rears were also scissor-style, but pivoted upward to the rear. The logo on the hood featured the Lamborghini bull inside the Chrysler

Pentastar The Chrysler Pentastar engine family is a series of aluminium ( die-cast cylinder block) dual overhead cam 24-valve gasoline V6 engines introduced for model-year 2011 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles. The engine was initially named " Phoenix ...

. While the Portofino was a one-of-a-kind concept car and while Chrysler ownership of Lamborghini would not survive, the concept's design would inform and influence Chrysler cars for the next two decades. The wide-and-low stance and the open-plan interior would become the hallmark of the Chrysler LH body vehicles and their " cab-forward" design standard (which was extensively marketed as such). The triangular headlights and dual notched rear indicators would find their way directly to the first generation

Dodge Intrepid The Dodge Intrepid is a full sized front-wheel drive four-door sedan that was produced by Dodge for model years 1993 to 2004. It is related to the Chrysler 300M, Chrysler Concorde, Chrysler LHS, Chrysler New Yorker, and Eagle Vision which we ...

and would serve as key design points throughout that vehicle's existence.

Prototype

Only the single

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

Portofino, chassis #LC0001, was ever produced. In 1991, it was heavily damaged in an

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researcher ...

in transit. However, Chrysler had it restored by Metalcrafters in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...

for $300,000, and it is now on display at

headquarters in

Auburn Hills, Michigan Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 21,412 at the 2010 census. Before incorporating as a city in 1983, the area was part of the now-defunct Pontiac Township. It is home to Oakland University ...

. From November 15, 2020 to January 9, 2022, the Portofino was one of 12 vehicles on display at the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the list of largest art museums, largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation a ...

, part of a special exhibit titled "Detroit Style: Car Design in the Motor City, 1950–2020".https://www.dia.org/detroitstyle The Portofino was notable for being an early example of

cab forward The term cab forward refers to various rail and road vehicle designs that place the driver's compartment substantially farther towards the front than is common practice. Rail locomotives In steam locomotive design, a cab forward design will ...

styling, and many aspects of its design made it into the

Chrysler LH platform The LH platform served as the basis for the Chrysler Concorde, Chrysler LHS, Chrysler 300M, Dodge Intrepid, Eagle Vision, and the final Chrysler New Yorker. A Plymouth to be called the "Accolade" was planned, but never saw production. The platfor ...

which initially included the

Chrysler Concorde The Chrysler Concorde is a full-size, front wheel drive four-door sedan that was produced by Chrysler from 1992 to 2004. It assumed the C-body Chrysler New Yorker Salon's position as the entry-level full-size sedan in the Chrysler brand lin ...

and

Eagle Vision The Eagle Vision is a full-sized, front-wheel drive four-door sports sedan produced from 1992 until 1997. It was marketed by Eagle, replacing the AMC/Renault-designed Eagle Premier (from which the Vision was derived). The Eagle Vision was bad ...

External links

Lamborghini Registry: Portofino

References

{{Lamborghini

Portofino Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th century ...