Welcome to Mild & Wild, the series where I take a “normal” production car and feature it up against it’s generally more sporting stablemate. For this inaugural LaLD post, we have the Lamborghini Diablo SE30 and Diablo SE30 Jota.
Now I won’t go too much into the history of the Diablo, but it was the successor to Lamborghini’s flagship Countach, and was in production from 1990 to 2001. The SE30, introduced in 1993 was built to celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary. The SE30 was more than just a special badge and paint job like so many other anniversary editions, it was intended to be more of a road legal race car. Think 911 GT3. Compared to the standard RWD Diablo (the AWD Diablo VT was also introduced in 1993), it received more power, some suspension upgrades, and a little bit of decontenting in an effort to shave some pounds. There were a few exterior visual changes as well, with the most prominent being the magnesium wheels and the special Viola SE30 metallic purple paint (although you could get other colors as well.)
So if the regular SE30 is akin to a 911 GT3, then the Jota is the GT3 Cup car. It’s the race car for the race track. It got even more power, and to aid in that effort, the engine cover was revised to feature 2 air ducts above the roofline. Of the 150 SE30s built, 15 were converted to Jotas.
In Viola SE30, we have our “mild” Diablo, and the “wild” Jota is in Balloon White, which is my official unofficial Lambo color. Both models here come from AUTOart, and both models are from their composite line, but AUTOart has made diecast Diablos in the past. So, coming from the same manufacturer at the same time, there is no difference between these that is not required by their real life counterparts. Build and paint quality of both models is excellent. As has been the case for AUTOart for some time now, all vents on the model are open and mesh covered, even the tiny ones at the base of the windshield and the narrow intakes just aft of the side rear glass.
AUTOart is not generally known for providing moving features beyond the standard, but we do get pop up headlights that are activated with a short throw lever. The doors open smoothly, and unlike their diecast V12 Lambos, these doors actually stay open. They also ditched the spring loaded mechanism that often failed at keeping those doors open, which means they could also dump the fiddly little latch that kept the doors closed. Inside those doors is a decent representation of the Diablo’s relatively sparse interior. I thought they erred with the inclusion of a radio, because the internet says it doesn’t have one, but a quick image search proved that to be incorrect. Maybe it was optional? Speaking of things that should be missing, the Jota still has its rear view mirror despite the loss of its rear window. The exposed carbon is a decal or tamp-on, and not the textured plastic that Aa loves so much. Aa also gave us cloth seat belts as opposed to the vinyl ones they have been using in other models. Under the engine cover is what I initially felt to be a lackluster copy of the Diablo’s V12, but looking at pics of my old Diablo 6.0, I have to take that back. It is certainly better than that older model, but still AUTOart could have expended a bit more effort. Jump over to the Jota, and you see part of that kit. Atop the engine sits a new air intake with what looks to be 4(?) throttle bodies.
As a fairly recent release, you can still find both versions at retailers in the $200 range. Is it worth it? I’ll leave that to you.
Many people would say, that purple is the ultimate Diablo-color, but DAAAMMMNN!!! that white looks so classy