Ten years after the Lamborghini Countach forever altered the supercar landscape, the company’s engineers in Santa’Agata Bolognese set to work on its replacement. When the Diablo was first revealed in early 1990, critics praised its clean shape and performance nearly as much as they did its big boost in creature comforts. Beneath its rear deck sat a mid-mounted, 48-valve variant of Lamborghini’s dual-overhead-cam 5.7-liter V-12 engine with computer-controlled multi-point fuel injection. The engine was good for 485 brake horsepower and 428 pounds-feet of torque, enough to catapult the rear-drive supercar to over 200 mph.

Lamborghini delayed increasing the Diablo’s straight-line performance until the SE30 debuted in 1993 as a special-edition model celebrating the marque’s three-decade anniverseary. In the three years since Diablo’s debut, the Ferrari F50 and Bugatti EB110 proved to be fierce competition. In response, Lamborghini boasted that the Diablo SE30 was essentially a street-legal race car with its substantially lightened body and a healthy power boost.

The SE30 retained Lamborghini’s legendary V-12 but featured a revised fuel system, magnesium intake manifolds, and a free-flow exhaust that combined to increase output to 525 horsepower. Unlike the Diablo VT, the SE30 was a raw, rear-wheel-drive machine. Driver-adjustable sway bars controlled by a cabin-mounted switch transitioned the SE30 from firm to race-stiff. Lamborghini turned to carbon fibre for many of the SE30’s body panels, and the company used race-specification brakes to bring its lighter, faster Diablo to a halt.

Unlike some superlight models, the SE30 was the real deal. It weighed about 3,150 pounds, a savings of more than 300 pounds over the standard rear-wheel drive Diablo and nearly 400 pounds over the all-wheel drive VT. Lamborghini also eliminated creature comforts such as air conditioning, power steering, the Alpine audio system, and the multi-adjustable leather seats. Purposeful carbon fiber seats fitted with four-point racing harnesses held the driver and passenger in place. Even the power windows were removed in favor of fixed plexiglass units with a sliding vent window.

While most of Lamborghini’s 30th birthday gifts were swathed in a decidedly period metallic purple, the SE30 offered here, car 120, is the only example known to have been cloaked in Impact White over a cabin trimmed in dark gray Alcantara.

In 2024, the car was treated to a comprehensive, engine-out service by Auto Kremer of Bonn, Germany. Accompanying invoices document the car receiving new gaskets, fluids, filters, and spark plugs, along with an extensive clutch diagnostic which featured the installation of a new clutch pressure plate, master, and slave cylinders. A thorough engine and underbody detailing completed the nearly $30,000 service.

Following the work’s completion, Polo Storico, Lamborghini’s historical heritage and preservation center, crucially confirmed this SE30 as retaining its original, matching-numbers engine, transmission, and rear differential, as well as being the only SE30 to be finished in Impact White over grey Alcantara trim. Additionally, Valentino Balboni, Lamborghini’s former factory test driver, had a chance to drive the car and found it to be in superb condition. Photographs of Balboni behind the wheel, as well as a glowing review letter signed by the legendary marque impresario, are included in the sale.

Compared to many of its limited-production contemporaries, such as the F50 and EB110, this pristine SE30 represents an excellent opportunity to acquire an otherwise undervalued supercar of the same era—and a rarer one at that. Indeed, many marque aficionados prefer the SE30 to its all-wheel-drive brethren, as it retains the raw and dynamic rear-wheel driving experience.

As a celebration of Lamborghini’s 30th anniversary, this sharply appointed Diablo SE30 is a fitting tribute suitable for the most discerning collector.