HomeFeatured VehiclesFrench custom shop builds a sinister Lamborghini Espada hot rod

French custom shop builds a sinister Lamborghini Espada hot rod

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France-based shops Danton Arts Kustomsand Carrosserie Hervé created this Lamborghini Espada hot rod, and it has all the elements of hot rod style though in a more modern package.

To start, the shops nailed the profile. The Espada is low-slung, chopped, and positively menacing.

According to the Danton Art Kustom’s website, the project started with a conversation between the shop’s founder Alexandre Danton and Hervé Castagno of Carrosserie Hervé, who had acquired a 1970 Espada. Castagno had decided he wanted to commemorate the car’s 50th anniversary (the first model year was 1968)by doing something special.

Together, the two shops let their creativity run wild.

Guided by the word “Espada,” which refers to a matador’s sword in Spanish and Portuguese, the shops worked to make each sheet metal cut look as if a sword had made a precision slice. They made a drawing first then translated that to a digital design and, finally, to the the car itself.

Up front sits a new Lamborghini V-12 engine, though we don’t know much power it produces. Nor do we know what else what into the build, or how much of the original Espada remains. From the sound of it, the build is still very much an Espada at heart.

In one final nod to the car’s heritage, the shops donned the side panels with green, white, and red stripes. The style is similar to some of Lamborghini’s modern track machines and we think it’s an excellent touch to commemorate the sedan turned Italian hot rod.

Danton Arts Kustoms seems to have knack for building European hot rods. Other cars it has done include a Porsche 964, a 911 Targa, and a Peugeot 201. The shop has had plenty of experience with American cars, too. A handful of Jeeps, a GMC, and Chevrolet have all experienced the Danton Arts Kustoms touch.

1 COMMENT

  1. That’s the sickest, mostest wicked thing I have ever seen- and I am a veteran of the Middle East and Africa.
    I love cars, always have. Dad worked at the Delco-Remy plant in Anderson Indiana all his life, and my ’60’s/’70’s childhood was full of the hottest things GM could produce; but this thing is both extraordinary and mildly insane.
    Who cuts up a Lamborghini, anyway? Apparently, French cats with both vision and guts.
    Kudos.
    BTW- I want a 550 Spyder reproduction with the 4.0/7spd from a modern 911 GT3RS. Or maybe the twin turbo 3.6 out of a 911 GT2. (Sigh). Maybe a gently used Lexus LFA with some massaging by Hennessy Motorsports?
    I drive a built ’04 Holden Monaro/Pontiac GTO. It’s neither a 5.7 nor factory axle- the 6spd Tremec remains- but as entertaining as it is, it still is a 4000 pound car. Add lightness, Colin Chapman said; he was correct.
    Apparently, the French have studied Chapman and Carroll Shelby, as they have produced an enviable and exceptional automobile. Does F. Lamborghini return from the grave in fury, I pity them- but their sh** is still cooler than cool. Bring it!
    -R

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