A scale model of Lamborghini’s Aventador LP700-4 supercar will be auctioned in the coming months, with its €3.5 million estimate set to make it the most expensive model car in history.

That’s the same €3.5 million that could buy you almost 10 ‘real’ versions of the most powerful raging bull to leave the Sant’Agata factory, but this is no ordinary scale model.

For starters, it’s crafted by German model car specialist Robert Gülpen, who worked in Mercedes’ engineering department in the 1990s. But perhaps more importantly, the 1:8 scale car has been painstakingly hand-crafted using a combination of platinum, gold, carbonfibre and flawless high-carat gemstones – the raw materials costing €2 million alone.

Like the leviathan from which it takes its name, Gülpen’s creation makes abundant use of carbonfibre: the body, bonnet and hood are all constructed using the space-age material, which is intertwined with a 1/1000th of a millimetre gold thread to reinforce the model’s exclusivity.

The wheels, suspension components and interior fittings are cast from solid gold and platinum, with rare gemstones decorating the cockpit and engine bay. Approximately 700 diamonds are embedded into each seat and are also used to replicate the car’s LED running lights, with coloured stones used to the same effect at the rear.

Gülpen first showed a prototype of the project earlier this year at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which used less valuable materials. The final product will be completed once the eventual buyer has specified their preferences, such as the option of gold-carbon bodywork.



The staggering price will make it the most expensive model car in the world, but the project should make two further entries into the Guinness World Records. Gülpen claims the model’s bulletproof cabinet will take the title of ‘Most Secure Showcase’, while the accompanying diamond-encrusted Lamborghini badge (as big as the model itself) will become the ‘Most Luxurious Logo’.

Additionally, the model will be complemented by a piece of wall stone from the Lamborghini building, an initial design drawing and a piece of the prototype engine, as well as signatures from the Lamborghini board members on the authenticity certificate.

For more information, visit www.guelpen.com.

Text: Joe Breeze
Photos: Robert Gülpen