Lamborghini is one of the few supercar makers that were interested in off-road vehicles long before SUVs became popular, starting with the military project that led to the LM002 “Rambo Lambo”, while today it has the more civilized Urus in its lineup. Still, no one had thought of creating an off-road prepped Diablo – until now. Ricky Irizarry from Illinois, US, is working on what he calls a “Jeeporghini”, merging the body of a Diablo replica with the underpinnings of a Jeep.
Irizarry’s project will likely make the upcoming Huracan Sterrato seem softcore in terms of off-road credentials as his Jeeporghini will go as far as a Jeep Liberty fitted with Klever R/T tires can go. The project is far from complete but the photos from the process give us an idea of what to expect.
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The donor vehicle, a regular first-generation Jeep Liberty, has been chopped in order to make room for the new body. The roof and the pillars are gone, as with all the body panels that could be removed. The Lamborghini part is a replica of a late model year 1999 Diablo Roadster, looking quite accurate in terms of proportions.
As you have probably noticed, the car needs a lot of components, including the front windshield, the suicide doors and the lighting units. Thankfully the headlights of the facelifted Diablo were sourced from a Nissan 300ZX, and the round taillights are pretty generic and easy to find.
The 2,650 mm (104.33 inches) long wheelbase of the Lamborghini Diablo is nearly identical to the 2,649 mm (104.29 inches) wheelbase of the Jeep Liberty KJ, which is why this unconventional marriage has a chance of succeeding. Still, there is a lot of work needed in order to attach the body of a mid-engined supercar to the front-engined Jeep’s frame.
In terms of powertrain, the most powerful Liberty came fitted with the 3.7-liter PowerTech V6 producing 213 horsepower (157 kW / 216 PS) and sending power to all four wheels through a four-speed automatic transmission. This is definitely no match for the 529 hp (394 kW / 536 PS) of the 5.7-liter V12 in the 1999 Diablo VT Roadster. Thus, we hope the project includes some performance modifications for more power and, possibly, a more fitting sound experience.
Irizarry wants to use this vehicle as a daily driver, which would certainly raise a lot of eyebrows from fellow road users. In any case, we look forward to seeing the end result, feeling safe that no real Diablo was harmed in the process.
