The Lamborghini Gallardo is the starting point for CAVËN Atelier’s first Designer Series project, but the person revisiting its shape gives this particular remaster its premise. Unveiled October 31 at the Concours at Wynn Las Vegas, HOMMAGE 26 brings Fabrizio Giugiaro back to a design he conceived at Italdesign in 1998. Working through his studio GFG Style, Giugiaro has developed a new interpretation limited to 25 cars, with CURATED representing CAVËN Atelier and its projects in the United States.
Returning to the Original Design
CAVËN calls its approach “Design Authorship”: each project reunites a significant car with the living designer responsible for the original. For HOMMAGE 26, that means giving Giugiaro the opportunity to develop ideas beyond the manufacturer’s original requirements, with contemporary materials and engineering available to support them.
The resulting body combines a front end that Giugiaro says closely follows his 1998 design with an entirely new rear. Carbon-fiber bodywork, pop-down headlights, active aerodynamic flaps and an opening rear window above the engine are among the changes. CAVËN identifies the roof, side windows, windshield, mirrors and mirror bases as the exterior elements retained from the donor Gallardo.
“It’s a beautiful challenge: rather than creating something entirely different, we’re evolving an archived concept,” Giugiaro said.
A Manual V10 and Two Specifications
HOMMAGE 26 uses a first-generation Gallardo as its foundation, retaining the early car’s 5.0-liter V10 configuration. Italtecnica has reworked the powertrain, with CAVËN quoting an 8,500-rpm rev limit and outputs of 540 hp for the GT specification or 560 hp for the more aggressive Performance version. Both are paired with a manual transmission.
The planned chassis changes include a new suspension system with Comfort and Sport settings, upgraded brakes and 20-inch wheels. These remain development specifications: CAVËN notes that details may change following the prototype phase.
Twenty-Five Commissions
Pricing starts at €900,000 net, excluding the donor vehicle. Customers can supply their own first-generation Gallardo or have CAVËN source one, while ownership also brings priority access to the next Designer Series project. The series is intended to span marques, with the relationship between designer and original car serving as its organizing principle.
At that price, HOMMAGE 26 places considerable weight on its design provenance. Its appeal rests on access to Giugiaro’s own reconsideration of the Gallardo, expressed through new bodywork and a revised manual V10 package. The prototype phase will determine how those ideas translate into the finished cars.
