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World’s Most Expensive Lamborghini Is the $7.5M Aventador Carved Out of Gold

Humanity’s fascination with gold remains one of the few things that seems to have transcended time. Combine that and automotive design, and you get the often-controversial desire to covers cars – or car models – with the precious material.
Car model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid gold 16 photos
Photo: Robert Gulpen Engineering
Car model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldCar model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid goldThe second prototype shown in Dubai in 2013, alongside its own, smaller modelThe second prototype shown in Dubai in 2013, alongside its own, smaller model
One could argue that covering your car in gold is not entirely practical or, at the very least, a sure way to invite wannabe-criminals to deface it. More people, though, will argue that it adds no value to the car; on the contrary, it takes some of it from the vehicle, because it’s tacky and unnecessarily showy.

To each their own: if there’s anything experience has taught us it’s that there is always a market for gold-plated or even gold-made objects, including cars. Moreover, the buyers on this market will pay incredible amounts of money for something that the rest of us considers a bad joke in very bad taste. Like the world-famous 1:8 scale model of the Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4.

July is autoevolution’s Italian Month and you can’t possibly celebrate Italian automotive excellence without speaking of Lamborghini. This gold Lambo is not a real car, but it still finds a place here because it was officially sanctioned by Lamborghini itself. In fact, it was even displayed at the Lamborghini booth at a couple of international auto shows for the short period it existed. That said, it’s not an example of Italy’s finest in automotive excellence, but rather a sample of PR stunting not working the way it should.

Car model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid gold
Photo: Robert Gulpen Engineering
It all started in mid 2011. German engineer Robert Gulpen of RGE Robert Gulpen Engineering had established a reputation for building car models since the ‘90s. His car models weren’t like any other, because he had found an unlikely niche, at the intersection of the automotive industry and jewelry, right there in outrageous-land. Using precious metals and often precious gems, he would carve miniature takes on the world’s most expensive supercars, and they would sell for as much as $20-25,000 a piece.

Previous to the Lamborghini, Gulpen had built a solid gold Bugatti Veyron model and, in the process, understood a very important fact about the client he was catering to: build something even more expensive, and the right buyer will come along. So for the Lamborghini project, he decided to go all out in terms of materials used, to create a record-breaking model car that would be more than a toy and more than a piece of jewelry. It would be a work of art, as he proudly declared in the press release that went out at the time.

For that, he would use the latest Lambo model, the Aventador LP 700-4, a piece of art in itself. He would carve the body out of carbon fiber and then plate it in real gold, and it would be the most amazing thing ever. And that wasn’t all: he would also use about 1,400 diamonds for the seats (700 of them for each), platinum for the wheels, more diamonds for the steering wheel and the headlights, and some sterling silver here and there.

Gulpen’s Aventador would be a 1:8 scale model of the real thing, measuring about 60 cm (23.6 inches), but it would strive to be as striking as the real thing. More importantly, pricing would be on par, too: the first figure reported in relation to the model car was $350,000, close to what you would have had to pay for the new Aventador car – you know, the one you could actually drive.

Car model maker Robert Gulpen aimed for the world's most expensive model car, with a Lamborghini Aventador model carved out of solid gold
Photo: Robert Gulpen Engineering
In September of that year, Gulpen brought a prototype of the gold Aventador to the Frankfurt Auto Show at the Lamborghini booth but, as you can see in one of the videos at the bottom of the page, it was not made of gold. It was made of carbon fiber, but had the gems inside and out. Gulpen later clarified that he’d leave the model like that, so the future owner would decide exactly what materials he wanted and where he wanted them – after all, what’s a luxury product if it doesn’t come with customization options?

In December that year, Gulpen clarified, Sotheby’s would sell the real model car (not the carbon fiber prototype) at auction, either in Dubai or Europe, and it could fetch as much as $7.5 million. Along the years, as the news passed through the grapevine, the amount suffered modifications, but it never went under $5.5 million. If anyone wanted to buy the car ahead of the auction, they could do so right away, but they’d have to pay $1 million over the starting auction price of $5.5 million.

The news made headlines around the world, and for good cause: here was a model car (a fancy, overpriced paperweight, according to some) that would sell for crazy money, made of crazy materials and offered with Lamborghini’s blessing. Still, it failed to convince one of those eccentric multi-millionaires to part with this kind of money.

In 2013, the Gulpen model car resurfaced again: for the first time ever, Gulpen’s work was being displayed outside of Europe, in Dubai. Still with Lamborghini’s approval, the model was displayed there, now covered in gold and with its own, smaller model. But it was still not the real model car: it was a prototype, and the real deal, it was now said, would be carved out of a giant block of gold. A 500-kg (1,102-pound) block of gold would be used, but the finished model would only weigh 25 kg (55.1 pounds). It would take a year and a half to build it, and a 10-man team would be required. Of the $7.5 million the model would sell for, Gulpen pledged $650,000 to charity.

The second prototype shown in Dubai in 2013, alongside its own, smaller model
Photo: YouTube / Scmee150
The auction would also include Lamborghini memorabilia for the longtime Lamborghini lover: a piece of a wall stone from the first building of Lamborghini in Italy, a part of the first engine prototype, a first design drawing of the Aventador and its engine, and “some more subtle surprises” that were never publicly disclosed. The auction would take place in 2014, and once the model car was built (it hadn’t been until this point), it would instantaneously nab three Guinness World Records: the most expensive and most precious model car in the world; the most secure showcase to display it, made with bulletproof glass; and the most precious Lamborghini logo ever made.

This was eight years ago. Today, there’s no trace of the world’s most expensive Lamborghini car model, neither with the carmaker nor Guinness. We contacted Lamborghini, and will update the story when we hear back. There’s no word on whether it ever got made or, if it did, if it sold at auction for the reported $7.5 million.

It looks like this was, at best, a dream that never came true or, at worst, PR stunting that didn’t work out as planned. Whichever it was, it stands as proof that some things are just too outrageous to exist. Or, as they say, that not all that glitters is gold.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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