How to spot a fake Lamborghini: inside the sports car manufacturer’s Polo Storico division

A long-lost painting may be worth millions of pounds but how is it authenticated? Art consultants use technical analysis, historical documents and expert judgement to determine the truth. The same dedication to the provenance of a portrait is now employed by luxury carmakers too. With an F1 Mercedes driven by Juan Fangio and Sir Stirling Moss this year fetching a grand prix record of £42.75 million, no wonder owners want an official stamp of approval.

Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin all offer an authentication service – Lamborghini’s in-house heritage division is celebrating its ten-year anniversary this summer. Dedicated to the ‘preservation and integrity of Lamborghini’s history and vehicles’, Polo Storico is based at the Raging Bull’s Sant’Agata factory, in Italy.

Inside a pristine garage that more closely resembles a forensic laboratory than an oily workshop, a small team of specialists is poring over a Lamborghini Countach – perhaps the most iconic supercar of all time. And this is no ordinary example either. The silver 25th Anniversary model was the very last V12 mid-engine, rear-wheel drive Countach to roll off the production line in July 1990, a fact proven by chassis number 12085.

Despite numerous requests from eager buyers, Lamborghini keeps this final evolution of designer Marcello Gandini’s masterpiece safely under lock and key. As you might expect, the car is packed with provenance but not every example presented to Polo Storico is so fortunate.

Lamborghini’s aftersales director, Alessandro Farmeschi, runs Polo Storico – which translates to ‘historical hub’. Over the last ten years, his team has certified over 200 customer cars but another 20 or so Lamborghini’s have been rejected because of ‘certain issues’. ‘It is a difficult conversation for us to have with the owner because they have bought a Lamborghini and they love it,’ says Farmeschi, ‘When I phone them and then say there is a problem and we cannot provide certification, it can be hard to accept.’

Among the most obvious failures was a naturally-aspirated V12 Countach, retrofitted with a turbocharger. ‘We received a request to look at this nice car but as soon as you add a modification like that, it’s not a Lamborghini anymore,’ he says, ‘Sometimes the chassis, gearbox and body are original, but the engine has to be too. Sure, we could restore the car back to its original, authentic state but perhaps in this case it is not the correct thing to do.’

Farmeschi says that over the course of the decades, many Lamborghinis have received factory-fitted replacement engines or even resprayed. However, they remain authentic because the work was completed by Lamborghini using genuine parts.

Unlike a turbocharger, other modifications are less obvious and require more sleuthing. ‘Recently we had a car with an engine that matched the car,’ explains Farmeschi. ‘However, because of records from years ago, we knew that engine had later been fitted in another car, so the V12 we were looking at had been stamped with a false number. It was a puzzle we were able to solve.’

Some 30,000 car documents have now been digitalised for future reference and, with more Lamborghinis being built than ever before, demand for the services of Polo Storico is only likely to increase in the future.

For more information on Lamborghini Polo Storico visit Lamborghini.com