A Familiar Supercar Gets Another Chapter
The Lamborghini Gallardo is still one of the most instantly recognizable shapes to ever roll out of Sant’Agata Bolognese. When it landed in the early 2000s, it gave Lamborghini a real shot at the modern supercar game, offering a more approachable, slightly less wallet-destroying alternative to the big, bad Murciélago. With its screaming naturally aspirated V10, razor-sharp looks, and compact stance, the Gallardo basically became the poster car for a whole generation of gearheads.
Now, almost thirty years after first dreaming up the Gallardo, its original creator is back for another spin. Meet the HOMMAGE 26, a full-blown reimagining cooked up by CAVËN Atelier and led by none other than Fabrizio Giugiaro through his GFG Style studio.
Giugiaro first penned the Gallardo at Italdesign back in 1998, but this time he gets to go wild – no pesky production rules or bean counters holding him back. HOMMAGE 26 also kicks off CAVËN Atelier’s Designer Series, which basically lets legendary designers go back and remix their own icons.
CAVËN Atelier
A New Look Without Losing Its Identity
The HOMMAGE 26 keeps some of that classic Gallardo DNA, especially up front. Giugiaro says the nose is pretty much straight from his 1998 vision, but the rear? That’s a whole new story. The end result is a mashup of old-school cues and modern touches, not some Frankenstein that forgets where it came from.
Surprisingly, barely anything from the original car survives. Only five parts make the cut: the roof, side windows, windshield, side mirrors, and their bases. Everything else? Brand new, including that slick carbon-fiber body.
Other wild touches include pop-down headlights (yes, down), active aero flaps, and a rear window you can actually open to show off the engine. These tweaks give the Gallardo a fresh vibe but keep its unmistakable silhouette intact.
CAVËN Atelier says the interior is getting a rethink too, but they’re keeping the details under wraps for now. Giugiaro calls the whole thing an evolution of an old idea, with some bits staying true to the past and others dragged into the present.
CAVËN Atelier
CAVËN Atelier
A Manual V10 and Just 25 Examples
The mechanical side is just as spicy. The original 5.0-liter V10 sticks around, but Italtecnica has massaged it for more grunt. Now it screams up to 8,500 rpm and, yes, you get to row your own gears.
Buyers get two flavors: the GT with 540 horsepower, or the Performance version that bumps it up to 560. The chassis gets a two-mode suspension (comfort or sport), beefier brakes, and 20-inch wheels to round things out.
Only 25 HOMMAGE 26s will ever exist, each built from a first-gen Gallardo. You can bring your own donor car or let CAVËN Atelier hunt one down for you. The price? €900,000 (about $1 million at current exchange rates), and that’s before you even factor in the donor car or any extras. At least you’ll get dibs on whatever wild project comes next in the Designer Series.
CAVËN Atelier
CAVËN Atelier
CAVËN Atelier
CAVËN Atelier
CAVËN Atelier
CAVËN Atelier
CAVËN Atelier
About the author
Jacob Oliva
Senior Editor, Autoblog