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Design has always been Lamborghini’s sharpest weapon, and in Sant’Agata Bolognese, the brand put that belief front and centre. Revealed during celebrations marking 20 years of Centro Stile Lamborghini, the new Manifesto concept was unveiled by Design Director Mitja Borkert, and distils two decades of in-house design thinking into a single, uncompromising object.
Conceived as a pure design study, you’re not going to find the Manifesto for sale. But given how it’s been described, it could end up in an art gallery.
Labelled a “sculpture on four wheels”, Manifesto was created to express the brand’s philosophy, free from engineering constraints or market demands, and offers a rare glimpse into how Lamborghini is thinking about the future of its design language.
Every surface, angle and proportion is shaped to evoke emotion first, engineering second. As Borkert explained, “Manifesto is fantasy and inspiration made tangible. It is not about an engine or technology, but about imagination, about keeping the Lamborghini dream alive.”
That mindset is reflected in the car’s form. Long, uninterrupted surfaces replace visual noise, which Lamborghini calls an exercise in “radical purity and powerful presence”: a deliberate refinement of the brand’s visual language, rather than an escalation of it.
Key brand signatures remain intact. The Y-shaped light graphic, first established with the Reventón, is subtly integrated into the front signature. Hexagonal geometry continues to anchor the design, drawing influence from 1960s Italian architecture and industrial design. These elements are non-negotiable, Borkert noted, because recognisability begins with silhouette.
“The side view of a Lamborghini must be recognisable even from a distance, whether seen on a road near Sant’Agata or on a bedroom wall.”
At the rear, vertically oriented Y-shaped lights extend Lamborghini’s lighting language, building on ideas previewed in recent concepts such as Fenomeno. Open bodywork around the wheels and a dramatic diffuser give the car a widened stance, all without visible doors or panels, reinforcing Manifesto’s role as a study in volume and proportion.
Manifesto is positioned as a reference point for what comes next, drawing a direct parallel with the Terzo Millennio concept from 2017 which went on to influence both Revuelto and Temerario. Manifesto now assumes that same role, guiding future design language while reaffirming the marque’s core identity.
“It shows how we connect surfaces, how we create purism, how we project our DNA forward,” Borkert explains.
As Centro Stile looks ahead to its next 20 years, Manifesto also serves as a reminder of why Lamborghini brought design in-house in the first place. Founded to protect the brand’s creative voice and ensure continuity between design, engineering, and production, Centro Stile has shaped every modern Lamborghini from Murciélago to Revuelto. But the in-house design team aren’t just designing cars; they’re shaping how a Lamborghini should feel long before it reaches the road.
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