World famous Lamborghini rarity expected to sell for $1 million

Rob Hull, Daily Mail
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Photos / Amari Supercars

Photos / Amari Supercars

It's just a cosmic car, with a price tag from another galaxy. 

That's right, this is the genuine Lamborghini Diablo driven by Jamiroquai's Jay Kay in the iconic music video for 1996 hit single Cosmic Girl - and it's for sale in the UK.

Advertised by Preston-based supercar seller Amari, who originally sold the car to the singer after his first one was written off, it is being listed for a monumental £549,995 (or NZ$966,500) - double the going rate of standard Diablos today.

Mr Kay's easily recognisable Lamborghini has just been listed at AutoTrader.co.uk in the last few days. 

The car owned by the Deeper Underground and Virtual Insanity singer is one that will pull at the heart strings of plenty of petrol heads.

The 1996 video is considered as one of the most iconic motoring music clips of all time, featuring the limited edition Viola Metallic Lamborghini piloted by Jay Kay in a race through the Spanish mountains with a legendary Ferrari F40 – loaned by Pink Floyd drummer Nick - and a F355 Berlinetta.

The dynamic video shows the cars veering and swerving across the twisting route, with the purple Diablo featuring heavily throughout.

But it's no standard Lamborghini. 

In fact, it is just one of 150 SE30 limited edition models ever made to celebrate 30 years of the Italian marque building road cars, of which just 16 were right hand drive like this one. That makes it incredibly collectible even without the Cosmic Girl connection.

However, the story behind its appearance is likely to add significant worth. 

That's because a different purple Diablo SE30 - also owned by Jay Kay - was originally used during filming in 1996, but was crashed by a transport driver who took it for a spin - quite literally - before loading it into the delivery vehicle. 

It was later written off.

To retain consistency for the video, the singer sourced this one from Lamborghini - of which he said just two were ever made in this colour - and it was used for the remaining footage.

This replacement Diablo also suffered damage during filming, though. One of the precision drivers used for action scenes hit a camera, which took out the car windscreen - watch the music video closely and you can see Jay Kay's hair blowing in the wind and his eyes squinting as many of the scenes are shot without a windscreen in place.

Three years later, the singer bought this car from Amari and kept it in his famous supercar collection before selling it back to the dealership some three years later. 

The most recent owner - one of five - has kept it for the last four years.

Number 142 of 150 built, has covered just 17,276 miles in 21 years.

The difference between this and regular Diablos -which sell for between £150,000 and £200,000 on today's market - included a deep front spoiler with two additional driving lights, twin-duct side intakes, an engine cover which mimicked the one on the Miura supercar and ultra-light magnesium wheels. 

While most of the body was aluminum, these new pieces were constructed in carbon fibre.

The side windows were also different - a copy from the original Countach windows, with just a small piece that moved - and the 4.7-litre V12 engine was gold-plated.

Performance was also upped with a new exhaust system, modified cylinder head and magnesium castings which took the power up to 525bhp and a top speed of 207mph.   

'There simply isn't another Diablo like this on the market, and may not be for a long time,' Amari's description says.

'Most of these cars are locked away in collections now, and this is one that can surely only appreciate in value. A true modern classic.

'There is only a handful of SE30's for sale in the world, and they all are LHD cars, averaging £150k to £160k. Ours appears to be the only RHD car for sale anywhere, adding more to the exclusivity of it.' 

The car emerged on Auto Trader on Friday, and Amari hopes it could entice Jay Kay to be reunited with arguably his most famous car.

Auto Trader car's editor, Andy Pringle, said, 'You'll often find rare, exotic and famous cars on Auto Trader, but it's not every day you'll find one from another galaxy.

'One of three classic supercars used in the Cosmic Girl video, it's the only one that the Space Cowboy actually owned. 

'Diablo is Spanish for Devil, and this really is one hell of a car. The Diablo was the first Lamborghini capable of more than 200mph, and this particular SE30 is as rare as they come.

'It might price most die-hard Jay Kay fans out at over half a million pounds, but there could be a love affair reunited if Jay Kay's browsing Auto Trader this week.'

- Rob Hull, Daily Mail

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