Designed by Italian coachbuilder Magvisio, the Ferruccio was a rebodied Murcielago LP640 and would have been faster than any current car wearing the Lamborghini badge, with a claimed top speed of 230mph. Although not an official Lamborghini project, Sant’Agata was monitoring the scheme ‘with interest’, according to its creators.

On the outside the Ferruccio takes design cues from Lambos of the past, with rear haunches from the Countach and ‘eyelash’ light clusters from the Miura. And under that dramatic bodywork, it is based on the LP640, borrowing its 6.5-litre V12 and four-wheel drive system.

That means 630bhp and 660lb ft of torque with performance figures to match. Magvisio claims a 0-60mph time of 3.0sec dead, with 100mph dispatched in a smidgeon under six.

Dinner plate 330mm ceramic discs with six-pot callipers keep the Ferruccio on the straight and narrow. The body and chassis are made from lightweight carbon-fibre composites to keep weight down. The cabin is sprinkled with lightweight materials too – the seats are carbon, the dash is carbon and the doors are carbon. And you wonder why this car would have been so expensive…

Originally just ten examples of the Ferruccio were planned: five hard-tops and five spyders, with prices starting at an eye-watering $1.5 million. That’s £750,000. And it doesn’t include VAT… Pule admits that the high price probably limited the number of orders.

‘The price has been a deterrent for customers,’ he told us. ‘We are in talks with prototyping firm Protoscar, which might bring the cost down substantially.’ It seems like the project might not be over quite yet, then.

Ferruccio on ice

Magvisio hasn’t shown the Ferruccio publicly, but is deadly serious about turning this computer rendering into a real car, bosses claim.

Customers were meant to be taking delivery of their Ferruccios in September 2008, but until more deposits are on the table, this Lambo remains firmly in limbo.