Florida man only found out just how special this Lamborghini Diablo was after he sold it

A legendary Lamborghini Diablo prototype has resurfaced in Miami, hiding a 600hp Jota kit and a forgotten past as a high-speed PPG pace car.

This black VT model originally appeared to be a standard production car before a deep dive into its vehicle identification number triggered a massive historical discovery.

Curated owner John Temerian spent months tracing the chassis through vintage racing archives to confirm its identity as a factory-built racing tool.

The truth behind this machine involves a blown engine at Laguna Seca and a decades-long search for its elusive mechanical components.

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Finding the hidden Lamborghini Diablo pace car

The mystery began with a pair of roof scoops and a factory-installed roll bar that did not match standard production specs for a Lamborghini Diablo.

These details linked the chassis to its time as a PPG pace car for the CART IndyCar World Series.

Further digging into the vehicle archives showed that the car also worked as a safety vehicle for the FIA GT Championship in Europe.

Lamborghini later sent the car back to the factory to be converted into a normal road car before selling it to a private owner.

This process effectively wiped its professional racing history from the public record for nearly 30 years.

The true nature of the car surfaced during a deep mechanical inspection in a specialized workshop.

A veteran technician identified the car as the same vehicle that lost its engine at Laguna Seca while running a prototype Jota kit.

The factory reportedly replaced the blown motor with a standard unit at the time to keep the car on its promotional schedule.

The Miami team eventually found the original racing components in a separate collection and bought them to complete the car.

This reunion allows the vehicle to run with the full 600hp it originally produced as a PPG pace car.

Official paperwork from the Polo Storico department in Italy confirms this is a unique specimen in the history of the Lamborghini Diablo.

The factory logs show this is the only 4×4 VT model ever fitted with a Jota kit for official demonstration use, and prove the car was a dedicated promotional tool built specifically for the American market.

The restoration now includes the original racing harnesses, a custom front bumper, and the period-correct roof lights.

The legend of the racing Jota kit

The Jota kit is a performance package that the factory originally restricted to a very small run of special edition cars.

Only 28 of these kits were produced, and most went into rear-wheel-drive models.

Finding this equipment on a four-wheel-drive VT chassis makes this specific car a total outlier in the brand’s history.

The discovery provides a new look at how the factory tested its most aggressive engine upgrades before offering them to the public.

Collectors have recently started paying much closer attention to vehicles with a documented PPG pace car background.

This car recently traveled back to Italy to participate in the 60th anniversary tour of the brand, and currently sits in a private collection in Miami as one of the few surviving factory prototypes from the 1990s.

John Temerian originally acquired the car by accident through a contact who had purchased it from the Hess brothers.

He sold it to a passionate collector of black Lamborghinis as a standard VT, unaware of the factory 4×4 Jota status that would be discovered during the certification process months later.

It currently resides in a private collection in Miami as one of the few surviving factory prototypes from the 1990s

The team verified every technical detail to ensure this Lamborghini Diablo remained a pure example of Italian engineering.

The final restoration ensures the legacy of the Jota kit and its time on the American racing circuit will not be forgotten.

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