Volkswagen Secretly Tested W16 Engine in Lamborghini Diablo

Before developing the Bugatti Veyron, the Volkswagen Group secretly used a Lamborghini Diablo SV as a testbed for its W16 engine. After acquiring Lamborghini in 1998, Volkswagen engineers removed the Diablo’s original V12 engine and installed an 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W16—still under development at the time—adding extra rear-body cooling vents to manage the extreme heat output. This test car, disguised as an ordinary Diablo, is now part of the Autostadt museum collection in Wolfsburg. The W16 engine later became the heart of hypercars like the Veyron and Chiron, and Volkswagen also showcased it in concept cars such as the Bentley Hunaudières and the Audi Rosemeyer. With the completion of Bugatti Mistral deliveries, the W16 era is coming to an end, making way for a new V16 powerplant, while Lamborghini continues with its V12 lineage, most recently in the Revuelto.