Modern cars are packed with technology. Touchscreens control everything from climate settings to drive modes, computers constantly adjust suspension and power delivery, and increasingly sophisticated driver-assistance systems are always watching what happens around you. Even the humble manual transmission is rapidly disappearing.
These modern tech-laden cars have many automotive enthusiasts dreaming of the good old days of the 1990s. Back then, the Lamborghini Diablo was one of the most outrageous supercars on the planet. It was wide, low, and raw. It was powered by a naturally aspirated V-12 engine and controlled with a manual transmission. And while the Diablo is much easier to live with than its Countach predecessor, it is called The Devil for a reason.
An original Diablo can be a bit too analog and too far of a step back in time for some owners. Eccentrica has a solution. They built a modernized version of the Diablo. But they are not looking to jam the car full of technology, pump out 2,000 horsepower, and call it a day. Eccentrica takes a much more subtle and refreshing approach.
During Monterey Car Week, I had the opportunity to meet with Eccentrica Board Member Andrea Colombo. We discussed their overall philosophy and their recently revealed Roadster. From our discussion, I learned that the Eccentrica Diablo illustrates something increasingly rare in the automotive world. Technology is being used selectively to improve the experience rather than define it. As Colombo told me, “This is a car you really feel. It is very rooted in the ‘90s in terms of sound and rawness.”
The original Lamborghini Diablo wasn't exactly known for being easy to drive. Early examples combined a naturally aspirated V12, rear-wheel drive, heavy controls and relatively primitive electronics with the sort of ergonomics you'd expect from an exotic Italian supercar designed during the late 1980s. Eccentrica has reinforced the chassis, upgraded the braking and cooling systems, revised the suspension, and made numerous other changes intended to make the Diablo more stable and predictable.
Colombo described the finished car as “very honest, very direct.”
Yet the company didn't want those improvements to make the Diablo feel like a 2026 supercar wearing a 1990s costume. The car is still deliberately rooted in the 1990s. The modern engineering addresses shortcomings rather than erasing the original car's personality. That's a surprisingly difficult balance to achieve and one that many don’t even attempt.
An instant sensation that was later credited as the first supercar.
Nothing demonstrates Eccentrica's philosophy better than its transmission. The Diablo originally used a five-speed manual transmission, but Eccentrica developed a six-speed. That created an interesting problem. How do you add another forward gear while maintaining the beautiful gated shifter that's such an important part of the experience? Eccentrica's answer mixes old-school mechanical interaction with a small dose of modern electronics. All six positions in the gated shifter are dedicated to forward gears. Reverse is selected electronically using a separate button. Press it, and the transmission allows the shifter to engage in reverse.
And yes, there's still a clutch pedal. Colombo laughed when I asked him to confirm that detail, then pointed at the pedals in the footwell: “One, two, three.” That might seem almost comical, but it's significant.
Modern high-performance cars have largely moved to automated dual-clutch transmissions because they're faster and more efficient. Even Lamborghini abandoned the traditional manual transmission years ago. And some of the newest “manual transmissions,” such as the one in the Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale is actually hooked up to a standard eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Eccentrica uses no such trickery.
The same philosophy applies to the engine. Eccentrica retains the Diablo's 5.7-liter naturally aspirated V-12 rather than replacing it with a modern turbocharged engine or adding hybrid assistance. The engine isn't untouched, however. Colombo says it receives new pistons, valves, camshafts and a new flywheel, among other upgrades. Individual throttle bodies further sharpen the response.
Eccentrica could presumably chase much larger horsepower numbers. It deliberately doesn't. “Two thousand horsepower? It's not our game,” Colombo told me during our conversation. The V12 Roadster makes 550 horsepower. A modest amount in 2026, but plenty to have fun with, and the whole point of this car is fun.
There's another increasingly unusual ingredient: the Eccentrica is rear-wheel drive. Modern supercars frequently use all-wheel drive to put enormous amounts of power to the pavement. Computers can distribute torque between the wheels, compensate for traction loss, and help drivers on the track in ways that would have been extremely difficult to manage a few decades ago. Again, Eccentrica could have gone down that road. It didn't.
Keeping the car rear-wheel drive maintains an important element of the early Diablo's character. Combine that with the naturally aspirated V12 and six-speed manual, and you've got a car that demands more from its driver than many modern exotics.