Help us solve the mystery of the missing yellow Lamborghini Diablo 6.0 VT! Now you’d think anybody stealing a yellow Lamborghini Diablo would have it all planned out, it would be shipped out of the country in a container and never to be seen again. What if we told you that two and a half years after it was first reported stolen the car was found, stripped of several parts and dumped in a disused cattle market car park – the police investigation since it’s disappearance has involved 4 Police Forces from Leicester, the Met Police, Avon & Somerset and now hot off the press, Essex Police.
During 2019, Lamborghini Club UK member Alistair McKillop arranged for his beloved Lamborghini Diablo 6.0 VT to be stored with a fellow car collector as part of a private arrangement.
In March 2020 the UK was locked down and with no freedom to drive our cars, Alistair didn’t see or visit the car and didn’t make any arrangements to drive the car due to continued restrictions as well as Alistair’s heavy work load that meant he didn’t have the opportunity to drive the car. In August 2020, Alistair received a letter from DVLA that somebody was registering the V5 for his Lamborghini Diablo 6.0 VT and this alerted Alistair to an issue with the car. When he went to check on the car, it was no longer there and the private collector assumed Alistair had collected the car at some time during the Summer, therefore at that time there was no way of knowing at what point the car was stolen. Alistair called Leicestershire Police and they investigated the theft, searched the private home for the keys for the Diablo as Alistair’s insurance company would not consider a claim as the keys had been left with the car. As well as the police investigation and search for the vehicle, Alistair also contacted his friend Ciro Ciampi from Petrolheadonism Club and also Membership Secretary at Lamborghini Club UK to begin an online appeal to the global car community through facebook and Instagram, which was widely shared by fellow car enthusiasts.
Through the power of Instagram a message was received from an unverifiable account with random username to say that he knew that the car was in a warehouse in London being held with other stolen vehicles awaiting to be shipped out of the UK. This was backed up with photographs and video footage which was passed on to Leicestershire police who implored the services of the Metropolitan Police. The police tried to trace down the Instagram contact and also visited the property of the person who had tried to register the V5 and found him to be completely innocent with that property having a redirect on all post being sent to another address which then redirected onto another address with each of the addressees along the trail having no idea that their property had had a redirect applied for by the people responsible for the theft of the Lamborghini – therefore each property becoming victims of fraud. Both trails and the Leicester & Met Police investigation went cold with the assumption that the car had been shipped out of the country, never to be seen again.
The Lamborghini Diablo 6.0 VT is extremely rare with only 12 known right hand drive examples remaining in the United Kingdom and Alistair’s had two distinctive features – a Police charity Rat Rod sticker in the rear window and a bespoke black metal cowl Alistair had made to protect the rear bumper from the hot exhaust. Built in 2000/2001 by the recently acquired AUDI, the 6.0 VT was designed as the stop gap between the outgoing Diablo and the imminent arrival of the Murcielago but also hailed as the best Diablo ever made.
Design differences from earlier models included the massive front bumper featuring two large air intakes, 18” mono block tele dial wheels reminiscent of the Countach with impressive concave wider rear rims as well as a central mounted dual exhaust pipes that proudly belted out that inimitable Lamborghini V12 symphony.
Power output was 550 BHP direct from the factory with the Diablo VT 6.0 considered a huge presence in the super car spectrum with all Automobili Lamborghini efforts put into this final version limited to 337 units worldwide. Carbon fibre was a dominant development factor with the interior trim, central console and especially inside the engine bay.
The hope of ever finding Y3LOW dwindled into forgottenness and out of the blue, 2.5 years after it was first reported stolen Alistair received a phone call from Avon & Somerset Police on 29th December 2022 to advise him that they had been out on a routine call looking for something else when they came across the remains of what seemed to be a kit car – they ran the VIN Number which pinged the original Leicestershire case file and they realised they had found the missing 6.0 VT. The car was recovered and taken into police custody for forensic examination and as none were found the car was recently released back to Alistair – finally back in his possession in a secure, insured and fully protected location, not that anybody would want to steal a stripped down Lamborghini Diablo!
Following the renewed efforts of Petrolheadonism Club with recent video updates as well as investigative work following up a Facebook video showing the car being issued with a set of new keys at the end of June 2022 at a commercial facility in Brentwood, Leicestershire police have now reopened the original case and have instructed Essex Police to follow up the new information. This search now involves 4 Police Forces and the worldwide car enthusiast community can help by sharing this story and keeping their eyes open. Ciro Ciampi of Petrolheadonism Club told us, ‘I firmly believe that the people who stripped and dumped the car had no idea what to do or what they had. The parts are stored somewhere and need to be found, our overriding aim is to rebuild this car and have Y3LOW shining, roaring and rolling once again…thankfully that V12 engine and the interior were still in the car, that’s a great starting point. Please help any which way you can’.
