Did you know Lamborghini had a motorcycle called Design 90?

Michelle Liew

March 7, 2018

Photo credits: Ride Apart

When we mention Lamborghini, we often think about the car, but little did we know there is a motorcycle sporting the name of the same brand and built from the same firm. The Lamborghini Design 90 is definitely a bike to take note of.

During the early 80s when founder Feruccio Lamborghini was ousted and when the firm was acquired by the Mimran Brothers, Lamborghini had a phase of finding its identity. The brand brought out massive V-12 mills for big-time speedboat racing, built boats, came out with SUVs (LM002) and even built motorcycles.

Photo credits: Ride Apart

Photo credits: Visordown

Patrick Mimran approached French boutique bike maker Boxer (Boxer Desing) for the bike’s design and assembly. The deal was made and work began around 1986.

The bike featured 1000cc inline-4 Kawasaki mill that delivered approximately 130 horsepower in a package that weighed 400 pounds soaking wet. It came along with a hand-made alloy frame and a fuel tank, lightweight wheels and was given a top-shelf brake, suspension, exhaust and electric components. It was sealed with a fiberglass bodywork and definitely screamed a masterpiece.

Lamborghini and Boxer decided that they could make 25 Design 90s but eventually only made six of it and as of today, five of those six original motorcycles still exist. In fact, one of them recently were put up for auction in the UK.