The name Diablo means "Devil" in Spanish (not Italian). Like Countach and many other Lamborghinis, it was designed by Italian styling master Marcello Gandini, no wonder the car has strong resemblance to its predecessor, such as slant front end, steeply raked windscreen and scissors doors. However, the final design was refined by Chrysler's studio in the USA, smoothened all sharp edges and corners, improved cooling and aerodynamics. In the end, it was changed so much that Gandini was very angry.
Lamborghini began developing the Diablo in 1985 as a replacement for the Countach model, introducing it for sale on January 21 , 1991 at a base price of USD $240,000. Power came from a new 5.7 litre, 48 valve V12 featuring dual overhead cams and computer-controlled multi-point fuel injection, producing 492 horsepower (367 kW) and 427 foot-pounds (579 N·m) of torque. The vehicle could reach 60 mph in slightly over 4 seconds, with a top speed of 202 miles per hour (325 km/h ). As a revenge to Chrysler and Lamborghini, he simply adapted his original design and offered Cizeta Moroder V16T. 
Because of the emergence of many super-expensive supercars in the early 90s, such as Bugatti EB110, Jaguar XJ220, McLaren F1 and Ferrari F50, the Diablo was almost forgotten. Being slower, heavier, cheaper and less exclusive, the Diablo failed to recapture the fame of Countach which was regarded the world's top supercar for many years. Admittedly, Diablo was the only product of Lamborghini so that it must be relatively cheap to build in order to sell 300 to 400 cars annually, in contrast to the aforementioned one-off exclusive. This relegated it to the "second division" supercar club whose members left only the last breed of boxer Ferrari, that was, 512TR / F512M. Undoubtedly, the Lamborghini was always rated as the best one of its kind. Since the death of F512M, the Diablo became the only mid-engined production supercar in the world. Then people could only compare it with the front-engined GTs such as 550 Maranello and Aston Vantage. Diablo's production dropped gradually despite of a revision every 1 or 2 years. Perhaps people became more concern about drivability and comfort, perhaps the old Diablo could no longer get people excited, it had to retire in 2001.
The V12 was always the jewel of the crown. Powerful, sharp throttle response aside, it impressed most with its thundering roar, a roar that resonant your heart beat in sync with rising rev. Louder and rawer than Ferrari's V12, the Lamborghini engine noise could hardly forgettable.