Lamborghini reached out to dad with an offer.
If you’ve gone out and built your own 3D-printed version of a popular exotic, you might expect that the first time you heard from the real manufacturer might be through their legal department. But for the father and son team that built their own Aventador in a garage, Lamborghini had other plans. They gave them the real thing.
Physicist and professor Sterling Backus and his son Xander spent loads of time playing Forza Horizon 3, always picking the Lamborghini Aventador. Until one day Xander asked his dad “hey, can we build one of those?”
For most people, the answer would be no. For someone not afraid to push the boundaries of home printing and fabrication, the answer was yes.
Instead of using a car-sized printer, the body panels were printed in smaller sections and glued together. Backus then skinned them in carbon fibre for added strength, using the 3D parts almost like a mould. There’s a tubular steel chassis, and in place of the 6.2L V12 is a 5.7L Corvette V8 fitted with a pair of turbos.
When Lamborghini found out about the copy, they didn’t reach out with a cease and desist. Instead, they reached out to tell the story for the automaker’s annual Christmas video.
“Automobili Lamborghini is against any attempt at counterfeiting. However, a true story of such authentic passion deserves to be featured, which is why we chose to tell of Sterling’s and Xander’s project in our 2019 Christmas video.” said marketing boss Katia Bassi.
The video tells the story of the family’s work spending more than a year and a half on the still-unfinished replica, but it ends with a special surprise.
Lamborghini reached out to dad with an offer. They would come and switch out the copy with a real Aventador S, then Sterling could surprise Xander with a startlingly well-finished project. Though the camera crew might have tipped off Xander, along with the rest of the family.
It’s only a loan, of course, but it’s still one of those stories that makes the old office a little dusty around the holidays. Though we bet that they were wishing Christmas in Colorado came in the summer, giving the family some slightly warmer weather for their time with a real Lambo.
What’s next for the project? The interior is currently going in, using, just like the real thing, plenty of components from the Audi bin.
Keyword: Lamborghini Gives Real Aventador to Family that 3D Printed Their Own