Lamborghini Ankonian concept: All you need to know

First look

At first glance, the dark and low Lamborghini Ankonian Concept looks distinctly hostile but it is this very sinister look that draws you in. What sets the concept apart from most supercar concepts doing the rounds of design forums, however, is the fact that it was developed in collaboration with designers from Audi and Lamborghini which lends the design an authenticity and cleanness in its silhouettes. The core of the design can be attributed to Slavche Tanevsky, who uses the Lamborghini Reventon as starting point and elaborates the smooth curves of its muse to morph his creation into a highly futuristic version of the vision. Keeping with the Italian automaker’s trend of naming its supercars after bulls, the concept was christened the Ankonian after an aggressive breed of bulls that is known for its furry, glossy-black hide.

Lamborghini Ankonian concept

The Machine

Walking a fine line between sinister and sexy, the Ankonian really, really disappoints with its lack of specs. Not that the design really needs a set of numbers to define its appeal, but it would have been a lot nicer if a hypothetic set of digits were there to further fuel the fantasy that the concept’s form evokes. The smaller framed supercar is clearly geared to be lighter on the curb which, we can only imagine, would make it displace something a little more than the 640 horses @ 211 mph that the Reventon does.

What’s good?

The car is styled as a Lamborghini Reventon successor so it is hardly surprising that the smooth curves of the Rev are retained in the design. The surprise element, however, in the silhouettes of the Ankonian, is the presence of crisp angular body panels that frankly give the design the look of a rhino more than a bull. But the extra body panels integrate into the design seamlessly enough and give the concept a hardcore edge. The aggression that the designer wants to portray with the design is further highlighted by the use of the same iconic glossy black and matte gray paintjob that has made the Reventon a legend. The real star of the design that really underlines the beauty of the sharp design is the use of covert lighting that draws attention to the front of the concept with its obvious absence!

What’s not so good

The mid-engined concept does not even attempt to try on the garb of being a planet-friendly supercar at all, which is a major drawback for the otherwise unapologetic design. The concept also departs largely from the current trend in supercar design by deliberately omitting the forward-shifted cabin. The concept also opts for a sleeker GT-esque frame that makes it look narrower than the current lot of wide-framed supercars. The long, drawn-out hood also underplays the aggressiveness of the otherwise sharp graphics on the design.

Accessories

The lack of speculative specs leaves a lot of room for imagination on what kind of accessories can go with the Ankonian. The more obvious ones, like the LED headlights snuck politely between the overlapping layers in the front, do highlight the design’s understated appeal. The exhaust pipes and the rear diffuser give the back of the vehicle the semblance of being the face of an anime/manga character and lend a bit of playfulness to the otherwise serious-as-a-heart-attack design.

Things to watch out for

As delicious as the concept is, it has still not been picked up for production by Lamborghini so for the time being, it remains just a very, very desirable concept. The fact that designers from Audi and Lamborghini actually helped in its development, however does give us hope that we might, just might, see the Ankonian, or some facet of it, make it to the production lines sometime in the future.

The bottom line

We have recently seen a supercar concept being considered as a serious real-to-goodness production model by one of the auto giants of the world and although the Ankonian does not come with a detailed list of specs as the BMW Z5 concept by Nobile-OT did, we still expect the model to be noticed by the designers who are looking to evolve the supercar line over at Lamborghini’s design headquarters.