Lamborghini Aventador Being 3D Printed by Father and Son
Amazing Lamborghini replica uses a twin-turbo LS for power and is being built on a mere $20,000 budget.
We often hear that 3D printing is the future. That there will come a time when we want to buy something, we will simply order it and watch it print before our very eyes. In reality, however, we’re still not quite at that point. But that doesn’t mean amazing things aren’t possible using this technology. Case in point – this Lamborghini Aventador, which is being pieced together using a whole bunch of 3D printed parts.
Even better, this Lamborghini replica is a good old fashioned father and son project. It all started when Physicist Sterling Backus and his son were playing a game of Forza Horizon 3 roughly a year and a half ago. “My son said he loved the Aventador and wondered if it was possible to build one. He did not need to twist my arm too much!” Backus explained in an interview with Which Car. “Originally we were going to build it out of steel on a buck. But seeing how far 3D printing had come, we decided to 3D print the car instead.”
That simple moment kick started this incredible project, which has been going on for 18 months now. Backus and his son devote roughly an hour to the build each day, but they’ve made amazing progress so far. As you might imagine, neither has access to any sort of high dollar machinery or software. Instead, they’re using Solidworks, a readily available 3D design program.
Backus then prints each panel in small pieces using three 3D printers he purchased from Amazon. The pieces are then glued together, wrapped in carbon-fiber Kevlar, and sealed using vacuum encapsulation. In true DIY fashion, Backus learned how to do all of this by watching YouTube videos. Even better, he plans on completing the entire build on a shoestring budget of just $20,000.
As this is a budget build, the Lamborghini replica won’t receive the 6.5-liter V12 that powers the real Aventador. Instead, the Backus duo will go with the tried-and-true LS platform. In this case, that means an LS1 lifted from a C5 Corvette. With a pair of turbos, that mill certainly won’t be lacking for power, however. It’ll send power through a Porsche 996 911 transaxle. Backus built the tubular steel frame chassis himself, and the car’s suspension consists of both custom and OEM Lamborghini parts.
This incredible project still has a pretty long way to go, but we don’t doubt that it’ll be something to behold when it’s finished. So you can bet that we’ll be following along via Backus’ YouTube channel and Facebook page, and so should you!
Photos: Facebook
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