3D-Printing A Lamborghini Aventador Is No Longer Impossible

Physicist Sterling Backus and his son have been working on a 3D-printing project to create a full-scale 3D-printed Lamborghini Aventador. The project took a year and a half and $20,000.

Although the car isn’t fully 3D-printed, most parts are. If affordable 3D-printing systems hadn’t been accessible, the whole project couldn’t have been carried out.

Besides 3D-printing, Backus and his son got help from other manufacturing processes like carbon fiber encapsulation and infusion, waterjet cutting for suspension parts and door hinge, and CNC machining.

Apart from the transaxle, the engine, the chassis, as well as other structural parts like the inner structure of the door, the rest of the car was made using 3D-printing process. According to Backus, their main goal was to show off the car as a STEAM project at the local schools, to spark kids’ interest in STEAM fields.

Backus and his son 3D-printed the air vents, interior parts, taillights, headlights, and body panels. Most went through the carbon fiber encapsulation process. While other parts came from eBay, Holley Dominator ECU, some Lamborghini parts suppliers, and Wilwood brakes, the 3D-printed parts were designed using SolidWorks, a computer program. As Backus says, some Lamborghini parts are used and don’t cost that much.

Backus designed the car’s frame from scratch. The engine is a combination of a 2003 Corvette’s LS1 and an inverted Porsche 911 transaxle.

$20,000 doesn’t seem that much of money for a Lamborghini. But what about the issue of copyright? This project is apparently a personal one. Therefore, it’s likely that there will be no Lamborghini logo or any clear references to the supercar brand. Backus says: