The World-Famous Fighter Jet That Inspired The Lamborghini Reventon

Classy, rare, and expensive. Those are three words that could be used to describe the Lamborghini Reventon, an Italian sports car inspired by the sleek, angular cut of some of the world's most powerful fighter jets. The Reventon is a unique car, and few of these bad boys were produced for sale, making it one of the rarest cars on the market. Taking inspiration from aircraft when designing cars is nothing new: In the 1950s, American car designers began putting tail fins on car designs, a choice that continued well into the '60s, and remains a popular classic car feature for collectors.

These tail fins on cars were initially inspired by fighter jets of the era, and Lamborghini is no stranger to following the trend of designing cars to look like sleek, modern fighter jets. The Reventon is just one model of Lamborghini's many cars that is based on the design of a fighter jet, but the Reventon take its inspiration from one jet in particular. 

The Lamborghini Reventon is a supercar based on the Lamborghini Murcielago, but updated with a fresh, new look for the limited edition run of the vehicle. The Reventon takes after the Murcielago in its naming convention, as it is named after a famous fighting bull. Only 20 Reventons were produced for consumer purchases, and all 20 cars were snapped up by collectors before the public even got a chance to lay eyes on them. Every so often, a Reventon might go up for auction from a collector who no longer wants or needs the car. The auction price of these cars is often astronomical, well into the seven figure mark, and at one time broke the record for Lamborghini auctions on Bring a Trailer at the time.

When looking at the Lamborghini Reventon, we can see the inspiration it takes from the F-22 Raptor fighter jet. It mirrors the Raptor's sharp, angular silhouette with harsh edges and corners that make it look sleek and modern. The Reventon's style is also seen in modern Aventador car models, according to Car and Driver.

The F-22 Raptor is an American fighter jet made by Lockheed Martin, and was a product of the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program. First flown in 1997, the Air Force intended to replace the F-15 Eagle with the F-22 Raptor. However, political opposition to the high costs of replacing the whole fleet with the introduction of the more cost efficient F-35 Lightning II forced the military to cut the program from 750 planes to 195 planes — only 187 of which were operational.

The F-22 Raptor was the inspiration for the Lamborghini Reventon's visual design, according to Car and Driver. Looking at the two vehicles, we can see the similarities in visual presentation. They both feature sharp, harsh angles on all sides. The angular silhouette is common in American fighter jets, with many of them looking very sharp and triangular. This is something mirrored in the Reventon's design that would later be carried over to the more mass-production-friendly Aventador.

The angular shape of many fighter jets is due to the use of Delta wings, which are wings shaped like a triangle that bear a resemblance to the Greek letter Delta. These wings are lightweight and have a large surface area, which helps reduce the aircraft's minimum speed to stay airborne, as well as increases lift. The delta wings also have a naturally stable pitch, allowing the designers to forgo a tail surface on the plane.

It is no longer possible to purchase a Lamborghini Reventon new. These cars were a super-limited-edition run car, with only 20 made for consumer purchase, and one earmarked for the Lamborghini museum. Additionally, all 20 consumer models were purchased almost immediately, and the only way to get your hands on one is to have over $1 million earmarked in the event that one of these supercar collectors decides to put their car on the auction market. 

The last time a Reventon went on sale through an auction was in 2023, and within days, the auction price of the car had inflated to $1.6 million — breaking the previous record for Lamborghini models sold through Bring a Trailer. Additionally, another Reventon was sold in 2020 with a staggering price tag of $2.5 million. Since auctions are the only way to get your hands on one of these cars now, the price tag of this specific model is only going to increase as it becomes older and rarer.