The inspiration to build cars comes from almost anywhere. For most, inspiration is nothing more than a simple lifelong passion or hobby to maintain; to others, it’s the common bond that binds many social circles; and in some unique instances, seeing smiling faces at the end is what pushes them to get fired up. Whatever reason you decide is ultimately your cup of tea, and (is usually) a good one at that.
Daniel Yang’s motivating force to build the Lamborghini Gallardo you see here has partly to do with the Hollywood "Iron Man" movie series, but even more so to do with giving back to children who are fighting serious (and in some cases, life threatening) illnesses. Consider him a real life Tony Stark, if you will, except he only seems interested in carrying over Stark’s philanthropic characteristics along for the ride, and has the Gallardo serving as his battle armor instead of a weapons-resistant, flight-capable suit.
Beyond the Gallardo namesake, this is a more limited production version: the Super Trofeo Stradale. Only 150 of these were made, and guess what? Yang’s car is lucky No. 67. And because he loved the race car version’s mean looks, he thought why not take the street legal version of it and turn it into a race car instead?
But building this car would be no easy task, and luckily, would not require Stark Enterprises-like resources to complete. In roughly six months, it went through two phases: the first being a 2012 first-generation Super Trofeo conversion, and the second being the current 2013 Super Trofeo update.
"My favorite — and most appealing — mod on this car has to be the massive carbon fiber rear diffuser," says Yang. "The entire piece was mounted to the chassis and has been tested to withstand a minimum of 250 pounds of downforce." And since the LP 570-4 is designed quite differently from its siblings, it took many hours of research, test-fitting and fabrication to build a proper "race car" — after all, it’s not like there are instruction manuals on how to do this sort of thing floating around.
Yang has affectionately nicknamed his Gallardo the "Irontoro," which he says means "Ironman’s bull" (toro is Italian for bull). As a huge fan of the "Iron Man" movies, he hopes the Gallardo can bring some cheer to children’s lives, and so far he’s been able to do this by attending several Purist Group and other charity events around the Southern California area.
"I’ve had a series of unfortunate events in my life, “ Yang continues. "But none of it compares to what these kids have to go through. Seeing their smiles makes this build all worthwhile. I want to continue to give back to my community and show the young ones that they’re not alone. We’ll be there to fight with you."
Tuning Menu
2012 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale
| OWNER | Daniel Yang |
| HOMETOWN | Los Angeles, CA |
| ENGINE | K&N high flow air filter; Hex Tune by VF Engineering |
| SUSPENSION | Swift lowering springs (1.5” front/1.7” rear) |
| WHEELS | 20x9” +35/20x12” +45 Signature Wheels SV302 |
| EXTERIOR | Lamborghini Race Super Trofeo body kit (including vented hood, front bumper, side skirts, spoiler, rear bumper and rear diffuser); Flyryde LED sequential rear turn signals and custom headlight projectors; Aerowerkz vinyl wrap; Waspcomposite custom carbon fiber front splitter |
| INTERIOR | Carbon fiber interior (including doors, dash, center console, steering wheel and racing bucket seats) |
(Photos by Byron Yoshida)