--- title: "Lamborghini’s Chief Designer Explains Why Cars Need Faces" date: "2025-09-04" modified: "2025-09-04" authors: - name: "Adam Ismail" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/adam-ismail" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/lamborghinis-chief-designer-explains-why-cars-need-faces" categories: - "Lamborghini News" - "News" - "News by Brand" tags: - "Coupe" - "Lamborghini" - "luxury" - "Supercar" --- # Lamborghini’s Chief Designer Explains Why Cars Need Faces ![Lamborghini Fenomeno front end]() *\Lamborghini\* For a long time, cars had faces: two headlights for eyes, and a grille for a mouth. Many brands have been deconstructing that convention as of late, separating daytime running lights from projectors low down, and—in the case of EVs—deleting the grille entirely, because it isn't needed. [Lamborghini](), though, isn't many brands. The new [Fenomeno]() most definitely has a face, and the automaker's design director, Mitja Borkert, says that's no accident. "At the moment, there's this trend worldwide where all the front lights go slimmer and slimmer," Borkert told *The Drive* last month, during Monterey Car Week. "But there's a point where you don't have any more front lights. I see front lights as the eyes of a face, and at the end of the day, you need that in the car." "Therefore, yeah, we can go horizontal or vertical \[with the headlight design\], but at the end of the day, what we want to find is a character," Borkert summed up. ![]() *From left, the Lamborghini Revuelto, Temerario, and Urus. *Lamborghini** What is that character for Lamborghini, though? Before Lamborghini, Borkert worked at Porsche. He noted that, when he joined that design team right around the turn of the century, Porsche's cars wore more of a smile. "I moved them more in the opposite way," Borkert said. "So they're looking a little bit more like a shark, or a little bit more self-secure at you." He couldn't imagine such a friendly look on a Lambo, though. "For me, this is paramount when I design a Lamborghini. So I will never create a smiling Lamborghini," Borkert said. "This is not fitting to the brand." That tracks, especially when you listen to the head designer's rationale. "I don't like the word 'aggressive.' I'm never designing something aggressive on purpose," Borkert said. "But I'm designing something self-confident because, look, our cars these days have 800 horsepower, 920 horsepower, 1,080 horsepower. Such a car cannot smile at you. It needs to have a confident, cool look. It can look a little bit more arrogant, it can look a little bit more self-secure." Right now, Lamborghini's lineup boils down to different manifestations of that face: slim, determined eyes above a gaping maw. The [Temerario](), [Revuelto](), and the [Urus]() all share it. The Urus, being an SUV, would seem like a prime candidate to get the split DRL treatment, and Borkert said he didn't "particularly hate" that idea. But, at a time when everyone else is breaking the rules in more or less the same way, Lamborghini appears primed to stick to what works: lean, mean supercars with serious eyes. Like those of an animal you wouldn't want to piss off. *Got a tip? Let us know at tips@thedrive.com*[]() ## Author Adam is a Senior Editor at The Drive, concentrating on curating and developing the site's slate of daily journalism, from initial pitch to final copy edit. When he's not at his desk researching leads and working with writers, he's testing vehicles or reviewing racing games, new and old. He joined The Drive in 2023, following seven years of covering consumer technology and cars. A car lover and gamer since his earliest memories, Adam came to know the automotive world through video games. First it was Daytona USA, Sega Rally, and Ridge Racer; then came Need For Speed, which inspired an encyclopedic knowledge of '90s supercars, and, of course, Gran Turismo. If not for them, he'd assuredly be doing something else right now. Adam is based in the suburbs outside Philly, where there are ample roads for his hot hatch to stretch its legs. In his car, he's probably listening to indie rock, drum and bass, or Yankees baseball. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()