Lamborghini has built its reputation on making ordinary automotive actions feel like major events. Opening a door, selecting a driving mode and starting the engine are not treated merely as functional tasks. They are designed to remind the driver that the vehicle is something far removed from an ordinary luxury car.
That philosophy is why Lamborghini has no intention of removing the flip-up cover positioned over its engine start button. The small red flap may not improve acceleration, aerodynamics or handling, but it transforms starting the car into a deliberate ritual inspired by military aircraft.
Lamborghini Design Director Mitja Borkert recently confirmed that the feature will remain part of the brand’s interiors. Although there are faster ways to activate a powertrain, Borkert questioned whether those alternatives would be as entertaining. His position reflects Lamborghini’s belief that buyers are not paying exclusively for performance. They are also buying theatre, identity and an experience that begins before the car moves.
The Famous Gimmick Is Lamborghini’s Start-Button Flap
The feature consists of a hinged guard positioned above the engine’s Start/Stop button. Before starting the vehicle, the driver raises the cover and presses the button underneath.
It resembles a control that might protect an important switch inside a fighter aircraft. In a real military cockpit, such guards may prevent the accidental activation of critical systems. Inside a Lamborghini, the flap is largely theatrical, but that is precisely its purpose.
The action creates anticipation. The driver does not casually touch an unremarkable button shared with an ordinary passenger vehicle. The flap must first be raised, revealing the control that activates the powertrain.
Borkert told CarBuzz during a recent discussion about Lamborghini interiors that the company expects to retain the feature as its cabins become more technologically advanced. He summarized the philosophy by asking, “For sure, there is a faster way to start the car, but is it fun?”
That question explains why the feature has survived even as almost every mechanical function in modern cars becomes easier to automate.
The Ritual Became Famous With the Aventador
The red starter cover became one of Lamborghini’s most recognizable interior details when the Aventador LP 700-4 appeared in 2011. The new V12 flagship featured a wide centre tunnel with the guarded starter positioned prominently between the driver and passenger.
Contemporary reviews frequently compared the system with a missile launcher or fighter-jet control. The original Aventador required the driver to lift the red flap before awakening its naturally aspirated V12, helping establish a startup sequence that felt appropriate for a 700-horsepower flagship.
The feature subsequently appeared throughout Lamborghini’s range, including the Huracán, Urus and limited-production models. It became so closely associated with the brand that customized versions of the cover were offered through Lamborghini’s Ad Personam personalization programme.
The company has continued treating the component as a design element rather than a generic piece of switchgear. A special Revuelto Opera Unica inspired by the Sardinian coastline, for example, received a uniquely finished Start/Stop cover that matched the vehicle’s hand-painted interior and exterior details. Lamborghini describes the customization in its official Revuelto Opera Unica presentation.
A Small Switch Helps Make the Interior Recognizable
Modern vehicles increasingly share electronic platforms, infotainment systems and hardware across larger corporate groups. Lamborghini operates under Audi and the Volkswagen Group, giving it access to advanced technology but also creating the risk that some interior functions could feel familiar from less exotic vehicles.
The start flap provides an immediate visual and tactile distinction. Even before the engine produces any sound, the driver encounters something that communicates Lamborghini’s identity.
Borkert’s design approach does not attempt to remove digital technology. Instead, it separates tasks suited to screens from controls that contribute directly to the driving experience. Navigation, entertainment and configurable information can remain digital, while starting the powertrain and selecting important driving functions retain a physical component.
The current Revuelto and Temerario cabins include three displays: a digital instrument panel, a central infotainment screen and a separate passenger display. Despite that level of digitalization, Lamborghini has retained the guarded starter as a physical anchor in the centre console.
The company’s official Temerario design presentation specifically identifies the aviation-inspired Start/Stop “Power button” as a classical Lamborghini feature. That description shows that the flap is no longer a disposable novelty. Lamborghini now regards it as part of its established design language.
Hybrid Power Makes the Theatre More Important
Lamborghini’s current range is fully hybridized. The Revuelto combines a naturally aspirated V12 with three electric motors, while the Temerario uses a twin-turbocharged V8 and three motors. The Urus SE combines a twin-turbo V8 with plug-in hybrid assistance.
These powertrains offer greater performance and sophisticated electric capability, but they also change the traditional relationship between pressing a starter and hearing an engine immediately erupt into life.
A hybrid Lamborghini may become ready to move while operating electrically. Under some conditions, the combustion engine may remain silent when the driver presses the button. That means the physical startup ritual becomes even more valuable as an emotional signal.
The driver lifts the flap and activates the car, even when the result is a glowing instrument display rather than an immediate V12 explosion. The ritual communicates that something significant has happened, bridging the gap between the mechanical character of earlier Lamborghinis and the software-controlled operation of modern hybrids.
The Revuelto still produces 1,015 CV from its V12 and three-motor system, while the Temerario delivers 920 CV and can rev its combustion engine to 10,000 rpm. Their technology is radically different from that of the Aventador and Huracán, but the guarded button creates a visible connection between generations.
Lamborghini Understands That Performance Alone Is Not Enough
Modern electric and hybrid cars have made extreme acceleration increasingly common. Vehicles with dramatically different prices and identities can now achieve similarly astonishing sprint times.
That development makes emotional differentiation more important. A Lamborghini cannot rely only on a specification sheet when several rivals can offer comparable power and acceleration. It must deliver an experience that feels special at ordinary speeds and even while stationary.
The company refers to this approach as “Feel Like a Pilot.” It appears through aviation-inspired switchgear, low seating positions, cockpit-style layouts and controls that require deliberate physical actions. The updated Urus SE interior also emphasizes physical buttons and an aviation-inspired arrangement rather than transferring every function to its central screen.
The start flap is arguably the simplest expression of that philosophy. It creates no meaningful inconvenience, requires almost no explanation and gives the owner a repeated moment of interaction every time the vehicle is used.
Could Buyers Eventually Grow Tired of It?
Any repeated styling feature risks becoming predictable. A gimmick that initially feels distinctive can lose its impact when copied across too many products.
The Lamborghini starter flap has already inspired aftermarket accessories designed to make ordinary cars imitate the same fighter-jet action. Its widespread recognition could be interpreted as evidence that the idea is becoming clichéd.
However, authenticity matters. On an ordinary commuter vehicle, the cover may feel decorative because it is separated from the rest of the experience. Inside a Lamborghini, it is surrounded by aggressive styling, specialized driving controls and a high-performance powertrain.
The flap also works because it demands so little from the driver. It does not complicate an important task or hide a frequently used control several menus deep. It adds one quick movement to an action normally performed only at the beginning and end of a journey.
Removing it would save almost no time while eliminating a moment owners associate strongly with the brand.
Lamborghini’s Gimmick Has Become Part of Its Identity
The red start-button cover began as playful theatre, but repetition has transformed it into a recognizable Lamborghini signature. It now sits alongside wedge-shaped proportions, hexagonal details, Y-shaped lighting and aviation-inspired cabins as part of the company’s visual language.
Lamborghini understands that luxury performance buyers are not always searching for the most rational solution. They are often searching for an emotional experience unavailable in an ordinary car.
A touchscreen button could start the vehicle more efficiently. An automated system could make the process nearly invisible. Neither option would create the same anticipation as raising a bright red guard before activating a V12 or high-revving hybrid V8.
The feature may be a gimmick, but it is a successful one. As Lamborghini moves deeper into electrification and software-driven technology, that small physical ritual could become more important rather than less.
