O’Gara Group San Diego gives La Jolla’s Lamborghini dealership a facelift

AUTO: Dealership Gets Sleeker Look

The La Jolla Lamborghini dealership has undergone a $750,000 renovation that included adding a special room where buyers can design their own car, right down to the color of the seat stitching − the only catch is that they'll have to wait more than a year or more to actually get the car.

“Pretty much any new car that we have in the showroom is a sold unit and it's waiting to be picked up by its new owner,” said Joe DeSantis, general manager of the O’Gara Group San Diego, which has owned the dealership since 2015.

“That's quite typical for Lamborghini for the last few years. It's probably going to remain typical for the next few,” DeSantis said. “The days of being able to come in and see two or three new cars and be able to pick between colors on cars that are already built and sitting there and available to be taken on delivery that day, they've been behind us for a while.”

Not to worry, DeSantis said enthusiasts can buy a used Lamborghini to drive around until their new car arrives.

“If they're looking to be able to drive something immediately, we try to offer as many of those options as possible. And a lot of our clients, it's take this now while we wait for a new one that will be coming in the future,” DeSantis said.

Lighting Up La Jolla Boulevard

DeSantis said that the nearly year-long makeover was done at the behest of the company's headquarters.

The interior of the 4,430-square-foot showroom at 7440 La Jolla Blvd. was pretty much gutted to give it a more open feel and create a place where potential buyers could come just to hang out.

“It was complete remodel. We changed exterior signage on the outside of the building and then everything on the inside was completely redone,” DeSantis said.

“We moved multiple walls around. We added what we refer to as the ad persona or the configuration room that was kind of the three-sided, three-walled room in the middle of the showroom.”

Replacing what had been a restroom, the ad persona is where buyers can pick the options they want, actually handling leather swatches, seat belts and other accoutrements.

“We rearranged some things in the ceiling to accommodate that room,” DeSantis said. “There were some structural things that needed to be altered in the roof of the building.”

On the second floor, offices that overlook the showroom were redone with lots of glass where they had been closed off, creating what DeSantis described as “a more sleek” look in keeping with the design of the cars below.

A nine-screen digital display that can play a live-feed from Lamborghini's headquarters in Italy also was added to the showroom to create a video wall.

“That was a fairly large to-do because we actually flew in a technician from Italy who spent, I believe it was, four or five days setting that all up, the audio and video,” DeSantis said. “A kind of cool added benefit is when driving by at night, when the screens are on, it lights up the (La Jolla) Boulevard.”

Debut Redux

New lighting was added throughout the building, front to back.

“The showroom, I would say, was under lit previously, and there's more than enough lighting now and it's all very complimentary of the cars. Its color and all of that looks really nice with the vehicles,” DeSantis said.

Up to 10 cars can fit in the showroom, but the display is typically limited to five or six to leave room for customers to walk around them, DeSantis said.

Buyers range from those in their mid20s to those in their 70s, DeSantis said.

“I would say it's probably the clients that are a little bit more young at heart,” DeSantis said

The Italian car maker chose the redesigned La Jolla showroom in September to present its latest model following a global debut in August in Carmel at The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering – an SUV called Urus Performante that has a base price of $260,676 – and a top speed of 190 miles per hour.

For those eschewing an SUV, other models buyers can order through the La Jolla showroom include the Aventador Ultimae with a base price of $498,258 and a top speed of 220 miles per hour.

The U.S. is Lamborghini's strongest market and California is the strongest market within the U.S., according to Andrea Baldi, Lamborghini America CEO.

“The introduction of Lamborghini's new design aesthetic at the San Diego showroom is a testament to the importance of this market, and the brand's commitment to providing an unmatched, elevated customer experience, especially as we transition into a new era of electrified vehicles next year,” Baldi said at September opening of the renovated showroom. ■