The chemical element referred to by the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento name is carbon.
“Sesto Elemento” means “sixth element” in Italian, pointing to carbon’s atomic number: 6. The name also highlights the car’s extensive use of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic, which was central to its lightweight construction.
Lamborghini presented the Sesto Elemento at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. It used a 5.2-litre V10 related to the Gallardo Superleggera and combined all-wheel drive with a six-speed automated manual transmission. Its carbon-intensive construction helped produce a remarkably low weight of about 999 kilograms.
The name is sometimes confused with a reference to the sixth item in Lamborghini’s model history, or with another lightweight material used in the car. Titanium was used in some components, but the naming reference is specifically carbon. The Sesto Elemento was ultimately a track-focused limited-production model rather than a conventional road car.