Remember when Shaquille O’Neal had a stretched Lamborghini Franken-Gallardo?
At 6’10” (99.9 percentile), I’m on the tall side and have trouble fitting comfortably into some cars, planes, clothes, buses, and apartments. So I can’t imagine the challenges for someone like Shaquille O’Neal, who is significantly taller than me at 6’10”. I’ve driven a lot of different cars, and I know that mid-engine cars are especially challenging for tall people because there’s an engine behind the seats that limits the amount of rearward movement of the seats. However, if you’re as successful as Shaq, you can get around this little problem. For example, he bought two Lamborghini Gallardos and had them built into a custom-built Gallardo with an extended wheelbase.
Contrary to the title of his book Shaq Uncut: My Story, Shaq tells the story of how he had to cut up two Gallardos to build his custom long-wheelbase car so he could fit in it. Considering Shaq earned about $21 million in 2008, spending about $600,000 on the two Gallardos he needed to build his stretched-out Franken-Gallardo wasn’t that big of an expense. In his book, Shaq said:
The reason for the high cost was because I had bought a brand new Lamborghini and then an old, beat up Lamborghini, and in order for me to fit in them they had to cut both of them in half and then superglue them together.
Legend has it that Shaq retired the custom Gallardo after he rolled the car over on a trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and was too intimidated to drive it again. He sold it to another tall NBA player, Amar’e Stoudemire, who is 6’10” and likely appreciated Shaq’s decision to extend the Gallardo’s wheelbase for more legroom. The current whereabouts of the unique Gallardo EWB cannot be confirmed, but as a tall person, I really hope someone tall enjoys it.
