Lamborghini Countach: Wall art

Monday, May 15, 2006

Millionaire Richard Moriarty hired a 70-ton crane to lower his 1974 black Lamborghini Countach into his mansion through a skylight in the living room and mount it on the wall inside his home.

On Friday, a five-man crew hung the 1,000-pound engineless vehicle from a steel-reinforced wall with loops of half-inch-thick steel cable.

Explaining the unusual placement for the car, Moriarty said, “I have a Lamborghini and I've got a big wall.”

The car's engine was removed and transformed into a “200-mph coffee table,” he said.

This isn't the first time Moriarty, an heir to the family that developed South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, has installed offbeat elements in his home. Previous innovations include an indoor rifle range and a 28-foot-high interior waterfall, architect Fleetwood Joiner said.

Moriarty's irreverent tastes don't stop at home decor.

The 58-year-old organized exotic parties in the 1980s, and more recently he planted a vineyard on his 3.5-acre estate and began bottling wines under such labels as “Wretched Excess” and “The Idle Rich.”