Everybody knows the Lamborghini Miura is one of the greatest automotive designs of all time. It’s also known that the Miura’s V12 heart is one of the greatest powertrains of all time. But there’s more to a car than just the body and the engine. Celebrating the intricacies of manufacturing, Artist Fabien Oefner took his disintegrating cars series to new heights by using a real 1972 Miura SV to create stunning photos of the remarkable internals of the historic Lamborghini.

In the past, Oefner has created fantastic museum-quality images by using scale model cars and suspending their parts to look like explosions of mechanical goodness. This Miura, however, is the real deal. A collector and friend contacted Oefner to suggest that a full restoration of the car would be a perfect opportunity to photograph the vehicle and create a life-sized version of his Disintegrating Cars series. The results are absolutely breathtaking.

Disappearing car

The original idea of the series was an exploration of time and reality. Oefner takes each part and suspends it from above to create an exposed three-dimensional examination of the car. Using a real vehicle, however, was a much different process. Creating his work in his studio was a calming and centering process for Oefner, whereas working on a real Lamborghini was much more time-sensitive and much more involved, with several mechanics working on the car. Such a complicated and involved procedure created a special bond between artist and subject.

“At the end of the process, you know every single detail,” Oefner said in the video above. “It’s more like it’s a person, if you want to say so. Every time I see the car, it’s like, ‘Oh, I know you!'”

The art, which took two years of work and photography in the Sant`Agatha Lamborghini factory, allows enthusiasts to know the car better, too, as the final product uses 1,500 parts. See more detailed photos of the art and the work on Fabien Oefner’s portfolio site.