Jay Kay's Purple Lamborghini Diablo SE30
And the story of the making of the Cosmic Girl Music Video by Jamiroquai in the desert of Cabo de Gata, Almeria
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If you grew up in the nineties and you didn't see a massive poster of a Lamborghini Diablo, i'd be very surprised. Combined with the Ferrari F50, the Diablo produced more car fanatics than the number of times Gordon Ramsay has lost his temper, which is hundreds of thousands. Although you'd be surprised at Gordon Ramsay's car collection in 2026 too. On this topic there is not a single video clip that better champions that spirit of the nineties than the hit-song "Cosmic Girl" from Jamiroquai, and the supercars that were raced in it.
"Cosmic Girl" was the second single from Traveling Without Moving, which is Jamiroquai's third studio album. It's classified as being part of the funk genre characterised by it's fantastic bassline, and was the album that launched the band to the top charts, further fame and fortune, building on the momentum gained from the second album. The band's leader Jason "Jay" Kay, is one of the largest petrolheads in existence, and back then already demonstrated with numerous acquisitions of extravagant cars. The timeless and riveting video for the song which being a favourite of mine, I discovered was more difficult than anticipated for me to learn on the electric bass as a teenager, was 100% about cars, cars in every shot. And watching it for the first time was to me, a teenager surrounded by the first waves of EV nonsense and increasingly uglier cars like the black Nissan Juke which our neighbour had at the time, as blissful as warm ambrosia delivered by Aphrodite with a kiss, to a wounded spartan bleeding out somewhere.
It specifically revolves around the spectacularly purple Lamborghini Diablo SE30 driven by Jay Kay. This was accompanied by a Ferrari F355 GTS Berlinetta and a Ferrari F40 (of course in Rosso corsa) The theme of the entire video is simple. It's just them absolutely ripping through the twists and turns on the edge of canyon roads surrounding Cabo de Gata, in Almeria while they lipsync. Part of the video has sideways action on the dirt/gravel surface and some quite striking visual effects, which were recorded at night.
Now it's already good, but the story behind this music video gets much better, the Lamborghini Diablo was a purple SE30, a special 30th anniversary edition of which only 3 were that deep purple colour. It was Jay Kay’s own car, and the very example lined up for the shoot got damaged by the production team before it had even reached Spain. Rumour has it the British climate, the Diablo’s old-school 500-plus brake horsepower and a heavy right foot were the perfect storm.
The Ferrari F40, for its part, belonged to Nick Mason – yes, the ex-Pink Floyd drummer and lifelong petrolhead.
Jay Kay was midway through a German tour when he spotted an identical Diablo for sale with just 2,000 kilometres on the clock. He handed over £180,000 there and then so filming could continue. Despite strict orders that no stunt driver was to touch the car until it arrived on set, disaster struck again: a camera smacked straight into the windscreen while they were capturing some B-roll. A tight road, a bit of overconfidence and a sheer drop just metres away were apparently to blame this time.
After the band leader’s (entirely understandable) outburst, they cracked on regardless. If you watch closely, you’ll spot a few shots where the Diablo is happily tearing along minus its windscreen, with Jay Kay battling the gale in his face and squinting hard just to keep his eyes open. There was no time to hang about – Jamiroquai had a tour to get back to. A few days later Lamborghini rushed over a fresh windscreen, the car was sorted, and they wrapped the whole thing successfully.
Twenty-five years on, the “Cosmic Girl” video still nails the spirit of the era and sits perfectly with the track. The full story – complete with pictures of the battered Diablo – is in the YouTube feature linked just below this post.
It remains one of the most iconic car-and-music clips ever made, so cult that even Richard Mille paid tribute with their own short film, “Speed Tale”. This time a McLaren P1 and McLaren Speedtail take the starring roles, all set to the unmistakable groove of Jamiroquai. I’ve dropped that video below – you really should give it a watch.
One last fun footnote: in 2017 the very same Diablo from the video popped up on the used market and sold for a cool £550,000. Not bad for a car that once lost its windscreen on a Spanish cliff road, eh?
2017 Sale of the actual Diablo for £550,000 (the same purple SE30 from the video),
Top Gear (great photos + background): https://www.topgear.com/car-news/supercars/jay-kays-purple-lambo-diablo-cosmic-girl-could-be-yours
Hagerty (nice write-up on provenance): https://www.hagerty.com/media/buying-and-selling/jay-kay-lamborghini/
Behind the scenes photos of the damaged/no windscreen Diablo:
Current listings on autotrader going for less than that seen below:
The RM McLaren Speedtail tribute:
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