Montegrappa’s Lamborghini Miura Pen Makes a Pop-Up Headlight Part of the Design

The most memorable detail on Montegrappa’s Miura fountain pen isn’t printed on the barrel: it rises from the cap. Press a button and a miniature headlight, topped with natural rock crystal, tilts out of a dark-rimmed recess. The gesture turns a familiar feature of the Lamborghini Miura into a small mechanical interaction, giving this commemorative writing instrument a design element that can be handled as well as admired.

Montegrappa created the collection with Automobili Lamborghini for the Miura’s 60th anniversary. Instead of relying on a logo to carry the reference, the design draws on several features of the car: the pen’s rounded profile echoes its bodywork, a ribbed black clip recalls the slatted details around the headlights, and the end cap takes its cue from the louvered engine cover. These references build up across the object, so its automotive character comes from shape and surface as much as branding.

A headlight designed to move

The cap-mounted lamp has a domed rock crystal element above an engraved base, whose texture is designed to resemble the Miura’s lamp reflector. A tactile push button releases the piece from its dark surround and tips it upward. The light doesn’t turn on; the point is the movement itself, which translates the car’s pop-up headlight into an interactive detail at pen scale.

That choice gives the cap a distinct role in the design. It’s not simply a place to add a miniature badge or sculpted ornament: the headlight changes position in response to a user’s touch. For designers translating a reference object into another format, the mechanism shows how a recognizable feature can become an action rather than just a visual motif. Here, the movement is compact and legible, while the crystal, engraved surface and dark rim make the lamp read as a considered assembly.

Color and automotive details

Three finishes extend the reference through color: Giallo Fly yellow, Verde Miura green and black. The colors tie the pen to the car’s identity while giving the collection different visual expressions. The rest of the detailing stays focused on recognizable forms: the ribbed clip links back to the headlight surround, and the louver-inspired end cap carries the engine-cover reference to the opposite end of the instrument.

This kind of object has a narrow design brief: make the source recognizable without turning the result into a scale model. Montegrappa’s approach distributes the reference across the silhouette, materials, color and moving component. The headlight receives the most attention because it works, but the supporting details help the pen hold together as a designed object even when the mechanism is closed.

Writing hardware and dimensions

Under the sculptural cap, the fountain pen uses an 18-karat gold nib with ruthenium plating and an engraved Lamborghini shield. An ebonite feed sits beneath it. Nib choices run from Extra Fine through Broad, with a 1.1 mm Stub option for a wider, more expressive line. The filling system accepts cartridges or a converter; both are included.

The fountain pen measures 161 mm long and 20 mm across, and weighs 87 grams. A rollerball version shares the collection’s overall design and working pop-up headlight, but substitutes a black conical tip for the nib and feed. Both versions come in a lacquered wooden case lined with genuine leather inspired by the Miura’s interior. The case extends the presentation beyond the pen itself, though the published details don’t specify the leather’s color or other interior references.

Edition size, price and delivery

Montegrappa is making 60 fountain pens and 60 rollerballs in each of the three finishes. Across both formats, the stated production total is 360 pieces worldwide. The fountain pen costs €8,250. Pre-orders are open, with deliveries expected to start in mid-November 2026.

The price and limited production place the fountain pen firmly in collectible territory, while its nib options and cartridge-or-converter filling system describe a fully specified writing instrument. The rollerball gives buyers another format with the same signature cap detail. Both versions preserve the Miura references, but the fountain pen adds the choice of nib width and a more traditional writing setup.

Montegrappa and Lamborghini previously worked together for the automaker’s 60th anniversary in 2023. This collection takes a more sculptural route, using the Miura’s flowing outline and mechanical details to shape the pen itself. The pop-up lamp is the clearest expression of that idea: a small, functional movement that makes the car reference part of the user’s experience. For designers studying how to adapt an object’s identity to a different medium, it’s a useful reminder that a physical interaction can carry a visual reference further than surface decoration alone.