MODEL prototype Lamborghini goes on sale for £250,000 The model was designed by German mechanical engineer Robert Gülpen It is a small scale replica of a Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 The car will go on sale at the manufacturer's Dubai showroom It will then go on a world tour before it is eventually auctioned off With its metallic gold finish, glistening alloy wheels and seats encrusted with semi-precious stones, it's little wonder that this stunning Lamborghini cost around £200,000. But you'd have to be pretty tiny to take the supercar for a spin. This is the world's most expensive model car and it's just gone on display at the Lamborghini showroom in Dubai as the car manufacturer celebrates its 50th birthday. Pricey: This is the world's most expensive replica car which is to go on display in Dubai - it cost a staggering £200,000 to make Stunning: The car is made from the same material as a Formula One car, but is coated in a wafer-thin layer of real gold Replica: The model was designed by German mechanical engineer Robert Gülpen Amazingly, the brilliant 1:8 scale replica of a Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4, is just a prototype - for an even more extravagant model that will be cast from a block of solid gold. The model was designed by German mechanical engineer Robert Gülpen and sculpted from the same carbon fibre used to make Formula One cars. One shaped, the carbon fibre has been wrapped in a wafer thin thread of solid gold. Mr Gülpen said: 'I wanted to do what no-one else has done before, to build a model car that is an "icon within an icon." I wanted to create a tribute to the legend of the automobile. Crafted: Mr Gülpen, pictured, said: 'I wanted to do what no-one else has done before, to build a model car that is an "icon within an icon"' Brilliant finish: Even the car's alloy wheels are ultra realistic and made from the highest quality material World tour: The impressive 1:8 replica will go on display over the Christmas period and will then tour the world before being auctioned off In five years time, auto technology will have changed drastically, so I wanted to say a thank you to the pioneers of the technology. The car is a prototype for a finished product that will come complete with gold and platinum rims, seats, cockpit and steering wheel, front seats embedded with 700 precious stones and headlights made from high-quality clear diamonds. A German auction house has put a price tag of £8.6m on the final model - with £420,000 of the fee set to go to charity, although Gülpen is offering a "buy-it-now" price of £4.6m. Comparison: The car is pictured next to a real Aventador, which is not much more expensive at a retail price of around £236,000 Design process: An engineer using a computer programme to manufacture the impressive replica Work in progress: A carbon fibre specialist works on the exterior of the replica Lamborghini in Germany Glamorous: Even the replica's seats are pricey - they are encrusted with semi-precious stones The prototype will take pride of place in the luxurious Dubai Mall until Christmas. It will then be taken on a mini world tour, with stops in Singapore, Shanghai and Russia, before heading to auction at some point in 2014. There have been a handful of enquiries about purchasing the finished product and the German engineer is offering a commission of $250,000 (£155,000) to anyone who helps him find a buyer. Gülpen was also keen to point out that the buyer will be able to customise the final model to meet their most decadent desires. He said: 'In the end it is the customer who will decide exactly what the most expensive and most precious model car in the world will look like - because the buyer can determine according to his preferences, what material will be used.' Intricate work: Engineers sculpt the exact shape of the Lamborghini supercar Under the spotlight: The car will be put on show in Singapore, Shanghai and Russia A little more expensive: The Lamborghini Veneno Roadster is a limited edition hypercar which costs more than £3.3million Buying the replica prototype is unlikely to cost much less than a real Lamborghini Aventador, which retails at around £236,000. But the Aventador is not the manufacturer's most expensive model. The newly released Veneno Roadster, with its 750bhp V12 engine and top speed of 220mph will set you back a cool £3.36million. The car goes on display as the manufacturer celebrates its 50th birthday. At 50 some things are past their best - but after half a century Lamborghini continues to roll out cars faster, more glamorous and even more bizarre than ever. On October 30, 1963, Ferruccio Lamborghini showcased his first sports car at the Turin Motor Show. That day the Lamborghini 350 GTV, an unfinished prototype featuring a crate of ceramic tiles instead of an engine, was scorned by critics. Source of scorn: On October 30, 1963, Ferruccio Lamborghini showcased his first sports car at the Turin Motor Show Flash: The Lamborghini 350GTS from 1965, P400 from 1965, and 350GT from 1964 all pictured outside the manufacturer's head office Nice car: The Lamborghini Espada But over the next 50 years the company's models - which include the Aventador, Gallardo, Murcielago and Miura - would go on to become the envy of petrol heads worldwide. Famed for their flamboyance and flair, the now-famed car company originally started out as a tractor company, Lamborghini Trattori S.p.A., in the mid-1950s. Lamborghini became one of the largest agricultural equipment manufacturers in Italy also making gas heating and air conditioning units. But it was as a car manufacturer he would make his name. Classic: The Lamborghini 350GTV.2 Convertible: The 1998 Diablo Roadster Following the poor showing in Turin, a year later the company turned heads when it revealed the refined 350 GT at the Geneva Motor Show - the car would go on to sell for $13,900 (£8600) or $103,000 today. After the success of the 350GT the 60s saw the company produce such other well-received, iconic roadsters as the 400GT and the Miura. In 1972, following some years of union unrest, Ferruccio sold the controlling stake in his company for $600,000 - the Italian then started to have less involvement in the company. Two years later, the company unveiled the Countach - a sleek, futuristic sports car that would go on to become the company's best-selling vehicle from 1974 to 1988. On the road: The Lamborghini Miura.1 Unusual: The manufacturer departed from the norm with the LM002 Ferruccio Lamborghini's vision was always to create the most beautiful - and powerful - super sports cars in the world - and the Countach epitomised this vision. In 1987, after the less-well-received Silhouette and Jalpa were released and declaring bankruptcy in 1978, the company was sold to Chrysler for $25.2 million. Following this acquisition Lamborghini began its development of faster, more-bold vehicles - the release of the Diablo, then the fastest production car in the world, helped put the company back in the limelight, acting as the company's mainstay throughout the 90s. Towards the end of that decade, in 1998, the company was sold again - this time to the AUDI AG group for $110 million. Brilliant white: The Lamborghini Silhouette Classy: The Lamborghini Reventon model The vision was to have a more sporty output from the Audi group and this promise lived up to expectation with the production Murcielago and later the Gallardo - or 'Baby Lamb' - which was released in 2003. Today, Lamborghini, which produced 2,197 vehicles in 2012, is headed by the Aventador, Gallardo, Sesto Elemento and Veneno. The celebrations this year have been marked by the release of plans for the Egoista concept: a one-seater supercar, described as 'hyper-sophisticated' by its designers. A Veneno Roadster, costing a cool $4.5 million, was also announced last week. The future's bright: The Lamborghini Miura 2