How do women design luxury cars, Lavinia Khalil?
High fashion meets hardcore off-roading: Lavinia Khalil radically reimagined the iconic G-Class to create the €1.3 million OQTA Super Gyr – in the way of a woman.
AWD and artistry, combined
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Let's start with a brief introduction: Who are you and what is it that you do?
My name is Lavinia Khalil. I'm an automotive interior designer working across the entire transport industry. I created OQTA Motors several months ago, and we recently won the Supercar 2026 prize in Monaco.
Congratulations on that. Please, walk us through this car. It's obviously based on a G-Wagon, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. What exactly did you do here?
This car is specially made for the desert. We completely changed the car's surface and form language. We extended the wheel arches to make it a lot wider, and almost all the body parts are made out of carbon fiber to keep it lightweight.
The rims, tires, and ride height don't look ordinary either.
Right. We used CNC-milled rims that look more like luxury accessories. The ride height is 20 centimeters higher, and the entire frame of the car is completely different—about 20 centimeters wider and longer. But we kept the 4x4 system, so it is built for extreme environments and designed to survive everything.
We love the tiny details that give the car its character, like the leather straps. What was the thought process behind those?
Since the car is made for the desert, it reminded us of a tent that you would fix in place with ropes. The leather straps on the exterior and the hood ornament act as a fixing tool, giving the car a luxurious, jewelry-like feeling.
Let's talk about the brand name. Where does OQTA come from?
It comes from "Okti," which means sister. The brand is essentially a sisterhood, created by two women in Milan, and it's heavily focused on empowering women.
The exterior features a massive, illuminated spare wheel and real marble elements. But inside, it's a different story. Can you explain the interior materials?
We used a thin layer of real marble on the outside because it doesn't heat up, meaning you won't burn yourself in the GCC countries. For the interior, we couldn't use real marble for safety reasons. Instead, a traditional church painter hand-painted regular production pieces to look exactly like marble. The leather seats were also specially developed to prevent your skin from burning, even in 80 to 100-degree heat without air conditioning.
The most unexpected detail has to be the falcon seat.
Yes, our client loves falcons. We created a very special seat on top so the falcon can look forward while driving and not get confused. When it's time to hunt, we simply open the roof, and the bird can fly right out. It also includes a special leash system to take the falcon out of the car when needed.
You’ve essentially built your own 800-horsepower car. Why did you decide to do this instead of just continuing with standard interior design?
Serial production and concept cars come with very strict rules and testing topics. We wanted the freedom to create our own. We chose the G-Class as a foundation because it already has amazing storytelling and form language, and we wanted to implement our aesthetics in a respectful way.
How did the idea originally come about?
I met a young girl during Milan Fashion Week. She mentioned that her father, who is from the GCC countries, always wanted to have his own unique car. I told her we could do that, and we built it on commission for him. It took three months to develop the CAD data and seven months in production.
The brand is essentially a sisterhood, created by two women in Milan, and it's heavily focused on empowering women.
You’re building 25 units of this car. What comes next for OQTA?
We don't really limit ourselves. Next, it could be another car, or even a private jet. For us, it's all about the aesthetics and the love of change.
You definitely sound more like an artist than a traditional engineer.
Thank you for the tour!
