Lamborghini to present ultimate Gallardo at Frankfurt

The Lamborghini Gallardo has been on the market now for the better part of a decade. Along the way, it has led to countless variants: some with roofs, some without, some with all-wheel drive, some with rear, some with as less than 500 horsepower and some with nearly 570. Soon the entire range will be replaced with a new model thought to be called Cabrera, but before it does, word on the strada is that the Raging Bull marque is planning one last hurrah.

And what a hurrah it will be. Reportedly based on the Super Trofeo race car that's fielded in the spec racing series of the same name, a "Super Trofeo Stradale" is tipped to debut at next month's Frankfurt show as the final iteration of the Gallardo.

Little word at this point on just what it will entail, but expect more power and less weight than any variant that has preceded it. For reference, the track-bound Super Trofeo packs a 562-horsepower V10 but with 240 pounds less heft than the standard Gallardo and 88 pounds less than the stripped-out Superleggera. Expect the roadgoing version to hit 60 miles per hour in three seconds flat and run out to a top end of some 210 mph.

We'll have to wait until we get to the Messe to find out more, but that's little over a month away, so stay tuned.

News Source: AutoExpress

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Lamborghini Aventador - Top Gear

Top Gear’s 17th season flew by just like that, didn’t it?

The sixth and final episode aired over the weekend, and unlike the past episodes, this one more than lived up to the expectations. Richard Hammond got the show off to a promising start with a great segment about the Lamborghini Aventador. From there, the show picked up some steam with a pretty hilarious segment featuring Jeremy Clarkson and James May as they embarked on an electric-car crusade around town. Some unforeseen circumstances resulted in a few mishaps, but all in all, the duo managed to make the most out of their respective cars - Clarkson had the Nissan Leaf while May had the Peugeot Ion - to finish their adventure in one piece. But even that wasn’t enough to convince the two about the potential of electric cars in the future.

Fittingly, the final segment of season 17 took a more serious turn with an inspiring story about a Cross Country racing team in Wales for disabled British soldiers. It’s a humbling way to end a very interesting season and puts into perspective what the human spirit is capable of accomplishing despite the challenges that seemingly lies in front of it.

Details after the jump.

Richard Hammond Plays With The Lamborghini Aventador A week after Jeremy Clarkson took his turn on the McLaren MP4-12C, Richard Hammond spent some time with Lamborghini’s new hyper machine, the Aventador. As a company that took pride in putting emphasis on top speed, acceleration, and handling, Lamborghini went against its protocol by putting handling above everything else. But even if the car’s acceleration and top speed were "low priorities", the car’s 217-mph top speed sure didn’t sound like it. Hammond had nothing but effusive praise for the Aventador as it carefully combined all three elements of Lamborghini’s opus to build a car that’s unlike anything the Italian automaker has ever produced. But since this is Top Gear, these guys still find time to make some otherwise unflattering comments with the Aventador being no exception. According to Hammond, the Aventador falls under the same trap that Clarkson commented with the MP4-12C: it’s a little too scientific and doesn’t come with the same Lamborghini flair that all its predecessors had. The performance is there and it handles remarkably well for a Lamborghini, but it misses that "fear factor" that the company has come to be known for. Still, it’s a car that has turned a lot of heads. And even if it lacks in chaotic madness, it more than makes up for in unbridled speed and top end performance. gallery: 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 The Stig Runs The Aventador Around The Top Gear Track Undaunted by Hammond’s comments on the Aventador, The Stig wanted to prove the Hamster wrong by taking the Aventador around the show’s very own race car. And similar to the MP4-12C, Stig managed to drive the wheels off of the Lamborghini supercar, clocking in a blistering lap time of 1:16.5. The time’s three-tenths of a second short of what the MP4-12C clocked in, but it was still faster around the Top Gear track than the widely proclaimed ’fastest car on the planet’, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. James And Jeremy Go For An Electric Ride The main segment of this episode saw James May and Jeremy Clarkson participate in an extensive review drive of two in-market electric cars, the Peugeot Ion and the Nissan Leaf. In true Top Gear fashion, the duo decided to participate in a simple challenge of driving to a seaside town in order to get a good feel for their respective electric rides - May had the Ion and Clarkson had the Leaf. But before they could reach their destination, Clarkson’s Leaf EV ran out of the batteries and what ensued was a hilarious scavenger hunt to find the nearest possible charging station in the town of Lincoln. After an exhaustive search, the duo managed to find a couple of sockets to plug their cars, but had a boatload of free time before the cars could be recharged to full capacity. To burn some time, the two ended up going on a tour around the town where they tried brass rubbing in the cathedral, fishing in Brayford Pool and even playing Scrabble in a cafe. As soon as their cars were fully charged, they set about on their voyage towards their destination, reaching it with ample charges left on their electric motors. While both Clarkson and May had some pleasant things to say about their respective rides, the two were far from impressed with the batteries of the EVs, concluding, at least in their minds, that "electric cars are not the future" for the simple fact that they do not have enough range. Source: topspeed.com

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Lamborghini

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Beloved by enthusiasts everywhere, Lamborghini cars are built for speed and to look the part. Extreme style and extreme performance are the chief characteristics of Ferrari's national rival. Unless your zip code is 90210, you're not likely to see a scissor-doored Lamborghini ahead of you in the Starbucks drive-thru or parked next to you at the mall; these are exclusive automobiles designed to cater to a small, very specialized audience.

During World War II, company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini served with the Italian Air Force's mechanics corps, where he became proficient at working with engines. After the war, Italy was plagued with scarcity; one such shortage involved tractors. Sensing an opportunity, Lamborghini purchased surplus military machines and reconfigured them as tractors. It was a canny move that resulted in a thriving business for the young entrepreneur, one that quickly made him a very wealthy man.

By the 1950s, Lamborghini's business had become even more successful, expanding to include heaters and air-conditioning units. As a car enthusiast, Lamborghini drove the best sports cars of the day. Somewhat disappointed with the Ferraris, he vowed to build a better car. Armed with millions of lira in investment money, he retreated to the small village of Sant'Agata to build a state-of-the-art automotive factory. On his payroll was noted automotive engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, who'd previously worked at Ferrari.

Automobili Lamborghini SpA. was officially founded in 1963. That same year, the very first Lamborghini, the 350GT, made its debut at the Turin Motor Show. The car's name came from its engine size, a 3.5-liter four-cam V12. Then came the 400GT, which was produced until 1968. But it was the stunning midengine Miura, produced from 1966-'73, that catapulted Lamborghini to worldwide acclaim.

Lamborghini's tractor business suffered hard times in the early '70s, which led him to sell a controlling interest of Automobili Lamborghini SpA to a Swiss industrialist. The Italian's problems were worsened by that decade's oil crisis, and he wound up selling the remaining amount of his shares. The company invested millions in the development of a new vehicle, the military truck-style Cheetah, but its sales were disappointing. By the end of the decade, the automaker had declared bankruptcy.

The company got back on its feet in the 1980s. The key was Lamborghini's over-the-top Countach. Though introduced way back in 1974, the Countach, now fully styled with angles and vents, was the perfect exotic sports car for that's decade's mentality. Perhaps hoping to cash in on the firm's revived popularity, the company's managers sold Lamborghini to Chrysler in 1987.

Another change of ownership took place in 1994, when Lamborghini was acquired by three Far Eastern companies. Megatech was the largest of the trio and the primary shareholder. By the late 1990s, Lamborghini was in financial hot water once again. As before, the lack of a diversified product lineup was hurting the company's ability to compete globally. It was acquired by Volkswagen (which also owns other luxury marques such as Audi and Bentley) in 1998.

Lamborghini has rolled out models such as the four-seat Espada and various V8 sports cars, but it is the midengine supercars that identify the marque. Models like the wild Countach and the Diablo of the 1990s are instantly recognizable as Lamborghini cars, with their sinister styling by Marcello Gandini promising equally outlandish performance. Though some may question the current German/Italian marriage, the products of this merger, the 200-mph Murcielago (the Diablo's successor) and the equally breathtaking Gallardo, leave no doubt as to its benefit.

Source: edmunds.com

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