Lamborghini says it's the only maker of bad-boy supercars... and, on the evidence of the new Gallardo LP560, we'd have to agree
For one tantalising moment it looks as though the two most influential men in the European car business are about to walk backwards into each other. Ferdinand Piech, Porsche king-pin and architect of its audacious take-over of VW, is nosing about on the Ferrari stand when Luca di Montezemolo, Italy's automotive crown prince, arrives in the same air-space. A collision between these two would trigger a sonic boom.
The Geneva motor show often throws up muscular little vignettes like this. Mrs Piech already has a Bugatti Veyron, but perhaps her other half is on the hunt for a 612 Scaglietti. Perhaps he's after the whole company. He owns pretty much everything else.
Question is: would you need Ferrari if you already had Lamborghini tucked in your back pocket, a part of the Piech empire (via Audi) since 1998? Once upon a time, yes. Lamborghini has always been the cheeky upstart, the chest-wig chariot, the company that some would say put the bull into bullshit. Ferrari is better bred, the real thing, auto-aristocracy. You can see the appeal.
But in 2008 the gap is tighter than ever, the battle lines drawn with increasing intensity. Lamborghini now sells 10 times as many cars as it did when the Germans first arrived in Sant'Agata (2,406 in 2007), and it's making major money these days. The planet's rich are getting richer, of course, and rapidly increasing in number.
'It's telling that the Gallardo has reached its fifth birthday more or less unscathed'
In this climate, Lamborghini could probably make money in exchange for old rope, but the fact is it's never been smoother or more sophisticated in every aspect of its business. It was the Gallardo that really helped kick the company into the premier division and now, 7,100 cars later, there's a new version.
One of the stars of this month's Geneva show, it's fair to say that the arrival of the LP560-4 - the name refers to the car's longitudinal engine layout, power output and transmission - took everybody bar Lamborghini employees by surprise. Some cars hang around way past their sell-by date and go whiffy, while others don't seem to age at all. It's telling that the Gallardo has reached its fifth birthday more or less unscathed.
"We specialise in the unexpected," Lamborghini's brand and design director Manfred Fitzgerald tells me in an ante-room on a Geneva stand that looks like the private chamber in Al Pacino's Carlito's Way Miami nightclub. "We have so many projects up our sleeves right now, I can't even begin to tell you..."
What he will brief me on, though, is the new Gallardo. Body design, engine, suspension and transmission have all been thoroughly revised, and Lambo claims significant improvements in performance and efficiency. But let's start with the styling.
Overseen by Fitzgerald - a former marketing guy turned design boss - and implemented by a seven-strong team led by Filippo Perini, the modifications are limited to the Gallardo's front and rear, but they give the car a razor-sharp new character.
Although the LP560 appears to have been heavily influenced by the recent
million euro Reventón limited edition, it was actually the Gallardo that was signed off first. There are new air intakes at the front, a revised splitter, and a completely redesigned rear end that draws the eye out - creating the impression of extra width - rather than down, which emphasises height.
"We felt we could do even more with this car," says Fitzgerald. "The Gallardo was a wonderful piece, but I wanted the new car to be more aggressive and yet more minimal. The front lights are now as slender as we could make them and still pass the homologation regulations."
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by TopGear
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