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Lamborghini supercars

Tue, 29 Jul 2008

By Tim Pollard

29 July 2008 12:00

As with so many supercar companies, Lamborghini was the vision of one man: Ferruccio Lamborghini. He founded it in 1962 after a successful career making tractors. The Sant'Agata Bolognese birthplace remains the company's home – and it has produced some of the greatest and most outrageous supercars of all time, giving this company equal rights with Ferrari to claim to be the world's best loved supercar brand. Now owned by Audi, and hence part of the sprawling Volkswagen empire.









Make and model

Year

Price

Engine

0-60mph

Top speed

1967

£8050

 3929cc V12, 350bhp, 286lb ft

6.3sec

163mph 

For 

 Gandini's styling: arguably the most beautiful car ever made  

Against 

 Ergonomics and reliability: this will become a theme

Verdict 

 Its engineering was as impressive as its looks: changed the
 motoring world

 

The steel monocoque chassis with its tranverse, mid-mounted V12 got the '65 Turin motor show so excited that the reluctant Ferruccio was persuaded to put a body on it and build it. The supercar was born

Related Articles: Other Lamborghini stories


Make and model

Year

Price

Engine

0-60mph

Top speed

 1974

£16,134

 3929cc V12, 375bhp, 286lb ft

 5.6sec

174mph 

For 

 In production for 16 years, and still gob-smacking now

Against 

 It took them most of that time to make it driveable and reliable

Verdict 

 Say supercar and you picture a Countach

 

How did Lambo top the revolutionary Miura? By slotting the engine and gearbox not just transversely, but backwards into its successor, and getting Gandini to produce an even more extraordinary shape

Related Articles:  Other Lamborghini stories


Make and model

Year

Price

Engine

0-60mph

Top speed

1990

£156,000

5707cc V12, 492bhp, 428lb ft 

 4.1sec

202mph 

For 

 The Audi-fettled 6.0 VT was the last, and best

Against 

 A playboy's plaything; never gained real credibility

Verdict 

 Lambo's thinking looked slow after the F40 and 959

 

Lamborghini's third mid-engined V12 supercar lacked the impact of the first two. A series of lightweight, race-derived special editions delivered the full supercar terror, but the Diablo didn't shock or innovate like its forebears

Related Articles:  Other Lamborghini stories


Make and model

Year

Price

Engine

0-60mph

Top speed

2001

£170,228

6200cc V12, 580bhp, 479lb ft

3.7sec

205mph

For 

 With scissor doors and a mad cabin, it's a proper old-school supercar  

Against 

 We call it character but it's crude compared to newer rivals

Verdict 

 New owner Audi produced the best Lambo in years

 

Same basic layout as the underwhelming Diablo – but so much sexier and better to drive. Amazingly, the latest 640bhp V12 engine is derived from Lambo's first back  in 1963 


Related Articles:  News  |  Car reviews  |  Other Lamborghini stories

Make and model

Year

Price

Engine

0-60mph

Top speed

 2008

 £147,330

5204cc V10, 552bhp, 398lb ft 

3.7 sec

202mph 

For:

 Visual drama, barmy performance. Our favourite junior supercar

Against:

Verdict:


German/Italian interbreeding shouldn't work, but it does – so you get the old-school supercar experience without the bad bits. But a Ferrari is more intuitive to drive hard

Related Articles:  News  |  Car reviews  |  Other Lamborghini stories


By Tim Pollard