A 5.2-liter V10 with 560 horsepower, 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds, a top speed of over 200 mph and one of the most beautiful modern designs to ever come out of Italy. It's the new Gallardo LP560-4, and Lamborghini wants us to drive it. There are certainly more lucrative ways to make a living than being an automotive journalist, but it's moments like this that we know we made the right career choice. The best news is that we got to drive the new LP560-4 with about two dozen Lamborghini owners. Lamborghini of Orange County recently opened up a new dealership in Newport Beach, and they invited all of their customers down to see the new showroom and go for a Sunday drive. We tackled some of California's best back roads in the LP560-4 with other Gallardos, Murcielagos, and even a few Diablos.
What you see here is living, fire-breathing proof that there is life after automotive journalism. Jeremie Paret recently left his position as Editor in Chief of Modify magazine to start his own supercar tuning outfit. This customized Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 is his first creation. It takes a special kind of tuner to have the chutzpah to tinker with an Italian thoroughbred like the LP560-4, and there are only a handful of aftermarket outfits that are up to the task. Paret sets himself apart by offering a completely customized experience, with each vehicle designed by his team according to the specifications of the customer. This Gallardo has been fitted with Asanti Diamond wheels hiding pink brake calipers, plus a host of carbon fiber bits from the side skirts and door handles to the Reventon-style front end and enlarged rear diffuser. The interior has been decked out in custom leather and Alcantara trim and an Alpine/Focal info-tainment system. Paret's crew will arrange for any customer's vehicle to be transported to France where they'll set up the car, or can ship the parts to the customer for local installation. Either way, Paret offers the client a complete range of options and a private blog to follow the process.
To the outside observer, Lamborghini and Ferrari may appear to be peas in a pod, and while the two exotic automakers may arrive at similar points, they come from completely different directions. While Ferrari remains essentially a racing team that produces road cars to support their motorsport campaigns, sporadic privateer entries notwithstanding, Lamborghini has never had the same degree of racing pedigree. That may be about to change, however. This year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance highlighted Lamborghini as a featured marque, and the guys over at Garage419 had a chance to talk with Stefan Winkelmann. The Lamborghini CEO revealed that the company is preparing a full-on factory racing program, and though details are still a few weeks away, Winkelmann said the factory racing effort would start in Europe. Winkelmann also dispelled rumors of a potential RWD-only variant of the new Gallardo LP560-4, as well as a Superleggera version, saying that Lamborghini had no such plans for the time being.
more ...
It seems that well-to-do individuals who grew up staring at Countach posters on their bedroom walls are still finding a way to fulfill their childhood fantasies. Both sales and profits are up at Lamborghini, with most of the increases coming from emerging markets, including the Middle East, China and Hong Kong. Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann believes that the key to its recent sales successes is its policy of producing fewer vehicles than it believes it can sell, thereby keeping demand high. Winkelmann also noted that costs go down as production goes up, a further boon to increased profitability.
With Lambo's latest Gallardo LP560-4 about to hit its 114 dealerships, the second half of the year is already shaping up quite nicely. Ridiculously expensive options with high profit margins like $19,000 carbon-ceramic brakes are sure to help the bottom line too.
Take it from your friendly neighborhood Autoblog, writing about cars is great. But building a car is something else entirely, especially when the car in question is an Italian exotic. That's what Automobile magazine's West Coast editor Jason Cammisa found out when he was invited to Sant'Agata to lend a hand with the assembly of the first production example of the new Gallardo LP560-4, which Lamborghini unveiled at this year's Geneva Motor Show.
The story is featured in the magazine's May issue, and its website is featuring a four-part video series documenting Cammisa's experience.
Remember Lamborghini's pledge to attend each major auto show with a new product? Pretty ambitious, but by and large the exotic Italian carmaker has lived up to its promise. In unveiling the LP560-4, the revised version of the Gallardo, Lamborghini opened up a whole new range of possibilities, and we're expecting new Spyder and possibly Superleggera models to follow at coming shows.
The former is likely to be the first to make its debut. While modifying a vehicle – especially one with such dynamic excellence as the Gallardo – to drop its top is a time-consuming affair, remember that the outgoing Gallardo on which the LP560-4 is based had its own Spyder version, so we wouldn't expect too long a development period. Still, the Paris show in October could be a bit soon, so we might have to wait a while longer to see the new Spyder. In the meantime, we've got a very...different video of the new Gallardo LP560-4 after the jump, just because we like you that much.
more ...
We just detailed the changes made to the Lamborghini Gallardo as it evolves into the spectacular LP560-4. And while the name might not be exciting, the car sure is. New front and rear fascias, as detailed here, give the "baby" Lambo a menacing new look that's backed up by an upgraded 5.2L V10 that reportedly dishes out 560 PS/ 552 HP while tipping the scales at 44 lbs. less than the Gallardo. That's what fast is made of.
Reports circulating the automotive webdom suggest that the new version of the Gallardo which Lamborghini will be unveiling next week in Geneva will be called the LP560-4. Whereas previous reports indicated a LP550 nameplate, the LP560-4 designation draws on the new car's reported metric power rating of 560 PS – equivalent to 552hp – with the 4 designating the four-wheel-drive system. This latter addition is not present on previous Lamborghini model nomenclature, including the Murcielago, whose second iteration was similarly named LP640, without the additional 4 despite the traction at all wheels. (We wonder if Lamborghini decided to forgo the 550 numerology because arch-rival Ferrari used it on a contemporary model.) Meanwhile, AutoWeek reports that the new Gallardo's engine is more closely related to that of the Audi RS6: a more durable 5.2-liter V10 with FSI direct-injection, replacing the outgoing Gallardo's 5-liter unit.
The revised nomenclature comes from quotes attributed to Lambo chief Stephan Winkelmann, and accompanies the conceptual rendering you see above, although neither appears on the company's press site. Whatever the banner under which the new Gallardo will drive, it not only itself helps Lamborghini directly live up to its promise of a new model at each major auto show, but opens to the door to new future variants, which are likely to include a new Spyder and possibly a new Superleggera. We'll continue to keep our eyes and ears open.
