Before you go shouting blasphemy from the hills that an SUV will have a Lamborghini logo on it, there’s a few things to consider:

• Lamborghini had an SUV called the LM002 in the mid-80s. It wasn’t terribly popular or pretty but if you’re bothered to look it up, feel free to do so.
• Porsche has proved that a supercar company can not only build incredible performing SUV’s but can sell a hell of a lot of them. There is clearly demand for these things for some reason.

Anyway, the photo you see above is a photo leaked of Lambo’s newest product in an Italian magazine. It’s unclear if this is just a rendering or indeed the SUV concept to debut at the Beijing auto show this year, but regardless Lamborghini it’s clear Lamborghini is heading the polarizing route.

Power is rumoured to be the same as the V10 found in the Gallardo which makes 575 horsepower. A hybrid version is rumoured as well which could generate as much as 700 horses. Yikes.

Click past the jump to see a rear shot. What do you think of Lamborghini’s new SUV?

[AutoGuide.com]

Good God!

What you (unfortunately) see before you is actually a 1994 Chevrolet Camaro with roughly 230,000 kms on it that was poorly transformed into a Lamborghini. Not just any Lambo, but the much coveted and stupidly limited Reventon. And the worst part is, it’s for sale. Here’s the actual ad on eBay:

This incredible Rev Angel 300HP V-8 Exotic Replica Supercar was meticulously designed and handcrafted (light strong metal, not heavy fiberglass!) to resemble million dollar exotic supercars, without the costs, maintenance, repairs, insurance, etc.!!! It has a V-8 (300 HP- with the included intake plenum similar to the one pictured) LT-1 Chevy Engine with only 36,000 original miles which was replaced 95 miles ago!!! Also replaced recently (within the year) was the alternator, starter, and battery. It has a current safety inspection and emissions sticker and the title is free and clear.

This car will peal and smoke the tires from a stand still. It will virtually beat any tuner car, fiero replica, older corvette’s or so called muscle cars. The rear wheel track has been widened by 4 inches with wheel spacers to accomodate the widebody styling. The interior is a sporty stock Camaro Z-28. Side windows have been tinted with removable 20% VIS. The dash is cracked (easily fixed by a $35 dash cover) and the driver side seat bolster is torn (but can easily be fixed by some seat covers). The lights and electrical work and the A/C blows, but it needs a recharge (the heater works great).

If you want Supercar looks (attention and compliments galore!!!) in a daily driver that you can have at a tiny fraction of the cost, this is the car for you! This is the time to do it, since financial situation warrants letting it go for very much less than desired! NO RESERVE!!! The winner will take this home!

Thank you for looking and God Bless You abundantly!

Assuming you’re done laughing, one thing he…. no? You’re not done laughing? Okay, go ahead, let’ it all out.

Good now? Okay, what I was about to say was one thing he forgot to do was take the ugly Chevrolet steering wheel off. So even if he was somehow able to fool someone into thinking this was an actually Lamborghini, when they inevitably peer through the window to see its interior all they will see is the best thing GM could come up with circa 1994.

I sincerely hope this guy loses a bunch of money on this thing. It’s the only way he’ll learn.

[AutoGuide via Cardomain]

Oh yeah, this is pretty sweet.

Lamborghini officially revealed its new Aventador supercar (officially called the Aventador LP700-4). While we’re on the name, Lamborghini smartly decided to not call it the Jota as originally rumoured. Aventador apparently was a bull who participated in the famous running of the bulls back in 1993. It sort of makes sense considering Lamborghini’s logo, but it’s still pretty random.

But enough about the name. The Aventador will come with a V12 producing 691 horsepower. The engine itself is actually a significant 40 pounds lighter than V12′s of the past. The engine also sits two inches lower in the chassis and is 20% more efficient than the engine in the Murcielago (of which the Aventador will replace).

Part of the Aventador’s advantage in fuel efficiency has to do with lots of weight shedding. The Aventador weighs 3,472 pounds compared to the Murcialago’s 3,671 pounds. Looks like Lamborghini has stayed true to its commitment to weight savings. Weight distribution is rated at 43% front and 57% rear.

The Aventador’s estimated 0-100 sprint time is a crazy 2.8 seconds, but I’ll wait on official testing before I believe that. Top speed is also estimated and is pegged at 350 kph.

Styling is typically Lamborghini eye-catching with Estoque-esque styling throughout. A duel clutch transmission is standard and you have the choice between 19 or 20 inch wheels. Oh and of course the Aventador has scissor doors.

The Aventador will officially go on sale in October. Pricing has yet to be announced, but no matter what it’s priced at you and I still won’t be able to afford one. As such, watch for Car Driven’s test drive review of the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador in the year 2030.

[Lamborghini]

This is the first shot of Lamborghini’s new addition to the family: the Aventador LP700-4. The folks at Autoblog managed to get their hands on this snap. Don’t worry, they have full permission from the owner who is apparently in no relation Lamborghini.

I’ll stop typing now so you can continue to stare at the gloriousness that is the Aventador.

[Autoblog]

Need for Speed’s latest offering is currently available at your local video game store and for this edition they’ve thankfully decided to go back to the old old days of crazy police chases for Hot Pursuit 2.

To celebrate, Need for Speed decided it would only be fitting to have a real world interpretation of what happens in the game. AKA, they took a real Pagani Zonda Cinque and a real Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 police cruiser, put them in a mountanous road and said “go”.

The video is nothing short of boner inducing. I need to have this game now. Your marketing plan worked on me, Need for Speed.

[Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit]

After releasing about six teaser images, of which I did not blog about because I’m so sick and tired of stupid teaser images, Lamborghini finally revealed the mystery concept ahead of Paris.

It’s called the Sesto Elemento Concept, originally thought to be called the Jota. And thank God it isn’t. Jota doesn’t sound Italian enough. Sesta Elemento, however, sounds molto meglio!

Okay, now onto the good stuff. Meant to be a successor to the Murcielago LP-640, the Sesto Elemento packs a lot of punch. It uses a tuned version of the Gallardo’s V10 which produces 570 horsepower. Sounds a bit underwhelming? Well the other piece of the puzzle is that Lamborghini is getting into the weight loss business as they have just discovered that light weight is an important piece of the performance puzzle. As a result, the Sesto Elemento weighs just 2,200 pounds! To give you an idea of just how light that is, it’s roughly the same weight as a Lotus Elise.

The power-weight ratio means the Sesto Elemento can fo from 0-100 in just 2.5 seconds! That’s insanely fast!

Stephan Winklemann, CEO of Lamborghini, says that the Sesto Elemento signifies the end of horsepower wars saying:

“With less weight, it will change direction in a way that you won’t believe unless you drive it. There will be no play in the suspension, no flexing, no inaccuracy at all. You ask it to do it and that’s exactly what it will do, down to the width of a hair”

Watch out for a Car Driven test drive of the Sesto Elemento in 2030.

[Inside Line]

Autocar found out. Check it.

This past weekend, if you were in Halifax, you may have been lucky enough to notice a lot of supercars around, which isn’t really a regular occurrence down here. About a dozen supercars were in and around the Halifax area, turning heads and showing off those lovely exhaust notes to the public. Everything from Ferrarris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis and even a Saleen was spotted.

They were apparently in town to tour the Maritimes thanks to sponsorship from ZR Autos in Calgary.

Unfortunately they didn’t receive the warmest welcome here since some people down here apparently have a permanent stick up their asses and can’t stand one ounce of fun or change in their lives.

The supercars were driving down Highway 103 to Halifax. People traveling the same highway definitely noticed them and instead of thanking their lucky souls that they were able to experience such and event, they decided to call the RCMP and complain that they were driving at a ‘high rate of speed’.

While I can understand safety concerns of speed, the last thing on my mind would be to call the cops. Chances are the people driving the cars are highly skilled professional drivers who are used to high rates of speed and know the limits of their cars. In my opinion, it’s no big deal for them to open up the taps of the cars if there is minimal traffic and are trained professionals.

The RCMP did indeed respond to the complaints and pulled over one of the cars. The rest of the supercars pulled over as well as a sign of a good gesture. In fact, when the police pulled over the supercars, they were all traveling at the speed limit, so I believe it was a case of just pushing the supercars to their limit with no one really around then slowing to the speed limit once traffic picked up.

Anyway, do you think after all that, these supercars are going to return? I sure hope so. And I hope in the meantime people can get a life instead of calling the cops.

[The Chronicle Herald]

Lamborghini not only has a talent for making supercars, but they also claim they have a talent in the fashion world. If I ever become famous (which I sincerely hope never happens) I would be proud to answer “Lamborghini” when the paparazzi shout out “Who are you wearing?!”

This is a fairly new endeavor for the Italian brand as the store opening in Richmond, British Columbia is only the third Lambo clothing store in the world. Pretty exclusive! It had its grand opening Saturday night with a parade of Lamborghinis making an appearance.

“As long as this is giving additional profit and it’s not diluting the brand, it’s a must-do because a luxury brand always has a limited opportunity to grow, because a luxury business is always to produce less than demand” said Steve Wilkemann of Lamborghini Canada.

Lamborghini sells about 70 cars a year in Canada on a good year.

We knew Lamborghini wouldn’t just sit around while Maserati came up with a credible challenger for longest car name. Obviously, this is not why the Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce China Limited Edition exists though.

This new Murcielago, as you can insinuate by its name, is for the Chinese market only. What makes it so special?  Well lots of things. Wait, no. We mean, not much. You’ll get the special grey paint you see in the picture as well as that orange stripe down the middle which is supposed to be like an erupting volcano (no relation to the erupting volcano in Iceland currently interfering with air travel all over the world). But yeah, that’s about it. The owner will also get their name on it with a numbered badge and that’s kinda cool… if you’re a huge douche. When time comes to sell it, who is going to buy a used Lamborghini with someone else’s name on it?

I don’t care what anyone says, I would totally rock this pink Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV that was spotted in Doha. I could do without the weird black swiggles in the paint and the ridiculously large spoiler in the back though.

But this car is so amazing that it really doesn’t matter what colour it is. It’s just fantastic. That V12 will put to shame anyone who makes fun of it anyway.

Would you own a pink Lambo?

Ladies and gentleman, say hello to the replacement for the largest Lambo in the fam – the Murcielgo.

Obviously keeping the physical family genes, the Jota will be more powerful, but will incorporate less weight as expected.

The camouflage is pretty pointless since there is no mistaking it for anything but a Lamborghini, but it does cover up styling details such as the expected Reventon influence and most likely an aray of LED lighting.

A 7.0 litre V12 is expected under the hood making over 700 horesepower and about 520 pound feet of torque. That’s a lotta juice, so to keep the Jota planted, Audi’s superb AWD system will help out with traction. The Jota is expected to get a chasis made of carbon fiber to keep the weight down at around 3,300 pounds.

Just about the only unfortunate thing about the Jota is its name. What the hell does Jota mean? It doesn’t even sound Italian!

How low can you go?

Check out this Lamborghini Murcielago get low to purposely avoid a paying parking lot fee. One has to wonder though, if you can afford to buy  a Lamborghini Murcielago, then you can surely afford to pay a parking lot fee. Neat trick nevertheless!

In the performance world, horsepower isn’t everything even though most American manufacturers seem to think so. Slapping 500 brake horse power into a car is useless if it can’t deal with taking a corner when the road gets twisty. In fact, horsepower is only one small piece of the puzzle. Tires, brakes and suspension all play a role in making a truly exquisite performance car. Like many human beings, more weight means more misery and this is true in the performance car world as well.

That’s why in most true performance cars, there is no sat nav, no heated seats and sometimes even no radio. Every little bit counts.

But there is another reason to lose weight.

Lamborghini is being forced to voluntarily losing weight to reduce gas usage, which means reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This is not a new concept, although apparently CEO Steve Winklemann is only figuring this out now.

Says Winklemann “It has come to the point where acceleration equals consumption…”

Uh, acceleration has always meant consumption. That’s why we consistently need to fill our tanks with gas, and why there is now an oil crisis. But no matter, Winklemann now understands that acceleration of any form requires energy and is determined to make those wonderful supercars are friendlier to David Suzuki types.

This is really win-win for Lamborghini. Not only will their cars be even better than they already are, but Lamborghini can now tout themselves as the latest to hop on board the ‘green’ movement. Even if Obama’s new fuel efficiency ratings forced them into it.

In any event, is this now signifying the end of the horsepower wars?

[Autoweek]