Lamborghini Veneno Roadster confirmed

Lamborghini has a history of shock-and-awe supercars, but eyebrows still raised when it unveiled the Veneno concept at the Geneva Motor Show back in March. Here was a car devoid of any sanity whatsoever, with only three examples ever to be produced. Or so Lamborghini claimed.

Following rumours a Veneno roadster would also be released, Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann has now confirmed to Car and Driver that a drop-top Veneno will be produced -- each example costing around 3.3 million euros, or $4.9 million at today's exchange rates (in the unlikely event one could arrive here without the usual massive import taxes and duties).

By Veneno standards, the roadster will be positively common -- a whole nine units, to the hard-top's three. The Aventador-derived 552-kW powertrain will remain unchanged, and one assumes so too will the styling -- save for the necessity of a removable roof.

Performance is likely to be similar to the closed-roof car too, meaning a 354km/h top speed. While roadsters typically weigh more than their tin-top cousins, heavy use of carbon fiber elements should keep the Veneno roadster's weight well below that of the "regular" Aventador.

Rumors of a Veneno roadster circulated last month, after several loyal Lamborghini owners were contacted by dealers to gauge interest in such a model. In the rarefied world of hypercar ownership, we'd not be surprised to learn some of those contacted already count the hard-top Veneno among their collection...

For everyone else, you'd better hope those owners are suitably extroverted to bring their cars to shows -- as the production Veneno roadster may never be officially shown to the public.

We'll just have to wait for the next crazy Lamborghini. Winkelmann recently told us that Lamborghini will "always [have] the will to build dream cars with technology which is equal to innovation and stunning design." Veneno Roadster, Egoiste... there's plenty more to come from Sant'Agata.

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