1990 Lamborghini Countach Reviews

Salmon is a Sydney hotelier and online entrepreneur, while Baumgartner is best known as the crazy Austrian who parachuted from the edge of space.But both of them fit right in at the Bathurst 12-Hour, a race that takes Mount Panorama back to its showroom roots.It's not your everyday showroom, as exotics brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley and McLaren dominate the entry list, but these are still cars that are far closer to the real world than any V8Supercar.Best of all, they all look and sound different. And, since they have different strengths and weaknesses, there is constant track action as they swap places around Mount Panorama. And that's without worrying about the tail-end tiddlers in cars such as the 1-Series BMWs who contribute to the healthiest starting grid since the 1980s."Why do I race? I caught the bug and I cannot get it out of my system," Salmon tells CarsGuide."I'm a gentleman driver, not a professional, but I can still compete here with some of the best blokes in the world.The 12-hour includes some of the world's best long-distance racers"I'm 55 next week, so I have a few things to tick off the Bucket List. This is one."Salmon owns his Audi R8 racer but Baumgartner, a world- class and world-renowned thrill seeker, is at Bathurst as a guest of Audi. He's in an R8 to satisfy his need for speed."This is fun. Just great," he says.The driver lineup for the 12-hour includes some of the world's best long-distance racers, and former V8Supercar runners John Bowe, Warren Luff and Greg Crick, but the current stars have been banned from the action by a clashing touring car test at Sydney Motorsport Park.No-one is remotely surprised that Craig Lowndes and Rick Kelly would prefer to be spending the weekend at Bathurst, or that the 12-Hour telecast comprehensively trumps the broadcast numbers for the rival event in Sydney.The 12-Hour is a wacky race, from the drivers to the cars, and the Mercedes-Benz pacecar is called out a record 20 times after some sort of on-track incident.But the cars are fast and spectacular and it's easy to tell them apart. Especially when you see a brutal Benz SLS going head-to-head with an exotic Ferrari 458 and a giant-but-gentlemanly Bentley Continental.There is a respectable crowd at the 12-Hour and the carpark is full of old Bristols and MG sports cars, shiny new McLarens and even a 50-car cavalcade of Mercedes-Benzes, dominated by the brand's hot AMG models.As always, Mount Panorama stars — from the spectacle of a start in darkness through to the final fight to the flag.The 12-Hour is more than just a race and it is growing fastIn the end, it's a Nissan GT-R that gets home first — as Godzilla conquers the Mountain for the first time since Mark Skaife and Jim Richards — with a blanket finish for the minor places.But the 12-Hour is more than just a race and it is growing fast. There are seven factory-backed teams in 2015 and this will grow again for 2016, with Audi, Bentley and Mercedes-Benz already committed to next year's race."This race and this place is something special. It's not only the track, it's the atmosphere and the racing and all the rest," says Romolo Liebchen, head of Audi's giant Customer Racing Division.GT sports car racing is more than a passing fad"Australia has a relatively small car market, but it is very important for performance cars and also as a place to compete with our customers. It is clear this race will continue to grow."A Bentley at Bathurst is so wrong that it’s right.I feel as if I’ve been invited into the sitting room of Le Mans winner Guy Smith’s home in Britain as I slide into his Continental GT3-R for a relatively quiet lap of Mount Panorama.This is the roadgoing version of the car Smith is racing in the 12-hour, with everything I expect from an ultra-luxury Bentley coupe. There are sumptuous leather seats and all the luxury fruit. Then Smith opens the taps on Mountain Straight and we’re aa-www-aaaay.It’s not remotely what I expect from a car that weighs nearly two tonnes and costs more than $600,000.Bentley has done a serious job on this car. It has 427kW and 700Nm in the engine room, which — with special gearing and a bunch of other changes — means it can slingshot to 100km/h in just 3.8 secs. That’s exactly what Smith does, calmly giving his first impression of the circuit. “It’s a tricky place, isn’t it? It takes a bit of learning,” he says.On Sunday afternoon, long after this memorable run down the mountain, he and his team should have been podium finishers. A cruel punt on the final corner drops them to fourth at the flag. Bentley is committed to come back in 2016 and I’m looking forward to another visit to Smith’s sitting room.GT sports car racing is more than a passing fad. A total of 13 car brands now have official programs in the global category, following a decision by Cadillac this year to join the track action with its CTS-V coupe, and they are spending big as bait for buyers.Cadillac will be joining everyone from Aston Martin and Audi to Lamborghini, Ferrari, and even Mercedes-Benz at the sharp end of GT racing.It's a crazy category because the cars look so outrageous. The purchase price, from about $600,000, makes them relatively affordable.In comparison, a homegrown V8Supercar can easily top $500,000 as a turnkey racer.The big difference between Australia and the rest of the world is the scale, with carmakers doing big numbers and making serious dollars from their motorsport divisions.Mercedes-Benz still has 20 cars to build before it switches from its current SLS to the GT3 version of the new coupe. Bentley has built 18 Continental GTs for racing.Audi tops the pile, having built 136 track versions of its R8, with 126 currently still in action including the car that took pole position for the Bathurst 12-Hour.

Peter Anderson reviews the 2014 Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4.

Adelaide Auto Expo to showcase American muscle and European majesty November 28 and 29.Previously known as the Extreme Auto Expo, the Adelaide Auto Expo will be held at the Adelaide Showgrounds this weekend showcasing a variety of street machines, hot rods, muscle cars and more across two days.The expo will boast a 600-car lineup across the seven different mini-shows the event comprises.The Sprint Auto Parts Extreme Auto Expo features street machines and custom motorbikes from across South Australia and interstate. The lineup will include the Kam Chevrolet Nova, an American muscle car completely rebuilt in order to accommodate a 9.4-litre/1118kW Chev big-block engine.There are also dyno and swimwear competitions as well as a trade exhibition full of automotive gadgets.For fans of 1960s custom cars and hot rods, the Adelaide Hot Rod Show will be of interest. There will even be a demonstration on how to build your own hot rod to cruise the streets.There will be a taste of exotica in the Dream Car Garage with examples from Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche, Audi and Nissan on display.Chamois and polish will be the order of the day at the Show 'n Shine competition, where aficionados of immaculate car care can take in some pristine cars.If getting from one set of traffic lights to the next as fast and as loud as possible is your thing then the Aussic Classic and Muscle Car will be of interest. On Friday night the cars will cruise the streets around the show, giving you the chance to see some of the machinery in action.American muscle cars and hot rods will get their chance to cruise on Saturday night with the Zippel Cruise letting the foreigners showcase how they go on the road.Alternately, you can just oggle at Phil Rilotta’s 16.5-litre/1491kW Camaro drag racer, if extreme numbers are your thing.The Adelaide Auto Expo runs Friday November 28 (5pm to 9pm) and Saturday November 29 (10am to 9pm) at the Adelaide Showgrounds. Tickets are $25 with children 13 and under admitted free.

Lamborghini's symbol is a raging bull and its models invariably take their names from the world of bullfighting. Non-matadors will find them obscure: the name of the new Huracan refers to a bull that took to the ring in August 1879. In Alicante.Asterion follows the tradition, though it refers to the mythological Minotaur, part bull, part man. The brand’s first hybrid combines “the strength of a bull … with the human rationale”, the maker says.Under the bonnet: Wrong place to look. Lamborghini makes mid-engined supercars and the Asterion follows suit with a 5.2-litre V10 borrowed from the Huracan mounted behind the cabin. On its own, it produces 449kW of power. Unlike in the Huracan, though, it drives only the rear wheels.Fitted to the engine is an electric motor that acts as both starter motor and generator. It feeds two electric motors at the front, driving the front wheels.With Asterion in hybrid mode, the engine and all three motors act together to deliver a total of 669kW of power to all four wheels — more than any other Lamborghini.The result is electrifying performance, with Asterion hitting 100km/h in just 3.0 seconds and capable of 320km/h flat out.But there’s more to it than that. The transmission tunnel, which normally would carry power from the engine to the front wheels, is unnecessary thanks to the electric motors. Instead, it’s filled with lithium-ion batteries. So Asterion has an electric-only mode in which just the front wheels are driven. As an EV, Asterion has a 50km range and top speed of 125km/h.The system is designed to be recharged overnight so that the car can run in pure electric mode for the next day’s commute.Lamborghini does not say how long the batteries take to fill, but the fact it can function as an electric car for 50km means it can achieve fuel economy of 4.2 litres per 100km in the official European test.Plug-in hybrids such as this are becoming the car industry’s preferred solution for hitting emissions targets and in this respect Lamborghini is following the latest technical trend.Just another hybrid hypercar? Rival brands Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche already have limited edition hybrid hypercars on sale overseas (see above), although their solutions differ in terms of the balance between engine and battery power.At one extreme, La Ferrari has no ability to travel purely on electricity. Its system is similar to the ones in Formula One racers and aims to boost power without using more fuel. Asterion is more like the Porsche 918 or McLaren P1, only with a better electric-only range. As well as reducing overall fuel consumption, these systems offer insurance against the possibility — considered inevitable by carmakers — that sooner or later cities will restrict access to trad­itional combustion engine cars.All agree that hybrids are an essential part of the future and this technology will filter down to production series cars. For example, Porsche is already selling a plug-in hybrid version of its Panamera sedan here.A different Lambo? Asterion is different from its rivals in one crucial respect. Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche set out to make flag-bearers for hybrid technology with something even more extreme than usual.Asterion is fast, of course, but fitting a hybrid system means producing a different sort of Lamborghini, the company says, because it adds a lot of weight. Even though some components, such as the drive shaft and front differential, have been removed, the net effect of fitting batteries and motors is an additional 250kg. Asterion is built around a carbon fibre monocoque but even so it weighs 1.8 tonnes. That means it’s too heavy to be a traditional sports car. “It’s not a car devoted to handling behaviour because we think this is something that is difficult to reach with a plug-in where you’ve added weight to the car,” research and development chief Maurizio Reggiani says.Lamborghini has made small run special edition models costing millions, but Asterion demonstrates that it can make a low-emissions car priced at a level its normal customers expect.Hail the hyper-cruiser: Lamborghini says Asterion represents a fresh vision of where the brand is heading. It is a "new kind of dream car...starting from an intuition: the key for anticipating the future lies in a transformation and hybridisation of Lamborghini’s own DNA", the press release says. "With the Asterion, a hyper-cruiser is born."It may not be lightweight but it still delivers on the Lamborghini promise by retaining a large capacity, naturally aspirated engine. Most manufacturers are switching to turbocharging because it makes smaller — and hence more efficient — engines more driv­able. But turbocharged engines lack the immediate response of naturally aspirated engines, don’t rev as high or sound as good.At the same time, the change in emphasis is reflected in the Asterion design. It’s softer, less angular and extreme than Lamborghini’s two current models. The change is also reflected in the cabin, with more room and better ergonomics. The doors are long for easy access, windscreen more upright and seats positioned higher.Here we go again... Lamborghini has made cars like this before, such as the Espada four-seater from the late 1960s, so Asterion would be back to the future. If it goes ahead.Other recent concepts show Lamborghini playing with a few ideas. At the 2008 Paris motor show it revealed a sedan concept called Estoque and more recently a study for an SUV called Urus, which is expected to get the go-ahead eventually. The smallest supercar brand is branching out. It’s just a matter of time.

European luxury carmakers have begun a massive rollout of plug-in hybrid technology, seeing it as the only way to meet increasingly stringent emissions standards.Cars with the system, which differs from a traditional hybrid by enabling a distance of about 30km on battery power alone, were centrepieces of almost every stand at the Paris motor show, which opened this week.Mercedes used the show to detail its S500 Plug-In Hybrid, a version of its flagship large luxury car that has "the performance of a V8 with fuel consumption of a compact model".The company says it has learned from involvement in Formula 1 to achieve fuel economy of just 2.8 litres per 100km - much less than a Toyota Prius - in a car that can charge to 100km/h in 5.2 seconds. The S500 combines a turbocharged V6 with an electric motor and can travel on lithium ion battery power for 33km.It is the spearhead for an armada of plug-ins, with Mercedes planning to launch one every four months until 2017.Mercedes chief Dieter Zetsche believes plug-in hybrids will be adopted quicker than electric vehicles, with prices in line with equivalent petrol models. "A plug-in hybrid is the 'easy entry version' for those who are still a little uncomfortable with electric cars," he said. The first luxury plug-in hybrid available in Australia is the recently launched Porsche Panamera sedan at $285,300. Porsche used the show to unveil the same system in its Cayenne SUV. It expects to sell up to 70 plug-in hybrids a year.Lamborghini was another supercar brand with a plug-in hybrid debut at Paris, with the Asterion, which combines a 5.2-litre V10 petrol engine with three electric motors for fuel consumption of 4.2 litres per 100km.It says the Asterion is a "demonstrator" but the brand has to be ready for changes in European fuel emissions rules.Lamborghini is part of the Volkswagen group and chief Martin Winterkorn warned EU regulators that companies needed time to recover the investment in new technology before emission rules were tightened further."Every gram of CO2 that we save in our European fleet costs our group almost €100 million ($144m) - €100m that we have to invest in advance, without knowing when these investments pay off," he said."That's why I worry when Brussels already now starts to cry out for new, more stringent norms for the time after 2020." Volkswagen has invested heavily in plug-in hybrids, with its luxury arm Audi committed to the system. Its Australian rollout begins with the A3 small car in March, priced at about $60,000.

Lamborghini unveils 669kW hybrid supercar concept in Paris.

Neil Dowling track tests the 2014 Lamborghini Huracan, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Neil Dowling track tests the Lamborghini Aventador, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

The one of a kind Lamborghini Egoista has found a permanent parking spot.

The Lamborghini Huracan is the garlic bread and herbed butter of the Italian supercar maker's line-up.