Lamborghini Aventador News

After more than a decade as the world's favourite car colour, silver is falling in popularity to white. PPG Industries, the leading supplier of automotive paints, says 25 percent of the vehicles it supplied in the 2013 model year were white, up 3 percent from the prior year. Silver and black tied for second, with 18 percent each.White dominates in Europe, North America and Asia. Only in South America is silver still king. Apple Inc., with its all-white stores and gadgets, made white a high-tech colour. The variety of whites - from flat shades to creamy pearls - is also contributing, says Jane Harrington, PPG's manager of automotive colour styling.But if you don't relish a whiteout on the highway, never fear. Carmakers are currently scouting colours for the 2016 and 2017 model years, and Harrington is showing them some eye-popping options, from a pink-tinged bright red developed in Asia to a rich dark gray with faint green highlights.Eleven different browns - from light copper to dark chocolate - and an equal number of grays are part of PPG's annual colour show for automakers at its automotive centre in the Detroit suburb of Troy. There are six yellows and seven greens, from seafoam to dark olive. One notable absence: Powder blue, which is increasingly confined to electric cars or hybrids.Harrington and her international team determine colour trends by watching fashion, architectural paint colours and other predictors. She thinks we'll see more deep jewel tones like teal and more earthy metallics, like reddish orange, in the coming years. With the end of the recession, drivers don't mind being showy again, she saysCar buyers could also see taxi-like yellows and other flat, bright colours, which are growing in popularity thanks to small, funky entries like the Kia Soul. Pastel tones, like mint green and very light pink, are also in the mix.PPG will take its colour tour on the road to Los Angeles, Europe and Asia and will then start working with individual automakers on their choices. Companies typically choose eight to 10 colours for every model. PPG won't say how many cars it supplies paint for each year, but it works with every major car company. "They think about the vehicle and how that colour will translate," Harrington said. "That colour, sparkle and finish helps define the car's character." 

Most will agree that Giorgio Sanna has the best job in the world. As chief test driver for Lamborghini’s research and development and motorsport divisions, he gets to drive Lamborghinis fast all day long.His work ensures that the handling and performance of future Lamborghini road cars deliver on expectations, and maintain a close relationship with the brand’s Super Trofeo racers. He probably won’t be retiring any time soon.Watch the Lamborghini test driver video here.This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn

Seeing more than 100 Lamborghinis travelling in a rapid convoy is not one of the world’s more common sights, but that’s exactly what the supercar maker’s recent celebration of its 50th anniversary managed to create. The event saw 350 of the raging bull-badged models converge on Lamborghini’s home town of Sant’Agata in Italy.  Despite far from ideal supercar weather, a keen Lamborghini fan managed to capture at least 100 of the celebrating Lambos converge on a hairpin bend in procession. The convoy is somewhat of a walk down Lamborghini memory lane, with a 350GT, a couple of Muiras, Espadas and Countaches, a few Diablos, several Gallardo, Murcielago and Aventadors -- all displaying their distinctive visual and audible wares. For the keen-eyed, at least four of the Aventadors can be seen puffing blue flames from their exhaust orifices on overrun.   Watch the Lamborghini hairpin convoy video here. This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn  

The Lamborghini Gallardo is about 10 years old and is well due for retirement and a replacement. Cue the Lamborghini Cabrera. That's the working name of the car that will replace the Gallardo, and the latest images -- snapped while the Cabrera was testing at the Nurburgring circuit in Feb -- show it's echoing the long lean lines of the Aventador.The new entry-level supercar is tipped to be powered by an updated version of the 5.2-litre V10 engine found in the current model, but with extra output extracted to hit 447kW -- a hike of about 40kW over the current base model Gallardo and 28kW over the top-spec version. Following Lamborghini's naming convention, that could also the a LP 600-4 added to the eventual moniker.You can depend on it having standard all-wheel drive, although it's likely a rear-wheel drive version will continue to be offered. A new seven-speed dual clutch transmission is set to replace the aging e-gear automated manual, but there's little chance of a pure manual shifter.Aluminium and carbon fibre will largely comprise the construction to help save weight, with a drop expected from the Gallardo's tare mass of 1600kg (1470kg for the rear-wheel drive).The Cabrera is tipped to arrive late in 2014, and Volkswagen Group-owned brand will be sharing the Lamborghini platform with stablemate Audi for its second-generation R8, which should arrive about a year after the Lambo.This reporter is on Twitter: @karlapincott

The owner of a Lamborghini Aventador has been fined and his car confiscated after it was discovered it was actually a Hyundai. Easy to mistake the two, of course. Police in the Chinese city of Chongqing claimed the Aventador replica after the owner tried to sell it in a shopping centre. Police weren't fussed about the rip-off but by the fact the plastic car was illegally modified and didn't have licence plates. China's vehicle laws are becoming increasingly harsher. Car buyers need a “blue book” from the China Vehicle Inspection authority that lists the specifications of the car and a photo. Any changes to the data or picture are illegal. The baby-blue coupe was based on a second-generation Hyundai Tiburon with a $350 (in China) body kit. Chinese newspapers say the owner was fined about $130 and lose 12 points on the 20-point driver licence. The car will be returned to him but he bodykit will be removed. The writer is on Twitter: @cg_dowling  

What do you park in your carport when you can afford anything you want? A solid gold Lamborghini Aventador that will cost $8 million, perhaps. And that's just for what will be the most expensive model car ever made.Get your credit card ready, because the car is being planned, and will be carved from a single 498kg block of solid pure gold, with a finished weight estimated at 25kg. The interior will be finished in platinum and gemstones.It's the creation of engineer and artist Robert Gulpen, who has built several luxury car models from gold, silver and platinum over the past decade. However, while this is set to be his most ambitious project, it's serious enough to have earned partnership from Lamborghini.Gulpen first mooted the model in 2011, but now it seems plans are well under way, with the finished work intended to head for an auction that will see about $700,000 donated to charities chosen by Lamborghini.Gülpen's process will use computer-modelling of the real Aventador to feed data to a five-axis milling machine that will carve an aluminum mold, from which he will produce a carbon fibre 'maquette' of the model. The winning bidder at the auction will then be able to designate and personalise details for the finished piece.Gülpen hopes to create three new Guinness Book of Records entries for himself and the buyer: the most expensive model, the most secure container and show case, and the most expensive Lamborghini logo.But he also wants it to stand as a salute to the 'legend of the automobile', he says. "The most expensive and precious model car in the world. It is to be an icon, expressing the fascinating historical development of the automotive industry and the appreciation of people for cars all over."This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Mansory is not known for producing anything close to being subtle. Its vehicle designs are typically way over-the-top affairs that lead to polarising opinions. That's what makes the Carbonado such a surprise.It's a Lamborghini Aventador that's been given a Mansory makeover... and it's rather well done. If you want to be outrageous, the Aventador is a great place to start, and adding carbon fibre by the truckload can push the outrageousness to another level without (really) screaming in peoples' faces.Sure, it's still brash. But it's the right kind of look for a vehicle as insane as the Aventador. The Carbonado boasts carbon fibre pretty much everywhere. It adds a new front lower fascia as well with an interesting daytime running light element in the intakes, which lends an almost naval-aviation vibe to the entire car.It's not just the body that's been given a reworking, however, as Mansory also applied its wrenches to the engine. The Aventador 6.5-litre V12 engine has been given a boost thanks to a pair of turbochargers, which increase the power to levels as insane as the appearance of the bodywork implies.The "standard" Aventador produces 515kW, while the Mansory Carbonado pumps out 933kW. That pushes this vehicle from 0-100km/h in an eye-popping 2.6 seconds. At the same time, the top speed has been raised to 378km/h. This actually might be a fighter jet wearing a Lamborghini suit. In fact, that's the look that Mansory is going for. The tuner even relocated the starting button from the centre stack to the roof to highlight the feeling.www.motorauthority.com 

The $750,000 luxury black matte Italian sports car has been a known pride and joy for the rapper for quite some time.

Lamborghini automobiles are not known for their subtlety. Everything about the Italian automaker's cars is bold, brash and in-your-face, from their sinister styling through their bright colours and loud exhausts. In that regard, the stretch Lamborghini Aventador limo proposed by UK luxury car hire company Cars For Stars fits right in. Not only does it boldly proclaim that you’re financially successful, it also kicks sand in the face of the Grey Poupon set, ensconced in their boring Rolls-Royce limousines. Cars For Stars hasn’t actually built the Lambo limo yet, and it’s actively seeking sponsorship for the project. In its own words, the car will transform the limo experience into “an explosion of luxury, style and glamour, making the Lamborghini Aventador limousine unlike any other existing limo concept.” Passengers will (theoretically) enjoy rich leather seating (embossed with the Cars For Stars logo), heated for winter comfort; rear plasma screen displays; surround sound audio with an iPod docking station and a champagne cooler to ensure that your blood alcohol level remains elevated from club to club. There’s no word on the car’s construction (since it really doesn’t exist yet), so we can’t tell you what materials are used in the body or chassis. We assume that the Aventador’s 507 kilowatts, 6.5-litre V-12 engine will be retained, but we’re not sure about the existing car’s all-wheel drive. If you’re interested in sponsoring the car’s construction, Cars For Stars is offering 12 months of free advertising, as well as finding a way to work your company’s name into the Lambo limo’s name. That may be a bit awkward, since we’re not sure that the “Plumtree’s Potted Meats Cars For Stars Lamborghini Aventador Limousine” rolls off the tongue with ease. We’d want to negotiate some free seat time as well if we were writing a check to build the car, since nothing will get your neighbour’s attention quite as much as rolling in a stretch Lambo limousine. www.motorauthority.com  

Supercars stretch alluringly alongside family sedans. Auto exotica co-exist with humble hatchbacks. A good motor show is like that. Having been privy to every exhibit on view at the Australian International Motor Show, Carsguide was struck afresh that AIMS serves two purposes. The first is to provide car porn, to enable you to stare wantonly without risking arrest or society's censure. The second reason -- and this, ultimately, is why car makers gather their wares in vast pavilions - is to show you the cars you're going to buy. Given this glaring polarity, there's no single list -- definitive, subjective or otherwise -- of the “best in show”. There must be two lists. This year's AIMS marks the world debut of a unique, purpose-built and probably priceless German supercar and a little French five-door that's one of the best things you can get under $20,000. Batman's very own Lamborghini V12 is just across the room from Ford's 1.0-litre mini-SUV. The world debut of a Lexus sports coupe is separated by one stand from a returning name in affordable fun, the Pulsar SSS. Take it all in. If you can't be there to see it in person, see our iPad app. If you are at Darling Harbour in Sydney over the next week, family in tow, Carsguide asks only that you remember the cars are not creches. Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster  Price: $600,000 (est) Engine: 6.2-litre V8, 420kW/650Nm Thirst: 13.3L/100km Ably supported by two other special-edition AMGs, this topless, lustrous two-seater was created especially for AIMS. As with the Jaffa C63 and SLS Coupe of 2010, it comes with unique paint itself worth $20,000. See it while you can. 'see more Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster images and video' Lexus LF-FC II  Price: concept Engine: petrol-electric hybrid Thirst: N/A A mid-size coupe that retains even half the styling cues of this best-in-show contender is what's needed to shed Lexus's worthy but unexciting image. The Lexus Future-Luxury Coupe II packs a hybrid drivetrain, good for more than 370kW combined that is put to the ground via all four wheels. 'see more Lexus LF-FC II images and video' Lamborghini Aventador   Price: $754,000 Engine: 6.5-litre V12, 515kW/690Nm Thirst: 17.2L/100km This very bull-mobile appeared as Bruce Wayne's daily driver in that ultimate comic character realisation, 'The Dark Knight Rises', fitting in seamlessly with the usual array of stylised fantasy devices. It's in an all-star cast with two special Gallardos - a 550-2 Tricolore and a 570-4 Spyder Performante. 'see more Lamborghini Aventador images and video' Jaguar F-Type  Price: $250,000 (est) Engine: includes supercharged V6 Thirst: N/A Nostalgia isn't what it used to be, a lesson brought home by Ian Callum's roadster. Sure, it's a spiritual descendant of the endlessly feted E-Type but, as the alphabetical designation conveys, it's moved on in the manner of all recent Jaguars. The F-Type reminds us that Indian ownership is the best thing ever to happen to this quintessentially British brand. 'see more Jaguar F-Type images and video' Range Rover Vogue   Price: about $200,000 Engine: 4.4-litre V8 turbo diesel Thirst: 8.7L/100km From Paris in autumn to Sydney in spring, the new Rangie makes its first appearance outside Europe. A stride forward in most respects but the newcomer's most significant advance could be in what it lacks over the previous model - some 400kg. The leaner, meaner but greener turbo diesel V8 is the variant on show, complete with power tailgate and sunroof. 'see more Range Rover Vogue images and video'