Lamborghini News

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

Grand Theft Auto truly was the first blockbuster game of the modern gaming era. GTA III, launched to almost universal acclaim in 2001 on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox reinvented how we play games and reset our thinking about what we might find in games.There had been big world games before GTA - and plenty since - but none had been so well-executed or offered the variety DMA (now Rockstar North) and its hugely talented team could cram into a disc.GTA sets itself apart from the rest of the herd by being a fantastic piece of storytelling before anything else. Many games that want to be anything like GTA forget that the story can't just be a series of set pieces with the story shoe-horned in around them. Their disregard for story is reflected in the lacklustre voice-acting and direction.GTA games are always funny and always well-acted and written. The story holds you, rather than being an inconvenience.Grand Theft Auto V yet again challenges the status quo. Its world is truly massive, surely the biggest of any game, but with a rich environment full of people and buildings and cars. You could conceivably fill weeks roaming around and finding plenty of little things to do without ever touching the main game.The main game is as controversial as ever. Australia's newly-minted R rating was almost made for games from the Rockstar stable. The team has never been far from controversy and has often pointed to Australian censors' inability to understand the genre.The fictional city of Los Santos joins Vice City and Liberty City as a fully-formed urban environment, completely devoid of any sense of morality.You can cheerfully mow down pedestrians with your car or motorbike, randomly assault passers-by and, as part of the story, rob jewellery shops, slaughter rival gangs and spend a lot of time up to absolutely no good at all.The game itself is much the same as before, but with a refined set of gameplay mechanics. Its slick execution is the result of a rumoured budget of $245 million and five year development. The wealth of experience that came from working on GTA IV with both the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles means that Rockstar has pushed them to their limits in their twilight years.The cars are, as ever, a wonderful mixture of real cars but with fake names and just enough tweaking to keep the lawyers away. Each of them has their own very distinct handling model, from floaty, long-travel suspension on the Range Rover Sport-like Gallivanter Baller through to the flat-everywhere Voltic by Coil, a rip-off of the Tesla Roadster.From Trevor's falling-apart redneck truck, through to Gallardo and R8-esque machines you can steal from the street, there's sixty years of carefully filtered automotive history lying around Los Santos' many streets.Go to the airport and you can drive a tug or fly a plane. You can jump in the water and hijack an array of boats, grab your scuba gear and go diving or, if you're feeling green (or short of time) catch the tram or train around.In and out of game missions, you can race through the streets of the city, from densely packed narrow streets through to the mobile-home populated, wide open desert of Sandy Shores. Street furniture, such as lights and park benches will either fall over when you hit them or, if they're a little more stout, stop you in your tracks.The variety of experience is worth the purchase, let alone the fun of playing the missions. That variety is further enhanced with a 16-player online mode where you can co-operatively rob a bank or race through the streets.The three main characters in the single-player mode - Franklin, Michael and Trevor - are hardened criminals in their own right. Each has a rich back story and an even richer line in dark humour. Trevor is particularly amusing as he is rolled-gold nuts and gets all the best lines.The three characters are deeply flawed and have poor impluse control - Michael catches his wife en flagrante with the tennis coach, so pulls down what he thinks is the man's house. It turns out to be owned by a gangster who then appears at Michael's house with a baseball bat and a demand for $2.5 million to fix the house.These character flaws are integral to the story and allow for spectacular missions. The ever-present police add to the challenge as they're far more persistent in this iteration - and less stupid.GTA V is a stunning achievement because it does everything so well. It is absolutely not a game for children - the bare breasts in the strip clubs and the already-infamous torture scene see to that (not to mention the extremely colourful language, horrific storylines and unrelenting violence).For car lovers it's a game of Eye Spy as you try to match the various in-game cars with their real world counterparts and gravitate to the one closest to your own tastes. The game is a hilarious free-for-all with a dark sense of humour and sense of the ridiculous. It engages the brain not just for problem-solving but with its epic, blockbuster feel.Hollywood should rightly be terrified of the increasing revenues of video games, because games like GTA V show how much better than a movie a video game can be. 

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 body will be pulled much tighter around a new V10 engine with more power and torque, while the cabin will get a much-needed update and the latest technology from Audi - which owns the Italian brand. We expect to see the real Cabrera previewed at the Geneva motor show early next year.

Polish company Manufacture RETRO might have the answer for your Lamborghini lust in their Unique Racing Desks collection. Yes, that's a bright orange, Lamborghini Murcielago desk you see--and while it won't handle quite as well as the real thing, nor make your computer any faster, it'll do a pretty good job of brightening up your office with its vivid orange hue. It isn't the first time we've seen car-themed furniture, but it's one of the more affordable options. Some people will spend $240,000 on a beautifully-engineered but ultimately static Bugatti desk, or $25,000 on an office chair made from a Ferrari seat. But to the casual observer, they do just look like a fancy metal desk and nicely-trimmed office chair. No risk of this with the Lamborghini desk, which is as in-your-face as the real thing. The best part is the price. Its US$7,800 tag is expensive for a piece of office equipment, admittedly, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than the aforementioned exotic furniture. And in the grander scheme of unrealistic purchases, it's much cheaper buying an actual Murcielago and a Lamborghini desk than it is a Bugatti Veyron and a Bugatti desk. In fact, who needs the real Lamborghini? Hook up your games console and a TV to the desk and pretend you're driving the real thing. Though we will warn you: Owning a Lamborghini desk and not having the car to go with it is just as bad as those people you see dressed head-to-toe in Ferrari gear stepping out of their Corolla... www.motorauthority.com  

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 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.www.motorauthority.com 

It was only a few months ago that Lamborghini founded its Squadra Corse department to handle its motorsport activities, including its one-make series, the Blancpain Super Trofeo. The Super Trofeo race series spawned its own special-edition racing Gallardo, and now the Squadra Corse department has given us another. Also based on the Gallardo Super Trofeo, the Gallardo LP 570-4 Squadra Corse is a road-going car that leverages technology and weight savings from race car, including extensive use of aluminium and carbon fibre, high-downforce aerodynamics, and quick-release engine cover. The engine is the same V10 used in the race car, accelerating the car to 100 km/h in just 3.4 seconds and to 200 mph in 10.4 seconds. Top speed is 320 km/h. The quick acceleration isn't just about power, however, as Lamborghini has managed to cut the Squadra Corse's weight by about 70 kg compared to the Gallardo LP 560-4. Like the Super Trofeo race cars, the LP 570-4 Squadra Corse is all-wheel drive, and comes standard with the robotised e-gear six-speed transmission operated by steering wheel paddles. The design of the car is intended to highlight the brand's Italian roots, with a decal strip along the flank of each car in the colours of the Italian flag: green, white, and red. Available exterior colours are yellow, white, grey, and red, with a matte black rear wing and high-gloss treatments for the hood, intakes, wheels, and rear diffuser. Inside each Squadra Corse is a minimalist interior finished principally in carbon fibre and Alcantara. The Gallardo LP 570-4 Squadra Corse will make its world debut at the Frankfurt motor show this September and is expected to be the last Gallardo variant before the car's successor arrives.  

If Australia lost its car manufacturing industry, design would be able to step in, says the head of the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce. Speaking at last night’s announcement of the organisation’s annual design awards, VACC executive director David Purchase said the future was bright for automotive design in Australia.“The Awards are VACC’s attempt to generally focus on automotive design as a high value-add that could fill the void if, heaven forbid, we lose automotive manufacturing in this country,” Purchase said.“Recent announcements by Ford and Holden make this potentially a little more likely, than we would like to think. Faced with this prospect, the relevant Governments must work with all stakeholders and do everything they can, financially, morally and every other thing, to ensure we have a world class automotive design capability in this country.  We are good at design and you should do what you are good at,” he said.Event organiser Murray Collins said this year’s entries – which were judged by design heads from the three Australian manufacturers: Holden, Ford and Toyota -- were of a very high standard. “This year’s designs are excellent and the event was a great success,” Collins said.The awards include two secondary students earning an opportunity to have work experience at the Ford Design Centre and all shortlisted secondary students being invited to a master class at both Monash and RMIT. In addition, one tertiary student has won an overseas scholarship. The entries will be displayed in Federation Square, for public viewing, until June 28. FINAL RESULTSSecondary Model Winner: Hamzah Brown – Trinity College, Kew“The detailing was impressive, there was a good understanding of 3D form, good visualisation and a high degree of modern technology.”Tertiary Model Winner: Anthony Farnell – Monash“Anthony’s model was very professional, well-conceived, with excellent execution and incredible attention to detail.”Secondary Design Winner: Todd Linnett – Mildura Senior College“The complete visual package, highly resolved, well-conceived and comprehensive, high quality”Tertiary Design Winner: Daniel DeBono – RMIT“Great attention to surface quality, well-conceived, a super concept and thoughtful future needs of transportation.”Secondary Essay: Eddie Gaudernack – Simonds Catholic CollegeTertiary Essay: Daniel Debono – RMITAOF/VACC Scholarship: Kouhei Kawakami – MonashFord Work Experience winners:1. Hamzah Brown – Trinity College, Kew2. Aman Bhatti – Lavalla Catholic College