2012 Lamborghini Aventador Awd on 2040-cars

Auto blog

1963 Lamborghini 350 GTV still looks fresh on Pebble's Concept Lawn

We already brought you a gallery of Lamborghini's latest rockstar, the Veneno, from it's vaunted spot on the lawns of The Quail here in Monterey. Apparently the Italian brand didn't want the Pebble Beach crowds to feel left out, so it brought the supercar along to the Concept Lawn here as well. Not to miss out on the classics action Lamborghini has matched the Veneno with the car that started everything for the company: the original 1963 350 GTV prototype.
With 50 years separating the Veneno from the debut of the hip 350 GTV at the Turin Motor Show, Lamborghini cheekily mentions that it has stuffed "100 years of innovation in half the time." We'll leave the judgments of historical significance in the capable hands of the Pebble judges, but will agree that the original Lamborghini still looks amazingly hot, decades after its reveal. Apparently the classic 350 GTV doesn't travel a whole lot either, so we're happy to have a chance to lay eyes on it here.

Lamborghini Aventador SVJ First Drive Review | Worth its weight in carbon fiber

Relentless. If we were to define Lamborghini in 2018, this is the word we'd choose. Led by the indefatigable head of research and development, Maurizio Reggiani, the engineering team at Sant'Agata Bolognese are constantly iterating current models — futzing, enhancing, testing. Give them a problem and they'll hammer away at it. The Aventador has been one of those problems. The V12 flagship was released in 2011 and shone far more for its sharp-edged Lambo-tastic design than its sharp handling. If we were looking for a word to describe that first iteration, we'd say ... wanting. Which brings us to the Autodromo do Estoril in Portugal on a sunny day in September. We're here to drive the new Aventador SVJ, first shown this year at Pebble Beach. It is the fourth major non-roadster model, following the SV and the S. Lamborghini promises that the SVJ is the ultimate Aventador. The fixed Aventador. Or mostly, says Reggiani. "I'm not that arrogant to say that everything is perfect. There's always something that could be better." He shrugs, then smiles. "But our goal is to synchronize all the improvements and create something unique, something special." The SVJ's naturally breathing V12 makes 759 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque. Top speed is 217 mph, and 62 mph arrives in 2.8 seconds. The price, without taxes or extra bits of carbon fiber or seats in novel shades of purple, starts at $517,770. Reggiani and friends have come to the conclusion that the obvious formula of shedding weight while adding power can only take you so far. (That's what they did with the SV and it's only middling.) Hence the SVJ gets every new trick that the company has engineered as of late, including aero vectoring, rear-wheel-steer and all-wheel-drive. And it's already netted results. The SVJ snatched the production-car 'Ring record from the Porsche 911 GT2 RS with a time of 6:44.97. The track surface at Estoril was resurfaced only weeks ago, and oils from the asphalt are weeping out onto the surface. This has caused great consternation among the Lamborghini camp, as grip is closer to driving on glass than nice stubbly tarmac. On my first set of laps, a pro driver suggests that I leave the car in sport mode, which sends more power to the rear wheels. "Easier to turn in," he suggests, as the front wheels are having trouble gaining traction on the slick surface.

Lamborghini Miura from 'The Italian Job' is for sale

Just one month ago we posted on "The Ultimate Lamborghini Miura" going up for sale, a 1968 Miura that had been turned into a built-to-race Miura Jota. This one might be even better, and it is certainly more famous: the 1968 Miura P400 from the opening scene of the movie The Italian Job. Two Miuras were used in that opening scene and some aren't sure that this is one of the actual movie cars, but most sleuths believe it is – and the story of its history since filming is so wild, it could have come from the movie. Iain Tyrell, the owner of Cheshire Classic Cars in England, said he received a tip last Christmas that the Miura was in Paris. The coupe's owner led him to a secret, underground parking garage and gave him three hours to verify that it was indeed from The Italian Job, a challenging task since no one knew what happened to the car since Paramount Pictures returned it to Lamborghini at the end of filming in 1968. It seems that Lamborghini sold the Arancia-colored coupe to an Italian dealer, and it had four owners up to 2005 when Norbetto Ferretti bought it. Ferretti is not only one of the founders of the Ferretti shipbuilding group, he is the son of the dealer who bought the Miura from Paramount after the movie - and neither Ferretti nor any of the car's previous owners realized it. Octane magazine ran a 15-page feature in its March issue with all the forensic details matching this car to the movie car, however, even the magazine says it can't be sure. A different classic car broker recently put it up for sale, but that broker still doesn't believe it's the movie car. Top Gear called the film car "the coolest car in the world" in 2004, and if it is the real deal it's said to be worth more than one million pounds, or $1.5M US. Tyrell and his partner Keith Ashworth have listed the car for sale, the price "POA," which means "price on application" in UK-speak. In layman's terms that means, "Bring money." In the video below you can see the star of the show in the movie's opening scene. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.