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Exposed carbon fiber 2017 Lamborghini Centenario Roadster up for sale

Carbon fiber is used in just about every supercar on the market today, but it remains a special sight to see a vehicle built entirely out of the strong-but-light weave. Lamborghini has been practicing this art form for years, and one of the best examples is this 2017 Lamborghini Centenario Roadster with a glossy exposed carbon fiber finish. Just a few years after it was released, it is now posted for sale in Toronto. Via DuPont Registry, Lamborghini of Uptown Toronto and Grand Touring Automobiles are offering an extremely rare opportunity to buy a Centenario. The Centenario, as the name suggests, was created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of founder Ferruccio Lamborghini's birth. Only 40 examples were created, and those were split into 20 coupes and 20 roadsters.  From afar, this Centenario appears black or gray, but up close, the artistry comes into focus. The body panels are carbon fiber. The engine cover is carbon fiber. The wheels are carbon fiber. The monocoque, splitter, air vents, scoops, wing, bumpers, and the diffuser are all carbon fiber. On the exterior, the only things not formed from carbon fiber are the lights, the tires, and the badges.  Contrasting with the exterior, the inside of the bull gets a pop of color. It's built with a Nero Ade and Rosso Alala color scheme, which is further complemented by more carbon fiber accents and real metal bits. In today's world of forced induction, the Centenario is made more unique and rare by its naturally aspirated V12 engine. Lamborghini claims the supercar makes 759 horsepower, enough to be the company's most powerful car ever when released. It weighs just 3,351 pounds and can sprint from 0-62 mph in 2.8 seconds. Helping control that power, the limited-edition model is also equipped with all-wheel drive and rear-wheel steering.  Since the car's delivery to Canada in 2017, it has been driven only 369 miles. It's listed for $3.7 million, plus taxes. The initial price was just under $2 million by today's conversion rates. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lamborghini's path to the future is paved with forged composites

As far back as 1983, Lamborghini has been researching carbon fiber for automotive use. The automaker felt confident enough in its ability to work with the high-tech material in 1985 that a team led by Maurizio Reggiani, now the Lamborghini Board Member in charge of Research and Development, crafted a revolutionary Countach with a chassis made almost entirely of hand-laid carbon fiber. The result was spectacular in that the car's chassis weighed about half of its all-metal counterpart. It turned out that first foray into carbon fiber was just as spectacular when it was finally tested for crashworthiness, but in a completely different way. Catastrophic would be an appropriate word, according to Paolo Feraboli, who now leads Lambo's brand-new Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory in Seattle, Washington. Proving how far Lamborghini has come since that ill-fated carbon-fiber Countach Evoluzione, Feraboli told us during the ACSL's grand opening that today's Aventador, which boasts a high-tech carbon chassis, aced its very first crash test in 2009. Chalk that success up to high-tech computer modeling and the practical application of lessons learned over several decades of trial and error. The dull red monocoque of that crashed Aventador now hangs on the wall at the ACSL like a functional piece of art, a reminder of Lamborghini's cutting-edge milestones of the past. Lamborghini's future will be hewn from what the company calls forged composites. First seen on the stunning Sesto Elemento Concept from the 2010 Paris Motor Show, the patented carbon-forging process forgoes hand-laid sheets, injected resins, and high-heat autoclaves. Instead, wads of randomly oriented carbon fibers that sort of resemble the kind of dough you'd use to make pasta undergo a three-minute press inside a mold. The resulting parts are just as strong as other carbon-fiber bits, but can be mass-produced at a fraction of the cost. While it's true that cost is often a secondary consideration for high-end supercars, it's still relevant. By reducing the cost and increasing the scale of composite pieces, Lamborghini can then afford to spend more money on other parts of the car. It's not just body panels and chassis components that Lamborghini thinks it can build using forged composite technology. The Sesto Elemento featured forged-composite suspension control arms that haven't yet made it into production, but probably will soon.

Lamborghini gets barbecued at St. Louis gas station

Life is good when you're behind the wheel of a bright blue Lamborghini Huracan. Or at least it is up until the moment a forgetful minivan driver drives off with the fuel filler nozzle still attached. The result, at a gas station in St. Louis, was a spray of fuel, spilled directly onto the Lamborghini's engine bay, which instantly ignited and turned the supercar into a fireball. As reported by the Riverfront Times, the blue Huracan was actually one of two Lamborghinis, the other being an orange Gallardo, that had stopped to refuel. This video shows the exact moment when the minivan driver pulls away and the fuel hose separates from the pump. Careful if you're watching this at work, or have kiddies present, because some of the language is, well, also incendiary. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Then again, if you're in the middle of seeing gallons of fuel being sprayed directly onto a supercar's hot-running V10 engine, we doubt you'd wax poetic about the experience. And due credit to the Riverfront Times for its headline proclaiming "Incredible Dumbass Turns Lamborghini into Fireball at St. Louis Gas Station." It might not earn a Pulitzer, but kudos for nailing the story in one line, folks. Apparently and, somewhat amazingly, no one was reported hurt in the ensuing fire. The Lamborghini is definitely a total writeoff, but amazingly, the accompanying red Performante was just covered in ash. And according to this same Facebook post, the minivan driver was quickly found and admitted to being the culprit. Update: A previous version of this post incorrectly identified the blue Lamborghini Huracan as a Gallardo. The text has been corrected. Additional photos and video have also been embedded. Related Video: Weird Car News Lamborghini Minivan/Van supercar wreck gallardo