2015 Lamborghini Huracan on 2040-cars

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BMW Z8, Lambo LM002 sell for $192,500 apiece in Detroit [w/poll]

Think a car are a bad investment? That all depends on what kind of car you're talking about. Because while most cars depreciate in value as soon as you drive them off the lot, others can do even better than hold their value. The cars that appreciate tend to be pretty high-end exotics, but they don't have to be multi-million-dollar classics to command a premium at auction. Just look at the results from RM Sotheby's Motor City sale in Detroit this past weekend. The auction house moved a solid $7.4 million worth of metal, which is pretty impressive when you consider that – unlike events at Lake Como or Pebble Beach – not one of the lots dipped into seven figures. 1930s-era American classics performed the strongest, with Duesenbergs, Packards, Auburns and the like all fetching hundreds of thousands. But what intrigued us most were the European exotics that rounded the top ten results. Amidst the Depression-era American steel were a BMW Z8 from 2001 and a 1988 Lamborghini LM002, each of which sold for an equal $192,500. Hardly the highest figures paid for European exotics this year, but considering how much they were worth just a few years ago, they've proven solid investments. BMW only made 5,703 examples of the Henrik Fisker-designed retro Z8, of which only 2,543 were brought to the United States, where they originally sold for $128,000. The most anyone had ever paid for one at auction, according to Sports Car Market, was $184,082, just this past March at Silverstone. That makes the price achieved this weekend a new record for one of the slinkiest vehicles the Bavarian automaker has ever made, representing an impressive 50-percent increase in value over the course of fourteen years. This particular example – chassis WBAEJ13481AH60437 for those keeping track – is decked out in silver over black, with less than 15,500 miles on the odometer. This Rambo Lambo was produced early in the 301-unit production run, with the sought-after carbureted engine and 32,000 miles on the clock. It didn't set any records at the same price, other examples of the LM002 having traded over the past few years for over $200k. But considering that Sant'Agata originally charged around $120-130k for the SUV when it was new, its selling price still represents about 50-percent appreciation (leaving inflation aside).

Lamborghini confirms Le Mans Daytona hybrid entry for 2024

Last August, Racer magazine reported that Lamborghini had green-lit a project to put a car in global endurance racing's Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh) class, but wasn't ready to announce it yet. The brand's head of motorsport for the U.S. said at the time that work on a factory endurance program was "90 percent of the way there." Now, the last 10 percent has been completed, and the Sant' Agata Bolognese carmaker announced its LMDh car will start racing in 2024. The class, developed by the U.S. IMSA organization in collaboration with France's ACO, begins competing next year. Here's the refresher on the top to endurance racing categories, LMDh and Le Mans Hypercar (LMH), both of which are allowed to run in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. LMDh cars use a spec chassis provided by one of four suppliers, Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic or Oreca. LMDh teams can use any engine and electronics they want, but they will all fit a spec hybrid unit supplied by Bosch, a spec lithium-ion battery from Williams Engineering, and a spec gearbox from Xtrac. Max horsepower is limited to about 680. VW sister brand Porsche opted for a Multimatic chassis powered by a turbocharged V8. Sportscar365 believes Lamborghini will buy a Ligier chassis. Since the R8 and its V10 are headed for the dustbin, Lamborghini could use a V8 as well. Every team creates its own bodywork, the limit being a 4:1 ratio of drag to downforce and a single aero package for the year to keep costs down. As the teaser shows, Lamborghinis on the track will be known by their Y-shaped DRL signatures, too.  Audi had been planning an LMDh entry, but dropped out when it confirmed its eventual entry into Formula 1. So for the moment, Lamborghini will join other LMDh manufacturers Acura, Alpine — which will switch from its current LMH car to LMDh in 2024, BMW, Cadillac, and Porsche. That latter brand is also going into F1, but hasn't axed any other programs. The LMH class is based on roadgoing hypercars, a manufacturer required to sell 20 of the retail hypercars over a two-year period to qualify. Although output's capped to around 680 hp as with LMDh, manufacturers can develop their own engines, gearboxes and hybrid systems. Discrete bodywork is allowed, held to the same drag-to-downforce ratio limit. The current LMH entries are Alpine, our own Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, and Toyota.

Lamborghini yacht by Tecnomar is 4,000-hp tribute to the Lambo Sian FKP 37

Lamborghini is no stranger to the boating industry, it developed a pair of marine engines in the 1980s, but it has never made its own boat. It took a step toward the world of yachts when it teamed with Italian firm Tecnomar to design a high-performance vessel inspired by the limited-edition Sian FKP 37 introduced in 2019. It's quick, rare, and head-turning, and it was deemed worth of wearing the company's Raging Bull emblem on its bow. Tecnomar (a boatmaker owned by The Italian Sea Group) worked directly with Lamborghini's Centro Stile to inject some of the design DNA that characterizes Sant'Agata's supercars into a yacht. The end result stands out with a strikingly rakish silhouette, Y-shaped LED lights on the front part of the hull, and hexagonal glass on both sides. They draw a visual link between the yacht and Marcello Gandini-designed cars such as the Miura and the Countach. Settling into the captain's chair feels a lot like slipping behind the wheel of a modern-day Lamborghini, except you're sitting taller, you're floating on water, and there's a lot more space around you. In lieu of an old-fashioned wooden helm, Tecnomar installed a three-spoke steering wheel that looks a lot like the unit Lamborghini currently puts in its cars. It even has a 12-o'clock mark, which seems more than a little superfluous when you're motorboating. Digital gauges display vital information about the boat and its surroundings, including navigation data, and the throttle levers are reminiscent of the drive mode selectors found on the center console of the Urus.     Buttons lifted straight out of the Lamborghini parts bin are used to start the engines -- and, yes, that's plural. While the Sian is the company's first production-bound hybrid model, there is nothing electrified about its water-going sibling. Power comes from a pair of V12 engines built by MAN and each rated at 2,000 horsepower. Performance specifications haven't been released yet, but it sounds like the yacht needs a 4,000-horse punch because it's 63 feet long and it weighs about 53,000 pounds. It's relatively light all things considered thanks in part to the use of carbon fiber in its construction, and it falls in the ultra-lightweight boat category. Tecnomar expects to deliver the first boats in early 2021. It capped production at 63 units globally, and it priced each one at $3 million before options are factored in.