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Lamborghini Urraco ownership is traumatic but awesome

Gene Ondrusek and his 1975 Lamborghini Urraco have a relationship forged in heartache. He bought the car on a whim in 1987 and had barely driven it when the timing belt snapped thanks to a bad previous engine rebuild. With the interior already a wreck, Ondrusek set off on a restoration that would take years to get the Lamborghini back together.
All of that time arm-deep in the car's mechanicals has turned Ondrusek into a pretty persnickety owner. Passengers have to remove their shoes before getting in, and he has a mat to protect the carpet on the driver's side. However, despite his fastidious temperament, this Urraco isn't a garage queen and gets driven often.
Ondrusek doesn't exactly make the Urraco sound like an unmitigated joy behind the wheel, either. The seating position forces the driver to sit at an angle, and with no power brakes or power steering, the wedge-shaped coupe is not exactly easy to handle at low speeds. Still, all that time fixing the car has clearly created a strong bond behind man and machine, and we think the wedgy, underappreciated mid-Seventies Marcello Gandini design has held up well. Get a feel for both the car and the owner's connection by watching this latest video from Petrolicious.

11 exotic cars seized by Indian authorities for tax evasion

On Sunday, road transport officials in India intercepted a convoy of 15 supercars out for a drive in Hyderabad. By the time the traffic stop had ended, 11 of the luxury and sports cars had been seized. Cars involved included those made by Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Maserati. According to The Times of India, the 11 confiscated vehicles were impounded on charges of tax evasion. In India, the so-called "life tax" applies to all motor vehicles, but each state levies their own rates. In Telangana state, where the 6.8 million-large city of Hyderabad is located, taxes are more expensive than other states. The seized cars – estimated by The Times to be worth between $500,000 and $1.3 million a piece – were registered in states where the life tax rates are cheaper, the article reports, while authorities say that the cars had been operating on Hyderabad's roads. Authorities had been following the cars on CCTV for six months prior to Sunday's traffic stop. In addition to the tax issues, some of the cars had outstanding traffic violations as well. "They have been living and playing in Hyderabad. We have enough evidence for it," said Papa Rao, the enforcement team leader who led the seizure. Rao had another message for those who might be bankrolling the drivers. "We are also requesting the parents of the youngsters to ensure that these youngsters do not speed." According to the news outlet, the drivers were between 25 and 35 years old. In recent years, there's been talk in India of creating a single, country-wide road tax. While the move will help reduce confusion for car buyers, one of the goals is also to close the loophole of paying taxes in states with lower rates. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2022 Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 revealed

Get a load of these crazy European Nimrods

I've been attending the Geneva Motor Show for the better part of a decade, and it's become my favorite stop on the entire show circuit, in large part because of all the exotic automakers, coachbuilders and green startups. I also love the Palexpo's consistently mind-bending displays of tuners, who typically work exclusively on six-figure automobiles. Some offer subtle improvements and personalization programs, but most seem hellbent on being more outlandish and bizarre than the next, a room full of millionaire class clowns. More often than not, I spy something and think to myself "What kind of Nimrod would do that to a perfectly good ____ ?" This year, that rhetorical question is in fact a self-answering one.
The jokes, they write themselves.
But seriously, if you're wondering who would take a perfectly lovely Ferrari 458 Italia or a Lamborghini Aventador and affix a wild body kit of dubious aerodynamic and aesthetic merit at great extra cost (both to the car's MSRP and to its assuredly grenaded resale value), the answer could very well be Nimrod Elite Tuning, a newer high-end restyling house out of Slovakia. That last locational tidbit might also explain the company's unusual name, which is likely a nod to a mighty Biblical hunter (descendant of Ham and a king of Shinar, Nimrod is mentioned in Genesis and Chronicles) and not meant to be taken as a synonym for "idiot" or "moron."