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Lamborghini to reveal Aventador SVJ with new Nurburgring lap record?

We'll soon be seeing the Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce J, and rumor has it that we'll be seeing a new production car lap record at the Nurburgring to go with it. Remember, last year the Huracan Performante lapped The Green Hell in 6:52.01, then in September the Porsche 911 GT2 RS bettered that with a time of 6:47.25. Lamborghini supposedly wants its record back, and has used the track-biased Aventador SV J to set a lap about two seconds quicker than the Porsche. Both vehicles take liberties with the phrase "production car." Porsche built just 1,000 of the 911 GT2 RS, and the Aventador SV J is expected to come in numbers well below that. The Italian carmaker only built 600 of the Aventador SV. The J, in a circular bit of word logic, stands for the Spanish word "Jota," and is how to pronounce the letter "J" in Spanish. Lamborghini has used the appellation three times before on extra-special special editions: a one-of-one Miura, on 30 Diablo SE30s, which were track versions of the 30th Anniversary Diablo SE, and a one-of-one Aventador. Odds are the newest Jota will maintain respect for such limited numbers. The Aventador SV J's been captured on all kinds of video running hard at the 'Ring. Last week, Instagram user 43lambo posted on the new lap record. When Autocar asked Lamborghini about it, the carmaker didn't respond to queries. In 2015, the 630-horsepower Aventador SV set a time 12.5 seconds behind the Porsche. The SV J should up the 6.5-liter's V12 output to between 780 and 800 horsepower, lose a substantial amount of weight, and benefit from a suite of serious aerodynamic aids like a larger front splitter, that sculptured rear wing, and a high-mounted dual-exhaust blown diffuser. A rumor from a few months ago said the SV J had already set a time of 6:54 while navigating traffic and a coned-off section of track. If that's true, it seems entirely within the realm of possibility that, without interruptions, the new V12 Lamborghini could establish a record. We should find out soon. Tangential rumors also say the Lamborghini Urus nailed a 7:47 lap at the 'Ring, which would make it the swiftest SUV around the 'track, eclipsing the 7:51.7 time set by the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. Related Video:

Drive like a prince: Join us for a walk through Monaco's car collection

Small, crowded, and a royal pain in the trunk lid to drive into during rush hour, Monaco sounds like an improbable location for a huge car museum. And yet, this tiny city-state has been closely linked to car culture for over a century. It hosts two major racing events every year, many of its residents would qualify for a frequent shopper card if Rolls-Royce issued one, and Prince Rainier III began assembling a collection of cars in the late 1950s. He opened his collection to the public in 1993 and the museum quickly turned into a popular tourist attraction. The collection continued to grow after his death in April 2005; it moved to a new facility located right on Hercules Port in July 2022. Monaco being Monaco, you'd expect to walk into a room full of the latest, shiniest, and most powerful supercars ever to shred a tire. That's not the case: while there is no shortage of high-horsepower machines, the first cars you see after paying ˆ10 (approximately $11) to get in are pre-war models. In that era, the template for the car as we know it in 2023 hadn't been created, so an eclectic assortment of expensive and dauntingly experimental machines roamed whatever roads were available to them. One is the Leyat Helica, which was built in France in 1921 with a 1.2-liter air-cooled flat-twin sourced from the world of aviation. Fittingly, the two-cylinder spun a massive, plane-like propeller. Government vehicles get a special spot in the museum. They range from a Cadillac Series 6700 with an amusing blend of period-correct French-market yellow headlights and massive fins to a 2011 Lexus LS 600h with a custom-made transparent roof panel that was built by Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet for Prince Albert II's wedding. Here's where it all gets a little weird: you've got a 1952 Austin FX3, a Ghia-bodied 1959 Fiat 500 Jolly, a 1960 BMW Isetta, and a 1971 Lotus Seven. That has to be someone's idea of a perfect four-car garage.  One of the most significant cars in the collection lurks in the far corner of the main hall, which is located a level below the entrance. At first glance, it's a kitted-out Renault 4CV with auxiliary lights, a racing number on the front end, and a period-correct registration number issued in the Bouches-du-Rhone department of France. It doesn't look all that different than the later, unmodified 4CV parked right next to it. Here's what's special about it: this is one of the small handful of Type 1063 models built by Renault for competition.

Time to catch up with Jay Leno's Garage, including his Lamborghini Espada restoration

If you're already jealous of the time, effort and money that Jay Leno can devote to his massive car collection, prepare to get a little greener with envy with this latest video from Jay Leno's Garage. Instead of the usual format of discussing a model for about ten minutes and then taking it out for a test drive, this week Leno gives viewers on a tour of over a dozen projects concurrently happening in his stable. The breadth of the vehicles shown and the things being done to them run the entire span of the automotive hobby. At the same time, Jay's shop is working on just a simple restoration of his 1969 Lamborghini Espada (pictured), and at the other side of the building, the team is rebuilding a wood-bodied 1914 Detroit Electric from scratch. He eventually plans to slot a more modern electric drivetrain into it. If bikes are more your interest, there's a freshly completed Brough Superior just waiting for a ride, and if American models are your thing, a Ford Bronco is getting a Coyote V8 installed into it. You have some very specific tastes if you can't watch this clip and start wishing at least one of these vehicles could be in your own garage. Other than the personal projects his mechanics are working on in the shop, Jay gets to have them all, plus plenty more.