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Lamborghini Aventador goes floral to match LeBron's new Nikes

If you're in Miami and want to rent some exotic wheels, the folks over at Lou La Vie can hook you up with a Ferrari, a Porsche or a Rolls-Royce, among the dozen exotics they have on offer. You might think that someone with as much cash and flash as LeBron James may not need their services - in fact he gave away the car he got when he was named MVP - but the Miami Heat power forward has turned to Lou La Vie for a special ride to match his shoes.
Crafted in partnership with Nike, Toys for Boys Miami and Rich B Caliente, this one-off Lamborghini Aventador Roadster is the recipient of a special floral print to match the pattern on the inside of the new LeBron 11 kicks. The car was unveiled last night at a private event in Miami (which you can see in the minute-long video below) where the shoes were launched for the first time. Lets just hope that, after lacing up his new kicks, LeBron doesn't try to jump this Lambo at speed like Kobe (sorta) did with that Aston Martin.

Lambo Urus to stay true to concept, but almost didn't happen

Lamborghini has been making noise about adding a third model line for years, and it's finally going to happen now that the Urus concept has been approved for production. It'll likely be a while yet before all the details are sorted out and revealed to the public, but while visiting the factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Autoblog was able to glean some intriguing details about the Italian automaker's forthcoming crossover and its path it is taking from concept to production. "It's good to have heritage, but the LM002 is not the reference or the blueprint." - Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann We first saw the Urus concept back in 2012, and Lamborghini has been lobbying its parent company Volkswagen ever since for the go-ahead to put it into production. Now three years later, it finally has the green light. A company representative told Autoblog the production version looks "very" close to the concept. (No ground-up redesign here, then, like sister-brand Bentley did with its inaugural crossover project.) Speaking with a small group of journalists in Sant'Agata, the company's chief executive Stephan Winkelmann confirmed that "the SUV could be the [company's] first car with a turbo, and it could be the first car with a plug-in, if we have the opportunity to have more than one engine." The Urus (or however it's ultimately labeled for production) will also be decidedly geared towards on-road performance – unlike the Rambo Lambo on display in the museum next door. "It's good to have heritage," said Winkelmann, "but the LM002 is not the reference or the blueprint" for the new model. As to the question of why it has taken three years to get approval, and why it will take another three to put it into production, Winkelmann was frank: "Basically if you look at our numbers, we are a company which is growing at a fast pace, but we are very small," said the affable executive. "We had to find a way to almost double our efforts, because it's not the exchange of a model line, with the Gallardo and Huracan, it's adding a model line. And not out of 20 to come to 21 models, but from two to three is a major effort, and you have to have a rock-solid business case." "Putting 500 more people inside a company which is now at 1,200, you can imagine what it means. Doubling almost the size of the area here where we are sitting today. Investing hundreds and hundreds of millions.

Watch this 1,000-mile Lamborghini Espada road trip

The Lamborghini Espada was four-passenger GT built by the Italian automaker from 1968-1978. While some may consider its appearance ungainly, a 60-degree, 4.0-liter V12 fed by Weber carburetors generated 350 horsepower, enough to give the 3,600-pound two-door spirited performance when compared to its peers. Making the driving experience even more engaging was its standard rear-wheel drive, a slick five-speed manual gearbox and a lack of power steering (the automaker offered an automatic and power steering on later models).
Whether or not you are a fan of this unique four-seater or its era, this Evo magazine video of editor Harry Metcalfe touring France as he makes his way along the epic Route Napoléon (today, part of a 200-mile section of Route Nationale 85) is worthy of its 19-minute run time - if not for just the sound of the wailing twelve-cylinder engine.
The mountain portions are simply spectacular, and Metcalfe does his usual excellent job narrating as he joyfully coaxes the GT's narrow tires (205/70-15) around each corner, calling the Lamborghini a "four-wheel drift machine," but actually preferring its high-speed capabilities. We particularly enjoyed his fuel stop, explaining the odd top-off procedure, as well as his early morning pre-flight when he realized that the Lamborghini had been running on only 11 cylinders during the previous day's segment. Watch the joy in the journey below.