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Lamborghini caps 2020 production at 8,000 to preserve cachet, resale values

Lamborghini chairman and CEO Stefano Domenicali told Car Advice that the Sant'Agata Bolognese automaker will cap production at 8,000 cars in 2020. Even though the cap doesn't take effect for a year, it has caught us by surprise — we didn't realize just how well Lamborghini is doing. In 2010, Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide, while its rival in Modena sold 6,461 units. Last year, Lamborghini broke all of its records on the way to a 51 percent sales increase and 5,750 cars delivered. The cap maintains two post-sale hallmarks required to fuel Lamborghini's new-car sales: exclusivity and resale values. Ferrari has led the way with public declarations of voluntary caps to maintain brand cachet, and Lamborghini's happy to shadow that leader. Domenicali, an ex-Ferrari man, didn't miss an opportunity to put the running bull's nose ahead of the prancing horse's in his comments, though. He told the Australian publication, "I can also say that for us, Ferrari has always been a reference ... as well as others in the super sports car segment, but we have already achieved higher residual values for our cars, especially with some of our older models." The boss marked out half the 2020 allotment for the Urus, two-thirds of the remainder for the Huracan, and the rest for the Aventador. We expect any 2020 cap to apply only to 2020, though. If Lamborghini can hustle a 40 percent increase in deliveries this year — 2,300 more units, and that's not outside the realm of possibility since this is the first full year of Urus sales — then in 2019 the carmaker will exceed the 2020 cap by 50 units. In such case, shrinking supply next year would help sustain the lather of acolytes, as well as copy another page from Ferrari's handbook. In 2013, then-Ferrari CEO Luca Montezemolo held production to under 7,000 units, after building 7,318 cars in 2012. In 2014, then-Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne said he'd stick to the "willful and intended" 7,000-unit cap. But when Ferrari announces its 2018 results soon, we expect uncapped shipments to exceed 9,000 units. Other upward pressures on Lamborghini's sales would be the success of the Huracan GT3 EVO, which won the GTD class in the weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona, a year after the Huracan GT3 won in 2018. Lamborghini Squadra Corse has built more than 200 customer racers, and no one would rule out a few more orders phoned in on Monday.

Atelier Jalaper's new watch made from Lamborghini Miura bulkhead

Last August, French watchmaker Atelier Jalaper announced itself with an automatic timepiece whose dial was cut from the hood of an Aston Martin DB5. The next collection is ready, this one with an Italian flavor. After another lengthy search, the company located a burned-out Lamborghini Miura P400S in Avignon, France. We're told a section of the aluminum bulkhead between the engine and the trunk escaped the fire, and with this, Atelier Jalaper created the AJ-P400. Instead of the Miyota automatic movement used in the DB5's AJ-001 and AJ-002 watches, the AJ-P400 is based around a Sellita SW200-1 manual caliber. Anyone without a watch winder will need to restore the power reserve after about 45 hours. The oval-shaped 39.5-millimeter satin-finished steel case shows off the first Miura connection: An oval outer bezel surrounding a circular dial, recalling the oval "eyelash" treatment around the Miura headlights. The chapter ring around the bezel comes in four colorways close to original Miura hues of Azzuro Cielo (blue), Verde Miura (green), Arancio Miura (orange) and Nero Cangiante (black). The Miura wreck provides the aluminum dial, its face textured and anodized matte black. The lengthy hash marks and somewhat crowded numbers are inspired by the Miura's speedometer. At bottom, instead of a Lamborghini logo and unit indicator, the watch shows the power reserve meter. And the band makes a callback to Miura seats. Last year's Aston Martin watch was produced in a run of 1,200, costing from ˆ800 ($852 U.S.) to ˆ1,150 ($1,225 U.S.). The Miura timepiece will be more rare and more dear, coming in a run of 400 examples, each costing $2,000. Orders are open now, the first samples to be delivered in July. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

The Lamborghini Huracan Performante Spyder is a roofless mouthful of awesome

We were not expecting the Lamborghini Huracan Performante Spyder to be much different than its fixed-roof counterpart, and as the camouflage comes off this theory looks to be vindicated. That's good news all around, except for perhaps your hairdo. As a quick refresher, we saw much more covered-up spy shots a while back. It revealed that the Performante coupe's transparent engine cover would be replaced by an opaque one and a cowl to hide the roof when it's down. That's borne out here, and since the top's down in these new photos, you get a great look at the clean lines of the cowl. Like the coupe, it'll pack a 630 horsepower V10 and Lamborghini's incredible Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva system. That's Lambo-speak for active aero, and it's what let the coupe lap the 'Ring in under 7 minutes. The Spyder should be packing that system too, although it's likely to be heavier and slightly less slippery than its tin-top cousin. Related Video: Image Credit: SpiedBilde Spy Photos Lamborghini Convertible Performance