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Dubai police welcome Lamborghini Aventador cop car

There is a long history of law enforcement adding supercars to their police cruiser fleets. The latest comes from a likely place, Dubai, where one-upping the rest of the world in conspicuous consumption has become a national point of pride.
The Dubai police force announced yesterday that they've added a Lamborghini Aventador to their fleet, the Italian supercar capping a broader upgrade to their selection of cruisers that also reportedly includes new examples of the Chevy Camaro.
The 700-horsepower Aventador has a starting price in the US of nearly $400,000 and can reach speeds up to 217 miles per hour. Reports, however, say that the Dubai police force won't be using the car's 0-60 performance of 3.9 seconds to catch any crooks, but rather that the supercar will be used in tourist areas to impress foreign travelers.

Lamborghini Asterion could still see showrooms

At the 2014 Paris Motor Show, Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann told Maxim after the introduction of the stunning Asterion hybrid, "I strongly believe that this is not a car that will be in production, and we will not do it." However, the Asterion concept came more than a year after Winklemann told that same magazine, at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, that "Lamborghini was not interested in hybrids." He repeated the sentiment in Paris, saying, "We're still not interested." Well, someone at Lamborghini (or the Volkswagen Group?) does appear to be interested. The company's head of R&D, Maurizio Reggiani, told Autocar the story of the Asterion's development "started a couple of years ago" and is still being carried out in order to understand a real world hybrid application that would satisfy Lamborghini brand values – meaning electric assistance for a naturally aspirated engine with a high cylinder count. Reggiani never hints about the Asterion actually going on sale, but does tell Autocar, "The discussions inside Lamborghini now are about the potential cost of the car," and how it would be positioned. Having been told that it could sell for the price of the Aventador plus the hybrid drivetrain, Autocar figures an MSRP of 350,000 pounds ($551K US). The phrase "hybrid supercar" immediately brings three cracking coupes to mind, but the Asterion – were it to make production – wouldn't target that group; said Winklemann in that Maxim interview, "It's not meant to go on the racetrack. The acceleration is good, and the top speed, but in handling it would be out-beaten by the others. It's more a hyper-cruiser." We're fine with that, Mr. Winklemann – we think the Aston Martin Vanquish, Bentley Continental GT and Ferrari F12 Berlinetta could use the company. Bring it.

2023 Lamborghini Sterrato First Drive: Ridiculous obliteration of boundaries

DESERT CENTER, Calif. — Lamborghini knows something about its buyers: They like to be able to appear, and to perform acts that are, ridiculous. Normally, thatÂ’s meant scissor-hinged doors and unhinged performance on pavement. On occasion, though, Lambo has taken its boundary-obliterating show off-road – and not just because stability control spectacularly failed. The legendary LM002 was a V12-powered luxury pickup largely meant from Emirati sheiks to power-slide up sand dunes, while the brandÂ’s best-selling Urus is more than capable of doing silly things in places more rugged than the Starbucks drive-thru. And now, plowing sideways through a dirt track and into the pantheon of LamboÂ’s bat-shit off-road vehicles comes the 601-horsepower, V10-powered, $273,000, limited-edition 2023 Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato. It is lifted 44 mm or 1.73 inches for greater ground clearance and suspension travel. The track is widened by 30 mm up front and 34 mm in the rear, enough to require bolted-on fender flares. Its tickly underside is armored with aluminum skid plates. The body is safari-fied with nostil-like driving lights, roof bars to support a gear-toting rack, and a snorkel so it can breathe more readily when drawing lines in the sand. It looks less like a supercar and more like the getaway vehicle for a pair of tomb raiders, looking to sneak out of Giza ahead of the cultural police, and whatever curse the thieves may have uncorked. Just a few weeks before driving the Sterrato through  —  literally, through  —  the Southern California desert, I had been behind the wheel of its slightly-cheaper and alternatively-missioned sibling, the Huracan Tecnica, in twisty Italian mountain roads. With 30 more horsepower, rear-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-steering, a tuned exhaust system, and Bridgestone Potenza Race tires, it was surprisingly delightful and easy to drive quickly, even/especially through technical turns and blasting curves. The Sterrato was a whole different bullfight, but remarkably similar in its capacity to elevate my driving skills. It was so simple to drive well through bounding hairpins, arcing sweepers, and elevation-switching chicanes — usually utilized by dirt bike racers — that it was actually startling. I have driven all manner of trucks and SUVs in the sand, but IÂ’ve never had this experience with a “safariÂ’d” performance car. The Sterrato is a revelation in this respect.