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Lamborghini Huracan Performante is getting a drop-top version

If you just released a specialized, lightweight track weapon with fancy active aerodynamics, what would you do next? If you said chop the car's top off, you must work for Lamborghini, because that's just what the company is doing to its Huracan Performante. Our spy photographer has caught roadster versions of the ultimate Huracan out during testing. The car looks pretty much as you would expect. The lower body work from the front bumper back is all effectively carry-over from the coupe. The rear wing looks to have the same shape and functionality, too. Where things really change is with the engine cover. Like the normal Huracan roadster, the Performante loses the glass engine cover in favor of an opaque cover and a hard tonneau for the top. The engine cover features larger vents at the base of the wing's pedestals, and they appear to have large scoops at the other end. In addition to the new engine cover, this Performante roadster has different wheels which seem to be taken from the standard model. However, these will likely be swapped for the coupe's mesh-style wheels. A close examination shows that the wheels are shod in Pirelli P Zero Corsas that are probably the same compound as the standard tires for the Performante coupe. While this won't be the first time Lamborghini has built a roadster out of its high-performance entry-level sports car, the decision to turn the new Performante into one seems a little strange considering the effort to lighten it and endow it with magical aero. Even more so when the result is a car that Lamborghini claims laps the Nurburgring faster than the bonkers Porsche 918 Spyder. It feels like a step backwards to add a retractable top that probably weighs more and messes with the aerodynamics. But then, Lamborghinis are known mostly for being flashy and fast, and this Performante convertible will fill both criteria with ease. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lamborghini designers channel brand's past to keep supercars fresh

Lamborghini design boss Mitja Borkert smiles as he sums up the brand's design language with an anecdote. "I bought a 1/18-scale Countach in Frankfurt, and I put it in my carry-on suitcase. One of the guys at the security screening asked 'what's that?' His colleague looked at the screen and immediately said "it's a Lamborghini!" Borkert points out the unmistakable silhouette is a major part of what defines a Lamborghini. He gives Marcello Gandini credit for the styling cue. The talented Italian designer penned a long list of emblematic sports cars, including the Miura, the Countach, and the Lancia Stratos. For Borkert, the Gandini line is deeply-rooted and permanent. However, he doesn't feel the least bit constrained by it. "First of all, for me this line is written in stone. It will remain in the next 100 years, regardless of what technology we will have. I'm very sure of it. Of course, we always have to find an interpretation of that line for specific projects. When we created the Urus, we also wanted to use the line but we had to interpret it in a way that worked for that specific architecture. How we did that you will see in the future. "The Huracan has one interpretation of the Gandini line. The Aventador is longer so we had to stretch it. You can set a lot of tension in that line, you can give it a bit more wedge. In the Centenario the rear is a little bit lower, for example. "So, for me, this is the component we have to keep. Then, there are the design themes like doors, fenders, and what we are doing with the front and rear. That's when we apply the motto 'expect the unexpected.' We are always challenging ourselves, and always looking for something new." The first step of the design process is to get the proportions exactly right. "If the main proportions aren't right, you will never be able to catch up with the design," he notes. And while most people assume modern-day designers start sketching on advanced CAD software, a Lamborghini still comes to life the old-fashioned way: with a pencil and a sheet of paper. Once the proportions are locked in, Borkert and his team of young, spirited designers begin adding secondary styling cues like character lines, angles, and creases. The last part of the process is when designers pencil in the final details such as vents, moldings, emblems, and miscellaneous trim pieces. Heritage plays a large role there, too. The hexagon is another one of the defining features that characterize a Lamborghini.

Lamborghini driver can't shoot the gap in London

It may be difficult to see a nearly $500,000 car wrecked because of hot-shot driving on narrow streets, but a new video of a Lamborghini Aventador crash in one of London's poshest zip codes over the weekend has to be seen to be believed.
The accident occurred Sunday and left Sloane Street in London's ritzy Chelsea district littered with equally ritzy matte black body parts. A fan of the supercar enthusiast Shmee150 submitted footage of the devastating wreck to his YouTube channel, and Shmee kindly turned around and offered it to Autoblog. In the video, the Lamborghini's tires momentarily lift off the pavement as the driver fails in an attempt to squeeze in-between what looks to be a turning Mazda Demio and parked cars including a Nissan Qashqai and a BMW 3 Series.
This enigmatic matte black Lamborghini has popped up on YouTube in the past, shooting flames from its exhaust and causing a ruckus on London streets, The Telegraph reports. No one was arrested at the crash and there are no charges pending at this time. Hopefully, even without legal ramifications, this driver has learned the lesson every morning commuter on London's Tube knows; mind the gap.