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Lamborghini close to joining premier LMDh class in IMSA

According to Racer magazine, Lamborghini hasn't officially said yes to joining the LMDh class in global endurance racing, but folks behind the scenes have green-lit the project and an announcement could come next month. Publicly, the brand's head of motorsport for the U.S. said work on a factory endurance program is "90% of the way there," the remainder to be sorted out by finding the right customer teams to lead the charge. Assuming this is what happens, Lamborghini will join Volkswagen Group siblings Audi and Porsche in the class, plus Acura and BMW. Cadillac hasn't made its intentions public, but observers expect the American luxury brand to come clean during this month's 24 Hours of Le Mans and show its LMDh challenger. Hyundai's apparently on the sidelines and leaning in, too. If all are counted, this would give the premier class for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship seven entries come 2024, and potentially add to the top-class LMH field in the FIA World Endurance Championship . As a refresher, there are two top-tier classes coming to global endurance racing. There's Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh) that begins in IMSA next year, and Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) that started competing in the WEC on May 1 this year. LMDh cars use a spec chassis provided by one of four suppliers, Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic, or Oreca. LMDh teams can use any engine and electronics they want, but they will all fit a spec hybrid unit supplied by Bosch, a spec lithium-ion battery from Williams Engineering and a spec gearbox from Xtrac. Max horsepower will be limited to about 680. Audi and Porsche opted for a Multimatic chassis powered by a turbocharged V8, and Lamborghini is expected to follow its family members. Every team can create its own bodywork, the limit being a 4:1 ratio of drag to downforce and a single aero package for the year to keep costs down. The LMH class is based on roadgoing hypercars, a manufacturer required to sell 20 of the retail hypercars over a two-year period to qualify. Although output's capped to around 680 hp as with LMDh, manufacturers can develop their own engines, gearboxes and hybrid systems. Discrete bodywork is allowed with the same drag-to-downforce ratio limit. There will be balance-of-performance restrictions imposed on LMDh and LMH fields, and measures such as torque meters mounted on driveshafts to monitor overall output of each powertrain.

Watch 14 hot rides take over concept car lawn at Pebble Beach

The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is an annual celebration of the beautiful, old cars that grace Monterey Car Week. But Monterey – and Pebble – features lots of newer metal, too, and that includes the concept lawn at Pebble Beach. Now, "concept lawn" isn't a totally accurate name anymore, and you'll see why in the list below. This year especially, plenty of production cars can be found in the area once reserved for the conceptual. Still, we're happy to see them. Here's what's featured this year: Alfa Romeo 4C Spider Audi R8 BAC Mono Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R Buick Avenir Galpin-Fisker Rocket Speedster Hyundai HCD-16 Vision G Coupe Icona Volcano Infiniti Q60 Lamborghini Asterion LPI 910-4 Maserati Ghibli McLaren 570S Rolls-Royce Wraith By our count, that's seven concepts out of fourteen cars. But it still makes for one hot group of metal. Check 'em out in the gallery above. Related Video: Related Gallery 2015 Pebble Beach Concept Car Lawn View 38 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Design/Style Alfa Romeo Audi Bentley Buick Infiniti Lamborghini Lincoln McLaren Porsche Concept Cars Videos Original Video Pebble Beach

Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato Opera Unica special edition took 370 hours to paint

This Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato is a one-off special edition model named the Opera Unica, and it was made to further celebrate Lamborghini’s 60th anniversary year that has already spawned other special projects. WhatÂ’s unique about this particular Sterrato isnÂ’t the performance, but instead, itÂ’s the paint. LamborghiniÂ’s Ad Personam customization department devised a new “crystal effect” paint process for this vehicle, and the total paint time amounted to 370 hours. By our math, thatÂ’s a lot of hours. The goal was to create a car that gave the effect of frozen liquid, and Lamborghini combined three different blues to make that happen. Its main backdrop color is Blu Amnis, but then painters went in by hand with Blu Grifo and Blu Fedra to give it the effect you see in the photos. Lamborghini says its inspiration comes from marine landscapes and the colors of Sardinia. As contrast to the blue, matte black paint is then used on the roof, sills, front-light casings, front and rear splitters, fenders and wheel arch extensions. Of course, the interior is unique, too, with Blu Delphinus leather and blue-dyed Alcantara. The start/stop switch cover is finished in the same crystal effect paint as the exterior, and youÂ’ll also find that look applied to the “Opera Unica Porto Cervo 2023” special edition plate. In case you were wondering, Lamborghini is in fact considering this Sterrato as one of the 1,499 it will ultimately build. It hasnÂ’t named an owner or a price, but considering the craftsmanship that went into this vehicle, itÂ’s sure to be an extravagant number for whoever puts it into their garage. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.