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Maurizio Reggiani talks racing, forced induction, and Lamborghini V12s

Maurizio Reggiani deserves his own chapter in Lamborghini's history. He joined the Italian company in 1995 and rose to the position of chief technical officer in 2006; he notably led the development of some of Lamborghini's greatest modern-day engines, including the 6.5-liter V12 that powers the Aventador. His time as the head of Lamborghini's research and development department ended earlier in 2022 and he now serves as vice president of motorsport. His successor, Rouven Mohr, is tasked with implementing an ambitious and far-reaching electrification strategy called Direzione Cor Tauri and outlined in 2021. As Lamborghini prepares to enter a new era, I sat down with Reggiani for a behind-the-scenes look at nearly 30 years of V12 development. [The following has been edited for clarity.] RG: Lamborghini has made other engines and other companies have made V12s. Why is the V12 so often associated with Lamborghini? MR: In a time when everybody started talking about downsizing and reducing cylinder count, we continued to say that the V12 is the flagship of the super-sports car. We were born with this: Lamborghini has made a V12 during every year of its history. We also did V8s in the time of the Jalpa, for example, but the V12 was every time the main pillar of this company. If you want to be considered the pinnacle of super-sports cars, no other engine can really speak to purists like a naturally-aspirated V12 can. In terms of power, in terms of sound, in terms of emotion, and in terms of, let me say, the coolest engine that's possible in terms of engineering definition. RG: What projects have stood out to you during your time at the head of Lamborghini's R&D department? MR: When I started my career, 40 years ago at Maserati, I worked in engine development. At Bugatti, I was responsible for powertrain, which of course includes the engine. For me, an engine is kind of like a first love, and you remain in love for all of your life. To look at an engine, to look inside, to discuss the components, to have an opinion, and to give a suggestion was my way of working every time. One of the projects that excited me the most was the Diablo GT. For the first time, we decided to put a single throttle per cylinder, and it was a level of sophistication that was more or less never used before by Lamborghini. You take experience from the past and try to apply it to [the present]. This improved a lot the performance, and it was really super exciting.

Volkswagen Group previews its wares on eve of Geneva show

The Volkswagen Group is comprised of 11 brands producing 240 vehicles across 49 factories throughout the world. So the best way to show off the range of the VW family is to cram a few thousand journalists and VIPs into a massive makeshift stand to outline the Group's goals, what's in the pipeline and what you'll be able to buy later this year.
To that end, VW pulled out all the stops on the eve of the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, bringing along 10 vehicles from across the range. We'll be delving into the details of each over the next two days of show coverage, but before that happens, you can read all about what we saw tonight from the cheap seats after the break.

188,000-mile Lamborghini Huracan from Las Vegas rental fleet listed for sale

If you're shopping for a Lamborghini Huracan, you're far more likely to find a low-mileage example than one that has covered the planet's equatorial circumference nearly five times. There is a notable exception to this rule looking for a new owner in Las Vegas, unsurprisingly, and the seller says nearly 2,000 people have driven it. Houston Crosta, the seller, told Car & Driver the 2015 Huracan was the first car he bought when he founded a business named Royalty Exotic Cars that specializes in renting high-end, high-horsepower machines to Vegas tourists who want to up their bling. If you've visited Sin City recently, you may have seen this wedge-shaped bull racing up and down The Strip. Crosta estimated about 1,900 renters have put an incredible 188,000 miles on the Huracan in five years; that's 302,000 kilometers, if you're more comfortable with the metric system. Either way, it's a lot. If rental-car miles are the automotive equivalent of dog years, rental supercar miles in Las Vegas are like putting wear-and-tear on fast-forward. And yet, Crosta claims the Huracan has been surprisingly reliable. He had to replace the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission at about 180,000 miles but otherwise did "nothing but oil changes and basic service." Even the interior seems to have held up. Crosta's other exotics haven't fared as well. He has also owned a Lamborghini Aventador that somehow ended up on fire, a Ferrari 458 which went through seven transmissions, and a McLaren 650S that also met a fiery end. Speed enthusiasts who want to scratch their gambling itch without traveling to Las Vegas can buy the Huracan, which is listed for $130,000 on eBay, and try to take it beyond the 200,000-mile mark. Whether it's worth that is debatable; Crosta has received offers in the vicinity of $100,000 and shot them down, according to Car & Driver. In comparison, a 2015 Huracan with under 10,000 miles is worth between $180,000 and $200,000.