Lamborghini Gallardo Coupe 2008 on 2040-cars

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Lamborghini makes wise investment, sponsors Italian State Police Sports Association

Boot-shaped shaped Italy has been molded as much by it's Hollywood-fueled history of organized crime, as it has by its footwear-aping borders. One of the more peaceful methods used by that famous mafia is, of course, bribery. While we doubt the Cosa Nostra has planted "made men" in Sant'Agata Bolognese, based on the recent actions of Lamborghini, we do think the company might be bucking for leniency on Italian speeding tickets.
The supercar manufacturer has announced that it will sponsor the Fiamme Oro, the Italian State Police's sports association. Lambo will supply the Italian fuzz's athletes with winter and summer tracksuits, polos, jackets, hats and bags. Collezione Automobili Lamborghini, the company's lifestyle arm, designed the kit, which will feature both the iconic raging bull logo as well as the State Police's logo.
Of course, we jest about Lambo's involvement with the Italian State Police, but this has been a long-running arrangement dating back to the first Gallardo police car, back in 2004. With this new arrangement, and the donation of a new Huracán police car, we feel confident that Lamborghini owners should enjoy free reign on the country's auto stradas.

2022 Ford Maverick gets a surprising amount of attention

People notice the 2022 Ford Maverick. You could chalk it up to metro Detroit being a company town, but that’s too easy. The Maverick, despite its modest size, has presence. I expected the truck to draw curiosity. Aesthetically, the MaverickÂ’s closest rival, the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, is far more eye-catching with a flashy grille and curves and creases front to back. The MaverickÂ’s squared-off truck demeanor makes it an understated attention-getter, and it does have some design flourishes, especially up front with the blocky headlights that Tetris with the grille. ItÂ’s not just the looks. The sub-$20K MSRP offers real value and is an articulation of FordÂ’s strategy to pivot from cars to similarly sized offerings. This is better than a Ford Focus, and it makes sense why Ford took such a big risk revamping its lineup. And the hybrid version gets up to 42 mpg. Ford sold 4,140 Mavericks in October, outpacing the Santa CruzÂ’s still-healthy tally of 1,848 units. Ford says the trucks were moving off dealer lots in an average of five days, which is a brisk pace. The Maverick is also bringing in young buyers, with a quarter of its sales to people 18 to 35 years old.  While the sales figures are interesting, the Maverick starts about $4,000 less than the Santa Cruz, and Ford sells more vehicles than Hyundai in the United States, so thatÂ’s just part of the equation. Ford and Hyundai will define success for their small trucks in different ways. TheyÂ’re both attention-getters, but the Maverick surprised me with its star power. It will be interesting to see if this segment has staying power for Ford, Hyundai and perhaps others. Other news and notes The North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year Award finalists were announced this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and the Maverick and Santa Cruz both made the cut in the truck category, where they were joined by the Rivian R1T. The Honda Civic, Lucid Air and Volkswagen Golf GTI/R  will vie for top honors in the car segment. The Ford Bronco, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Genesis GV70 make up the SUV field. Winners will be announced in early January. The finalists were culled from a field of 23 semifinalists. Full disclosure: IÂ’m a NACTOY juror.  HereÂ’s an odd one: Famed designer Marcello Gandini is disavowing the rebirth of the Lamborghini Countach. Lambo essentially restyled the Sian with a modern interpretation of the CountachÂ’s design cues.

Hamann gets stealthy with its more powerful Lamborghini Aventador Limited

The tuners at Hamann have gotten their hands on the Lamborghini Aventador and are offering a suite of stealthy upgrades and a boost in power for buyers who don't think Lambo's top model is already enough. The company wants to create a special model with "uniqueness in every way."
The Limited wears a two-tone body kit in Stealth Grey matte paint with Poison Green trim. Hamann adds carbon fiber pieces with new air vent inserts at the front, a two-piece front spoiler and side skirts. The rear receives carbon fiber replacements for the diffuser, engine air intake, spoiler and apron. It is also offering two different sport exhausts - a standard version and a race version... complete with backfire baked in. Finally, the custom Lamborghini is shod with forged, aluminum wheels that are 20 inches in the front and 21 inches in the rear. The interior remains basically stock except for being covered in green leather and contrasting black with green stitching.
Hamann isn't just about style. It is also giving the Limited a boost in performance to 760 horsepower and 542 pound-feet thanks to a few tweaks of the Aventador's software. It seems that if Lamborghini isn't giving buyers enough, then Hamann is happy to take things to the extreme at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. Feel free to read more below.