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Lamborghini Aventador LP 720-4 50 Anniversario is one helluva birthday present

While most 50th birthday parties include wacky and at least somewhat offensive gag gifts, Lamborghini will be celebrating its first 50 years with some incredibly exciting machines. Aside from the Veneno, the Italian automaker will also commemorate its first half century with new versions of the Aventador and Gallardo, which will both be on display at the Shanghai Motor Show.
The special Gallardo LP 560-2 50 Anniversario is a Gallardo with a unique paint scheme, a transparent engine cover and a few carbon fiber parts from the Superleggera, but the Aventador LP 720-4 50 Anniversario is where you'll find the true party favor. Confirming what leaked out earlier in the week, the Aventador LP 720-4 50 Anniversario squeezes an extra 20 horsepower from its 6.5-liter V12 compared to the "base" Aventador LP 700-4, which is accomplished with different engine tuning.
If the Aventador wasn't already flashy enough for you, the 50 Anniversario gets painted up in a two-tone paint job with a bright yellow Giallo Maggio exterior color over matte black for the lower portions of the car, along with gloss-black wheels. Lamborghini chose yellow because it has been the most popular color for its cars since the Miura. As for unique styling elements, the Aventador LP 720-4 50 Anniversario gets a revised front end with an extended splitter and bigger air intakes, and the rear fascia has been completely redesigned for better aerodynamics and engine ventilation.

Bulls on vacation: Lamborghini Giro 2015

Twenty-one owners were on hand for the Lamborghini Giro 2015, the tenth edition of the exclusive brand's most exclusive event. Hailing from the US and Canada, the small group blazed over some of the best roads in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Luxury accommodations were provided at each stop on the four-day tour in late July. Twenty-one owners may sound like a minuscule showing, but it represents nearly 3% of the yearly American customer base. The colorful collection of Aventadors, Huracans, and Gallardos charged around New England like a high-speed string of Skittles. Challenging drives included the storied climb of New Hampshire's famed 6,288-foot Mount Washington and a mad dash up sinuous Route 17 through Vermont's Appalachian Gap. It all concluded with a police-escorted romp into the heart of Boston. Brilliant as the driving is, the Giro is also an opportunity for the Italian brand to connect with and take the pulse of owners in America, its largest market. Twenty-one owners may sound like a minuscule showing, but consider this: Lamborghini sold just over 2,000 cars globally in 2014, 736 of them in the US. This privileged few represents nearly three percent of the yearly American customer base. For comparison, Ford Motor Company sold 2,480,942 vehicles in 2014. If a similar portion of American Ford owners breezed into New England for a Ford Giro, that would equate to more than 70,000 "Ford-istas." Begun in 2006 in the US, the event is relatively unknown, even among Lamborghini owners. Capped at a maximum of 25 couples/cars, the Giro draws some of the most loyal customers of the Bologna-based icon. Exclusivity – participants mix with top management and are looked after by Lamborghini "concierges" – is what sets it apart from larger yet still select activities for the faithful, including the Lamborghini Esperienza (track events for owners) and Accademia (track and winter driving academies). Given the statistical significance of the participants, we couldn't help but survey the well-heeled swells running their bulls on the 2015 Giro about what they thought of the company's gamble on a third Lamborghini model in the form of an SUV – the upcoming Urus. Will it diminish the flamboyant brand's street cred? Half said "No", citing the celebrated Porsche Cayenne parable. Half said, "What the ****?!" "It's not only a nice drive," says Alessandro Farmeschi, Lamborghini America Chief Operating Officer.

Lamborghini confirms next-gen Aventador and Huracan to be PHEVs

It's official, Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali confirmed to Top Gear magazine that the next-generation Aventador and Huracan will get plug-in hybrid powertrains. Autocar reported last October that the next Huracan would get "next-generation" batteries to aid its naturally aspirated V10 when it debuts around 2022. The fate of the Aventador S's successor, however, was unclear beyond the certainty of it featuring a mid-mounted V12. Now we know it will get a naturally aspirated V12 with electric help when it arrives in 2020 or so, and both cars will boast a small all-electric range. Top Gear imagined how much each coupe could gain — both in weight and in power — by mating each car's current engine with the 134-horsepower electric motor and 14-kWh lithium-ion battery pack from the Porsche Panamera Turbo S e-hybrid. TG figures the Aventador S replacement would go from 730 hp and 508 pound-feet of torque to 860 hp and 566 lb-ft. That's the good news. The bad news is that Porsche said the hybrid system adds 661 pounds to the weight of the Panamera. Tack that onto the Lamborghini, and an Aventador S goes up a weight class to 4,354 pounds. The new Huracan output stretches from 602 hp and 412 lb-ft to 728 hp and 471 lb-ft, and 3,796 pounds. Judged on the results of that purely imaginary fancy, Top Gear says the numbers "well and truly stack up." We think that given the chance to add 130 horsepower at the price of putting a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy in the trunk — or the weight of second complete engine — we might ask if there were other tradeoffs available. We're certain Lamborghini's working all the angles, though, and confident the Sant' Agata carmaker will translate its actual figures into another duo of brutal, bewitching sports cars. The brand is looking beyond the near-term hybrids to what could come after, as well. Domenicali said he doesn't believe there will be sufficient potential in electric powertrains until 2026, but he's ready with concepts like the Terzo Millennio whenever the powertrains are. Lamborghini's also working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to "write an important page in the future of super sports cars for the third millennium," suspected to center on lightweight materials, solid-state batteries, and alternative fuels. On that last note, Domenicali's already eyeing the potential of using hydrogen fuel cells in the distant future.