Automotive

Lamborghini Terzo Millennio: When Crazed Italians Hang With Hyper-Geeks

Lamborghini Terzo Millennio: When Crazed Italians Hang With Hyper-Geeks

The Lamborghini Terzo Millennio is, to me, a prime example of what has been Lambo’s Achilles’ Heel for decades: Styling. Ever since the Countach, Lamborghini basically gave up on giving their cars any sense of grace or elegance and have gone for brute presence and hard edges and gaudiness with all the subtly of a 25 minute heavy metal guitar solo. Automobili Lamborghini got together with not one, but two laboratories at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (aka MIT) and asked, in so many words, “hey, what would a possible future Lamborghini electric super sports car be like?”
The answer is this: The Lamborghini Terzo Millennio. A car that looks like something a 13-year-old would draw on the back of his notebook.
Central Command
MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is arguably the best engineering school in the known universe (that’s right Vulcan Science Academy, you heard me). You know the MIRV, the Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle for atomic warheads? That was dreamed up and invented at MIT. By graduate students. Stroboscopic photography? That was invented, single-handedly, by Harold “Doc” Edgerton, an MIT professor who taught freshman chemistry. The people that roam the halls and wander the MIT campus sit at the top of the Everest of geekdom. You ask MIT for “help” on your transportation project, and a byproduct might turn out to be a mass-driver that can sling ore from the asteroid belt back to planet Earth.
And Lamborghini, bless their hearts, decided to ask, and the result is the Terzo Millennio which, styling aside, packs about as much performance as a cruise missile on final approach. Bear witness.
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Breaking Down The Beast
At its heart, this is a moon-shot of a car. If it happens at all in anything close to what we see here, it will happen many years (decades) down the road. Lamborghini flat-out states: “The concept physically imagines design and technology theories of tomorrow.” Theories? Wow, equivocate much? Lamborghini has chosen to focus on five different dimensions: energy storage systems, innovative materials, propulsion, visionary design, and emotion. Or, to put it in layman’s terms so you don’t have to be Florence LaRue: where the fuel goes, what it’s built from, how that fuel is dispensed to the tarmac, what it looks like, and . . . er, emotion? Really, they went with emotion? What does that even mean?
Energy Storage Systems
THUS SPAKE LAMBO!!: “The strategy of creating super sports cars with uncompromising performance generates Lamborghini’s motivation to revolutionize the approach to . . . SAVE ME!!! SAVE ME!!! Please don’t make me read this stuff. No need to get lost in all that MarComm drivel. The Energy Storage System, effectively the gas tank is a, in one word, supercapacitor. Which is (I hear some of you asking) just like yer run of the mill capacitor, only super. Essentially, a battery that is quick to discharge, quick to charge, and holds “enough” stored energy to “practically” use. Think of a much larger electric go-kart with a bodyshell and a license plate.
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.

Innovative Materials
What is it built from? Answer: cloth and glue (aka carbon fiber). Cloth and glue that are used all over the place in structures and parts and the bodyshell, and also in interesting ways: like that same bodyshell acting as an accumulator for energy storage. Swift, eh? Lambo and MIT closely monitor the bodyshell to look for and predict cracks and structural failures, and self-fix them via micro-channels filled with “healing chemistries.”
To which I say, that’s cool and all, but couldn’t you just make the skin a little thicker and a little tougher and not even worry about “monitoring” it?
Propulsion System
Works like this: each wheel gets its own engine/generator, a pretty standard layout for an EV drivetrain. It’s so much easier to do this with electric motors, because even very powerful versions are also relatively small. And since all of these motors are controlled by enough computing power to make Seymour Cray tear up, that means you can automatically build in (and tweak on the fly) things like differential anti-lock braking based on accelerator data and steering wheel angles to optimize traction through mid-corner out to corner exit. To name just one of the simpler sub-routines anyway.
It’s not just that the car, with tons of electrical power delivered to the pavement near-instantaneously, can go and turn and stop, it can potentially do two or even three of those simultaneously.
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Design
Let us just be Gorn-like, quick and merciful, and say this thing’s styling – regardless of how much aerodynamic sense it makes – looks like 13-and-a-half axe heads randomly attached to a big magnet. This car, the Terzo Millennio, does not look graceful or animated or lithe or agile. No, it looks stocky and apathetic and rigid and clumsy. Seriously. I’ve seen more aesthetic doorstops in Leningrad.
Emotion
Yeah. Yeah . . . no. Just, no.
Chances are the Lamborghini Terzo Millennio will hit the streets right about the time the mid-engine, quad rotor Wankel-powered Corvette is arriving (i.e. right around the time Gloria Steinem marries Harvey Weinstein). It’s a neat idea though.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He means well, even if he has a bias toward lighter, agile cars rather than big engine muscle cars or family sedans.
Lamborghini Terzo Millennio Gallery

Photos & Source: Automobili Lamborghini.

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Lamborghini Urus: Everything Wrong At Just The Right Time

Lamborghini Urus: Everything Wrong At Just The Right Time

Lamborghini’s new Urus SUV is a rolling testament to everything wrong with the automotive world. It’s overly big, half-ugly, ostensibly made for a job it will never do and could never complete, and sold to people with too much money and not enough taste. The new Lamborghini Urus is the exact wrong car but it’s hitting at the perfect time. It is a dead on bullseye for a market where luxury SUVs are all the rage.
$200,000. That, as you are no doubt wondering, is the price of Lamborghini’s Urus SUV. That is not cheap, by any stretch, but it is right within the price point for cars like the ones Lambo already makes.
I have no doubt they will sell every last Urus they make. Every last one.
Power & Performance
Sadly, there is no V12 sitting beneath the bonnet of the Urus. That would either be too much to hope for, or just so disgustingly excessive that even Lambo realized it would move us all one step closer to Le rasoir national. Nope, the Urus is propelled by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 plant that puts out 650 horsepower and 627 lb-ft. torque, starting way down low at 2,250 rpm. Not at all bad. When you combine that with a curb weight of around 4,850 lbs. (mom says I’m not fat, just big boned) you get to 60 in 3.6 seconds, 124 in 12.8 seconds, and to a top speed of 190. Lamborghini says it’s one of the best power-to-weight ratios in the class.
Obviously, the Urus is the fastest SUV available. Until Porsche totally loses its schnitzel and makes a Cayenne with enough power to reach orbital velocities.
All that power is put to the tarmac (or gravel or sand) through an automatic eight-speed gearbox and a four-wheel drive and torque vectoring system. The transmission is an electro-hydraulically controlled planetary setup, with very short low gear ratios and longer high gears. Also in the drivetrain you’ll find a slip-controlled converter lock-up clutch and specially-developed torque converter.
The four-wheel drive system itself has a Torsen central self-locking differential, with a torque split of 40/60 to the independent front/rear axle as standard. Maximum torque of 70 percent to the front or 87 percent to the rear can be dialed up. The Urus also has active torque vectoring via the rear differential for additional steering control, less steering effort, higher cornering speeds, and a “more sporty drive.”
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Drive Modes & Off-Road Attributes
There are four driving modes: STRADA, TERRA (for off-road), SABBIA (for sand), and NEVE (for snow). In SPORT and CORSA modes, torque vectoring helps provide more oversteer. Lambo says the SABBIA mode is calibrated to “guarantee agility and precision on terrains with reduced grip such as on gravel or sand dunes, making it the ideal mode for off-road fun.” I won’t say anything further about that assertion. The Lamborghini Urus also has rear-wheel steering, seemingly using the same system found on the Aventador S. Since – let’s face it – this is a large, tall and heavy vehicle, anything that can tighten that turning radius has to be seen as a benefit.
The brakes are these big carbon ceramic jobs that clock in at 440 x 40 mm at the front and 370 x 30 mm at the back. The wheels, an important accessory when parking on Rodeo Drive, range from 21 to 23-inches and come fitted with an assortment of summer, winter, all-season, all-terrain, and sport tires specially developed by Pirelli. There is an optional Off-Road Package that includes specific metal-reinforced bumpers and additional under floor protection for “off-roading in the snow, forest or even dune surfing,” according to Lamborghini.
I’m sorry. I just shot Mountain Dew out of my nose I was laughing so hard at that one. Dune Surfing? You have got to be joking. I’d pay real money to see the footage of some knob-wad beaching his $200,000 “off-roader” in the sand.
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.

Interior Treatments
The interior of the Lamborghini Urus is said to be quite practical and usable and comfortable. On the inside you get a “Unicolor” theme; leather trim comes in either Nero Ade or Grigio Octans (i.e. black or gray) with five additional, unspecified optional colors. The dashboard is finished in Piano Black and Brushed Aluminum with options like Open Pore wood included in combination with aluminum and carbon fiber.
The infotainment system promises a number of connectivity features while the Lamborghini Smartphone Interface is compatible with both Apple and Android devices. The LIS infotainment display is split across two screens: the upper screen for entertainment, media, navigation, telephone, and vehicle status; the lower screen for cliamte and seat heating functions. The lower screen also has a keyboard and supports hand written commands for inputting information.
There’s no mention of exterior colors, but I bet a dollar to a doughnut they will be as subtle and restrained as Lemmy Kilmister midway through his second bottle of Jack Daniels.
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Availability
The new Lamborghini Urus hits dealers in the spring of 2018. Plan on seeing it in countless mediocre rap videos, driven by The Bad Guys in every third-rate Michael Bay movie, and poorly parked by their “bad boy” owners – no doubt the sons of hedge fund managers, Hollywood movie producers, and criminal defense attorneys – on country club lawns throughout our once green and pleasant land.
Below the gallery is a handy-dandy chart from Lamborghini with all (and I do mean all) of the technical deets.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He means well, even if he has a bias towards lighter, agile cars rather than big engine muscle cars or family sedans.
Lamborghini Urus Gallery

Lamborghini Urus Technical Data
CHASSIS AND BODY

Body and Frame
Integral lightweight body in aluminum composite design

Suspension Geometry
Multi-link front and rear

Suspension Type
Adaptive air suspension with electromechanical active roll stabilization

Brakes
Front and rear carbon ceramic

Calipers
Front aluminum 10 piston brake calipers:
21″ with radial fixing and pistons with phenolic insertRear cast iron floating 6 piston brake calipers:
19″ with integrated electric parking brake

Discs (front – rear)
Carbon ceramic discs
(Ø 440 x 40 mm – Ø 370 x 30 mm)

Steering
Steering gear with different servotronic characteristics and Lamborghini Rear-wheel Steering (LRS), managed by the Tamburo drive modes
Steering Wheel Ratio
13.3:1
Steering Wheel Turns
Lock to Lock
2.29
Steering Wheel Diameter
376 mm
Tires (range)
Pirelli P Zero, Front: 285/45 R21 up to 285/35 R23
Rear: 315/40 R21 up to 325/30 R23
Wheels (range)
Front: 9,5Jx21″ up to 10Jx23″
Rear: 10,5Jx21″ up to 11,5Jx23″
Turning Circle
11.8 m
Airbags
Up to 8 Airbags
ENGINE

Type
Petrol V8, 90°
Displacement
3.996 ccm
Valve Per Cylinder
4
Valve Timing
Intake and exhaust camshaft adjusted continuously
Turbocharger
Bi-turbo twin-scroll
Maximum Power
650 hp (478 kW) at 6,000 rpm
Specific Power Output
162.7 hp/l

Maximum Torque
850 Nm at 2,250-4,500 rpm

Maximum RPM
6,800 rpm

DRIVETRAIN

Transmission
4WD with integrated front differential,
central differential (Torsen) and active
torque vectoring rear differential

Gearbox
8-speed automatic gearbox, characteristic depending on drive mode

PERFORMANCE

Top Speed
305 km/h

Acceleration 0-100 km/h
[0-62 mph]
3.6 sec.

Acceleration 0-200 km/h
[0-124 mph]
12.8 sec.

Braking 100-0 km/h
[62-0 mph]
33,7 m

DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT

Wheelbase
3,003 mm

Overall Length
5,112 mm

Overall Width
(excluding mirrors)
2,016 mm

Overall Height
1,638 mm

Track (front – rear)
1,695 mm – 1,710 mm

Ground Clearance
158 mm – 248 mm (adjustable via air suspension)

Curb Weight
2,200 kg

Weight-to-Power Ratio
3.38 kg/hp

CAPACITIES

Fuel Tank
85 liters (75 liters U.S. Market)

Luggage Compartment
616 liters – 1,596 liters

CONSUMPTION

Combined Cycle
12,7 l/100 km

CO2 Emissions
290 g/km
Photos & Source: Automobili Lamborghini.

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Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder: Open-Air Emotion

Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder: Open-Air Emotion Lamborghini just rolled out the latest version of its Huracán, the Huracán Performante Spyder. That’s just a very continental way of saying: Hey look, we made the Huracán into a Targa-esque thing. No, it’s not really a convertible. And no, it’s not really a Spyder either, but it will blow your hair back to the tune of a 202 mph blast of wind.
The Huracán Performante is the more, uh, performance-oriented version of the “regular” Huracán (not that there’s much “regular” about this little beastie to begin with). Although I’ve seen no official word, it seems “Performante” will be to Lambos what Speciale is to Ferraris: the factory hot rod version.
Aerodynamic Design
From a design standpoint, the Performante Spyder takes a number of cues from Super Trofeo race cars, and also from open-frame street fighter motorcycles. Okay, kind of childish, but that’s kind of what Lamborghini is known for. There’s visible carbon fiber running throughout and the aluminum bits here and there drop 35 kilos (around 75 lbs.) versus the original Huracán Spyder. The use of forged composites are found in the front and rear spoiler, engine bonnet, rear bumper, and aerodynamic diffuser.
All of those are functional aero elements within Lamborghini’s patented active aerodynamics system, first introduced on the Huracán Performante: Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva, or ALA. The ALA system varies aero-load for either high down force or low drag, as well as enabling aero vectoring in high-speed cornering, thus providing excellent dynamics on the road or track. And all of this ALA stuff is governed by the Lamborghini Piattaforma Inerziale (LPI) system in real time; tweaking the car’s setup as well as activating the ALA system in less than 500 milliseconds to ensure the best aerodynamic configuration in every driving condition.
The Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder has a dry weight of 3,322 lbs., with a distribution front/rear of 43/57 percent. Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Power & Performance
With its 5.2, V10 naturally-aspirated engine, the Performante Spyder accelerates to 62 mph in 3.1 seconds and to 124 mph in 9.3 seconds. Like the Performante coupé, the Spyder outputs 640 horsepower at 8,000 rpm, producing 442 lb-ft. of torque at 6,500 rpm. Lamborghini says more than 70 percent of that torque is readily available at 1,000 rpm.
The Spyder, like the Huracán Performante coupé, includes an enhanced suspension system, recalibrated ESC, a more responsive Lamborghini Dynamic Steering system, and a permanent four-wheel drive layout for maximizing traction. Lamborghini’s driver-mode system comprising of STRADA, SPORT, and CORSA allows you to customize the car to suit your tastes.
Open-Air Enjoyment
The roof part of the Huracán Performante Spyder is a lightweight, electro-hydraulic deal that complements the car’s distinctive lines, whether open or closed. It is also said to maintain rigidity and handling, since even as a convertible it maintains the stiffness of a sports car. The roof opens in just 17 seconds up to a speed of 30 mph, which is a totally cool move to pull when leaving your burger joint of choice.
Pricing & Availability
The first lucky customers will take delivery of their new Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder this summer with a suggested price of, gulp, $308,859. No, that is not cheap, but you weren’t really expecting it to be, were you?
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz.
Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder Gallery

Photos & Source: Automobili Lamborghini.

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Lamborghini Huracán Peformante Spyder Comes To North America

Lamborghini Huracán Peformante Spyder Comes To North America Hey! All you New Yorkers! Get down to the New York International Auto Show and take a gander at the Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder. It’s the first time you can view the lighter and more open-aired Huracán in the flesh, er, metal, er carbon fiber. Ah, what the heck, all a yous guys from the whole tri-state area can come take a look! Even people from Jersey!
The Huracán Peformante Spyder made its North American debut during an intimate media unveiling in the heart of New York City. I was not there since I was both busy, and now almost completely feel that New York is trying to kill me, but that’s neither here nor there.
Light & Aerodynamic
What I have gathered though is that, by and large, the design, technology, and performance features found on the Huracán Performante are found in the Spyder in the same amounts. In other words, the Spyder is just as mean and nasty and fast as its tin-top brother, but with the added party trick of a lightweight, electro-hydraulic roof that opens in just 17 seconds. And you can drop that top up to speeds of 30 mph which is so boss.
The Performante Spyder is 77 lbs. lighter than its Spyder sister, thanks to the exclusive use of Lamborghini’s Forged Composite Structure and, with the top up, it still maintains the aerodynamic slipperiness of the coupé.
The Performante Spyder also comes with the Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva system. This is a trick bit of active aero that varies the load for either high down force or low drag, as well as facilitating aero vectoring in high-speed cornering situations. All of this adds up to outstanding driving dynamics both on the track and road.
The Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder has a dry weight of 3,322 lbs., with a distribution front/rear of 43/57 percent. Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.

Power & Performance
The Huracán Performante Spyder also gets an enhanced suspension, recalibrated ESC stability control, a more responsive Lamborghini Dynamic Steering system, and a permanent four-wheel drive layout for maximized traction in all situations. There is even a revised ANIMA . . . yeah, they really call it that. “ANIMA” is a driver “mode” system that customizes the setup of all the car’s dynamic systems. It comes in three settings: STRADA, SPORT, and CORSA.
Just like under the engine cover of the Performante Coupé, the Spyder has a naturally aspirated V10 engine, delivering 640 horsepower at 8,000 rpm. This plant is good enough for the Huracán Performante Spyder to accelerate to 62 mph in 3.1 seconds, and top out at 202. So yeah, it’ll blow your hair back.
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Availability
Customers will begin taking deliveries this summer, and if you haven’t ordered yours yet, you’ll be happy to know the retail price is a mere $308,859 – which is right in line for that market segment. Red’s a good color. Get yours in red. I’m getting mine in red.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz.
Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder Gallery

Photos & Source: Automobili Lamborghini.

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Iconic Lamborghini Miura SVR Restored By Automaker’s New, Special Division

Iconic Lamborghini Miura SVR Restored By Automaker’s New, Special Division Like seemingly every other high end car maker in the known universe, Lamborghini has gotten into the factory restoration business. They call it Lamborghini Polo Storico, and no, I have no idea what the Polo is about (I checked and it has nothing to do with Ralph Lauren). And I’ve got to say, good choice of cars to start with Lamborghini: A Miura SVR.
Family Tree
Lambo’s Miura needs no introduction for you cognoscenti out there. The Miura, named after a famous breeder of Spanish fighting bulls (indeed, it was a Miura, Isolero, that gored and killed the great Manolete in 1947); the “normal” ones are interesting enough: transverse mid-engine V12, glorious styling courtesy of Gandini, all that kind of stuff. Then Ferruccio tweaked it a little, and made the Miura P400, then the P400 S, then the P400 SV, the SV Jota (which should have been the final version) and at the top of the hill, performance and rarity-wise, the P400 SVR.
This particular Miura, chassis number 3781, engine number 2511, and body number 383, started out as an S version and was originally painted in Verde Miura with black interior, or green over black. It was originally delivered to the Lamborauto dealership in Turin, on November 30th 1968, after being displayed at the 50th Turin Motor Show. After changing hands a staggering eight times by 1974, it was bought by a German guy, Heinz Straber. Straber took it back to Sant’Agata to have it converted into an SVR race car.
This job was turned around after a rocket-fast 18 months of work (18!!).
Lamborghini Miura SVR as restored by Lamborghini Polo Storico. Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Traveling Abroad
Then the ownership trail got seriously odd. In 1976, the car was sold to a Japanese fella by the name of Hiromitsu Ito, who took it home to Japan. Lambo says that, once there, it caused “quite a sensation,” which is an understatement of the first order. The Miura SVR was the inspiration for the Circuit Wolf manga comic book series. The fabled Miura SVR, a race car evolution of the Jota, was developed by Lamborghini test driver Bob Wallace and, after Wallace totaled his Jota in an accident, ceaseless customer demand led Automobili Lamborghini to build a few Miura SVJ models and a single Miura SVR, which turned out to be chassis 3781.
Then 3781, which served as the “model” for the vehicle used in the Circuit Wolf comic book, was used as the reference model for the Kyosho toy version.
Which brings us up to more or less the present day, when Lambo got the thing back, returned to its former splendor by the Polo Storico specialists. Fittingly, it was then exhibited during an event organized in its honor at Nakayama Circuit in Japan.
“The full restoration took 19 months and required a different approach to the way we normally work,” explained Paolo Gabrielli, Director of the Polo Storico and Lamborghini Head of After Sales. “The original production sheet wasn’t of much help, as we relied mostly on the specifications from the 1974 modifications. The challenge for the Polo Storico team was even more daunting as the car arrived in Sant’Agata in pieces, although the parts were all there, and with considerable modifications.”

Handle With Care
Lamborghini Polo Storico, based at the company’s HQ in Sant’Agata Bolognese, is the specialized unit dedicated to the restoration and certification of Lamborghini models that have been out of production for at least 10 years. So it functions as Lambo’s version of Ferrari’s Classiche or Lancia/Abarth’s White Book programs.
Polo Storico is also in charge of preserving archives and records, and with managing the supply of original spare parts for classic cars, which will come with a sigh of relief for Diablo owners looking for fuel injection control computers (seriously, go look it up if you want a good laugh). Lamborghini says they are committed to producing enough original spare parts to cover over 65 percent of their models.
Expect to see more spectacularly-restored Lamborghinis emerging from the Polo Storico shops, but I have to say, it will be very hard to top this one.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. His forthcoming new book The Future In Front of Me, The Past Behind Me will be available soon. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz
Lamborghini Miura SVR Gallery

Photos & Source: Automobili Lamborghini.

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Lamborghini SC18: Squadra Corse Unveils Their Unicorn

Lamborghini SC18: Squadra Corse Unveils Their Unicorn The Lamborghini SC18 is track-ready but also street legal.
Customers work with Lamborghini Squadra Corse to design their SC18.
The V12 engine creates nearly 800 horsepower and has a dozen air intakes.
Say ciao! to the SC18, the latest and greatest to roll out of the Lamborghini Squadra Corse shops. Think of it as the road-going version of a dedicated track car, and you’d be half right. Sure, you can drive it on the street, but the SC18 is very, very track-oriented.
A Bone To Pick
Lamborghini Squadra Corse is the Motorsport division of the Sant’ Agata Bolognese firm best known for making cars that go on posters for the bedroom walls of kids (boys, mainly) not old enough to drive.
Yes, Lambo does have the Squadra Corse, but the company doesn’t really race all that much.
This is one of the (major) bones I have to pick with them, but why quibble about that now? Sure, they have a one make series for the well-healed gentlemen racers out there, but that doesn’t really count if that’s the only kind of racing you do.
Testing The Waters
The SC18, designed in-house by Centro Stile Lamborghini, is a one-off road car (the first in the company’s history) that will most likely be a portent of others to come. Yes, it’s “road approved” but Lambo cautions saying it’s “primarily for use on the track.” Which is a polite way of saying it’s harsh, brutish, lacking in comfort and convenience features and, to a chucklehead like me, that makes it even more desirable.
Lambo says the SC18 “paves the way to further personalized development projects for Motorsport customers under the Squadra Corse brand.” So, like I said, this is probably a trial balloon. If people love the Lamborghini SC18, plan on seeing more vehicles in this vein.
Lamborghini SC18. Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Dirty Dozen
The aerodynamics package for the SC18 is described as being “extreme.” By the looks of it, they ain’t lying. The air intakes on the hood come from the Huracán GT3 EVO, for example. The sides and rear include fenders, fins, and air scoops inspired by the Huracán Super Trofeo EVO racer.
Hanging off the back end is the “large” (i.e. monstrously huge) carbon fiber wing. It has three mechanical adjustments, so you can tune it for optimal downforce on any given circuit. Lambo also punched in twelve air intakes on the rear deck lid.
They say it’s a way to “increase heat exchange and improve the cooling of the V12 engine.” Which any eagle-eyed, old rail bird will recognize as louvers from back in the hot rod days.
The racer look is finished off by the single nut wheels, 20-inch monsters on the front, and larger, 21-inch monsters at the rear. These are wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires. There’s even a telemetry system to measure all aspects of performance on the track.
Related: The Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder is all about open-air emotion.
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Snake Pits & Shedding Skin
The SC18 has a top-of-the-line Lamborghini powertrain, bringing the performance of an honest to Ferruccio true racing car to your life. The naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 reels out 770 horsepower and a pavement rippling 531 lb-ft. torque. All that power is handled through an ISR (Independent Shifting Rod) seven-speed gearbox. No, I have no idea what an Independent Shifting Rod trans is, and they don’t give away any details.
It does sound like a snake pit gearbox from a pro-stock drag car, but I seriously doubt it’s one of those.
This drivetrain is wrapped in a body that has gone on a serious weight loss program. The entire body is new, made entirely of carbon fiber, and other ultra light materials. The whole shee-bang even drops to a low-ride-er 109 mm of ground clearance. If that doesn’t explain Lambo’s assertion that “road approved but designed primarily for use on the track,” then I don’t know what will.
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
This is probably a trial balloon. If people love the Lamborghini SC18, plan on seeing more vehicles in this vein.Click To TweetColor Array
The color is Grigio Daytona with visible “details” and red screen-printing to enhance its sportiness. In layman’s terms, its grey with a trim kit with visible carbon fiber here and there. The interior is all done up in Nero Ade Alcantara with cross-stitching in Rosso Alala. In other words, black suede with red stitching. The seats themselves are carbon fiber bucket units.
Pricing & Availability
Lamborghini doesn’t mention cost, but given what their other factory specials have run, it will probably be comparable to a condo overlooking Central Park (and just as hard to come by).
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz.
Lamborghini SC18 Gallery

Photos & Source: Automobili Lamborghini.

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Lamborghini Urus SUV Race Car? No, Really

Lamborghini Urus SUV Race Car? No, Really The Lamborghini Urus SUV Race Car ushers in a new Motorsport program
The Urus racer is 25 percent lighter than its production counterpart.
You know Lamborghini is making an SUV now, right? It’s called the Urus and, besides it being a questionable move in every way but financial (they’ll sell them by the boatload, just watch), Lambo has come up with an idea that’s even goofier than making their own truck.
An all-Lambo SUV racing series.
No, they’re serious.
Squealing Tires & Mangled Carbon Fiber
At first, I thought this was some sort of monumentally sick joke. Then I slipped into a deep existential dread that a sports car company (even though it’s a sports car company as fundamentally compromised as Lamborghini) would even contemplate a truck racing series. But now, the more I think about it, the more this could turn into a real hootin’ hollerin’ good time!
Think of it: if they play it right, and only allow entries to be driven by housewives from Orange Country and plastic surgeons from Scarsdale, the on track action (and by action, I mean non-stop mistakes, over-driving, and completely preventable shunts) could be hysterically entertaining.
That tried and true combination of high power, high center of gravity, and high self-regard could equal squealing tires, concussive thumps, and mangled carbon fiber from the green flag till the checker.
Related: Lamborghini Urus: Everything wrong at just the right time.
Lamborghini Urus SUV Race Car. Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Filthy, Stinkin’ Rich
At the 2018 World Finals, for their single make racing series, Lamborghini Squadra Corse unwrapped the Urus ST-X Concept. Their, uh, vision is a ride imagined for a single-brand racing championship that combines both a race circuit and an off-road track. Lambo made no mention if this “vision” was the result of Hunter S. Thompson levels of peyote ingestion combined with a frightening lack of sleep, but it sure sounds like it.
The new racing series will debut in 2020 both in Europe and the Middle East (lots o’cash floating around there). The competitors will race on specially-prepared and FIA-approved circuits, with the whole rich guy “arrive and drive” formula in place. Just hop in your Gulfstream Jet (you bourgeoisie jerk) fly to, oh, probably Dubai or some such place, and Lambo will have the complete package, including the car and technical support, all ready and waiting for the entire race weekend.
Related: Lamborghini Squadra Corse unveils their unicorn.
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Engineering & Performance
The Urus ST-X Concept has, of course, been thoroughly worked over. As fun as it would be to watch them do this with a showroom stock machine, Lambo isn’t that senseless. The Urus ST-X Concept comes with all the FIA-approved safety elements you would expect. There’s a steel roll cage, fire suppression system, and an FT3 fuel tank not found in the production model.
Visually, this thing is all Lamborghini and about as subtle as shotgun blast. The Urus ST-X Concept is laid out in a matte Verde Mantis (i.e. screaming green) livery and the hood is in naked carbon fiber. The air intakes are larger and optimized for cooling the V8 twin-turbo plant. Said mill puts out 640 ponies and 627 lb-ft. of grunt.
Rear wing? Sure, why not? New hexagonal racing exhausts, and 21-inch single-nut aluminum alloy wheels, fitted with Pirelli tires, complete the visuals.
Compared to the production model, the Urus ST-X Concept drops 25 percent of its all up weight. Combined with an increase in torsional stiffening via the roll cage and a “raised set-up,” the Urus ST-X Concept is ready for the track. Or so says Lamborghini.
Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Heavy Metal Noise
Chances are the entire thing will be a circus sideshow, rather than some sort of racing to improve the breed situation. So why not go full circus? Grab a Kardashian or two (there seems to be a lot of them) a few rap moguls, burned out stadium rockers (what’s Sammy Hagar up to these days?), bone saw wielding Sheiks, and a few hedge fund managers and turn ’em loose!
Let’s go full on Ben-Hur!
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz.
Photos & Source: Automobili Lamborghini.

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Lamborghini Miura P400, Chassis #3586: The Italian Job Restored

Lamborghini Miura P400, Chassis #3586: The Italian Job Restored Lamborghini Polo Storico has located and certified the Miura P400, chassis #3586.
Keen eyes may recognize it as the original from the opening scenes of The Italian Job.
Back in 1966, Lamborghini was a rather unimpressive sports car manufacturer from northern Italy. They were about as remarkable as De Tomaso or Bizzarrini. Interesting in some respects and horrid in others. That all changed at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show when Lambo rolled out the Miura. At a stroke, the upstart Italian car maker vaulted to the head of the pack. When other manufactures were only making front-engine cars, Lamborghini came out with the Miura, a mid-engine 12-cylinder beast that not only went like the business, it looked like the business.
Week & A Day (Over To The Right)
Everything about it was frightening, impressive or impressively-frightening. The powertrain layout was a marvel of packaging: the four-liter V12 engine was mounted transversely, which made for a remarkably short car that was a nightmare to work on. That same four-liter V12 was notoriously high strung, meaning you had to work on it a lot. That’s why it was tallied in the “frightening” column. The body, designed by stylist Marcello Gandini, was breathtaking; but the chassis engineering resulted in the driver’s feet being mashed a week and a day over to the right.
Lamborghini Miura P400, chassis #3586 from the 1969 film, The Italian Job. Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Related: The Circuit Wolf manga comic book series was inspired by this Miura SVR.
Lights, Camera, Action
It gained wide notoriety when it was driven in the opening of The Italian Job movie. Driven by an unnamed, smartly-attired gentleman; graying at the temples, smoldering cigarette nonchalantly dangling from his lips; ridiculously-styled wrap around sunglasses clamped to his face, just belting up the St. Bernard pass in Italy; its siren song V12 engine note echoing off the granite mountainsides until ka-SMASH, it runs headlong into a friggin’ bulldozer and bursts into flames.
The flaming wreckage is then pushed off the mountain road, down a terrifyingly-steep embankment and into the river, silently observed by a cadre of black suited, stone-faced gentlemen. And that’s just how the movie starts.
Lamborghini Miura P400, chassis #3586 interior layout. Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Chassis #3586? Could This Be The One?
That very Miura is the car you see pictured here. No, no, not the flaming wreckage one; that was one of two Miuras used in the film. The one here was used in the driving sequences and a previously wrecked one was used for the whole crunching/exploding/ravine tumbling bit. This is Lamborghini Miura P400, chassis #3586, and 50 years later, Lambo found it and gave it a factory restoration.
Painted in Arancio Miura (that would be orange) with white and black leather interior, chassis #3586 has been the most pursued Miura in recent decades. After filming, the car all but disappeared, or at least it went unnoticed. Perhaps this was “the same Miura used in The Italian Job,” was overheard at club meets and such, but #3586 became “just” another cool older Italian sports car. As interest picked up, enthusiasts and collectors got into the hunt. The car was finally found in The Kaiser Collection of Vaduz, Liechtenstein. The Kaiser Collection contacted Lamborghini Polo Storico, the in-house research and rebuild outfit, to verify it was actually the car from the movie.
Lamborghini Polo Storico, inaugurated in 2015, is Automobili Lamborghini’s department dedicated to preserving the company’s heritage. Its activities include the restoration and certification of all Lamborghinis produced up to 2001. Photo: Automobili Lamborghini.
Look For The White Headrests
The car was then sent to Sant’ Agata Bolognese where Polo Storico’s work began by examining documents in Lamborghini’s archives. They even went so far as to conduct interviews with enthusiasts and former employees like Enzo Moruzzi, who delivered the famous Miura to the set and drove it in all the shots as a stunt double.
“There was a Miura P400 almost ready on the production line, in the right color, left-hand drive and with white leather interior. It was aesthetically identical to the damaged one and we decided to use it for the film. The only thing worrying us was the elegant white leather seats, given that car had to get back to Sant’Agata in perfect condition,” Moruzzi recalled.
When filming concluded, Paramount Pictures gave the car back to Lambo, who simply prepared it for delivery to its first owner, an Italian from Rome. 50 years later, the white leather seats remain an enduring part of the story behind chassis #3586.
“So, I asked for them to be taken out, replacing them with a set of black leather seats that we used for testing,” Moruzzi continued. “The giveaway was the headrests, which on the Miura are attached to the dividing glass between the driver compartment and the engine compartment, which couldn’t be replaced in time. In the film, you can see the original white headrests.”

Anniversary Celebration
Lamborghini Polo Storico did a nut and bolt, ground-up restoration on chassis #3586, just in time for the 50th anniversary of The Italian Job. What a lovely coincidence, no? Lamborghini was good enough to give us a raft of very pretty pictures of this very pretty, and very memorable car. Here, have a look.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz.
Miura P400, Chassis #3586 Gallery

Photos & Source: Automobili Lamborghini.

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Bricks And Bones: Chapter 12: A Slight Return: An Epilogue

Bricks And Bones: Chapter 12: A Slight Return: An Epilogue Tony Borroz attended the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 28th, 2017. This series, Bricks And Bones, explores the cultural significance, endearing legacy, and the nitty-gritty phenomenon of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
The prologue of this series here.
Chapter 1: Real Wrong here.
Chapter 2: St. Elmo’s Fire here.
Chapter 3: The Quiet Racer here.
Chapter 4: Hang Ten here.
Chapter 5: Female Perspective here.
Chapter 6: The Fearless Spaniard here.
Chapter 7: Speedway Legends here.
Chapter 8: Barrel Roll here.
Chapter 9: A Wide Face here.
Chapter 10: Among The Fans here.
Chapter 11: After The Storm here.

It is Tuesday and the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 is now two days gone. Healey and I return to our car after taking in The Speedway’s museum and a quick, impromptu chat with Donald Davidson, the “professor emeritus” of Speedway history. We get in and amble slowly through the infield roads. The vast track complex is largely empty. All cars gone. All huge shiny team transporters long on the road to Detroit for the next race. Track vehicles neatly parked. Motorhomes, the private sanctuaries of drivers, mostly gone except for a half dozen or so.
Chance Encounter
We wander back toward Gasoline Alley, Bill’s car idling along at a slightly-better-than-walking pace. A weary, strung out security guard half-heartedly waves us through a check point. The complex of garages are all shuttered behind steel roll-up doors . . . except for one. By who knows what reasoning, the remnants of Dale Coyne’s team are still there, doing a final load-out and catching up with spares for the race. We park and get out to say hello, and there, to my absolute and honest wonder is Sebastien Bourdais. He’s sitting/leaning on the back of a golf cart, talking with various team members as they walk by carrying the bits and pieces that make up a modern day racing team.
Sebastien seems none the worse for wear, despite sitting at an odd angle and orientation – no doubt due to the fact that ten days ago, he slammed into a wall in excess of 225 mph at an impact of 100 Gs, breaking his hip and fracturing his pelvis in seven places.
He’s actually rather chatty, although he seems slightly restless and agitated. When asked how he’s feeling he answers in a bit of a world-weary way, partially due to this being the 2,459th time he’s answered these same questions, but such questions are reminders he will not be racing for quite some time; weeks, months, who knows. Although talkative as is his usual self, he’s also a bit slow to answer. He is no doubt on enough painkillers to knock even Keith Richards on his ass.
Sebastien Bourdais looks on during qualifying at the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500. Photo: Joe Skibinski.
Quiet Reflection
We chat a bit more then take off, winding our way out through the track. We leave via the north entrance, slowly tooling by the lined up jet-driers and safety cars, and the garages and storage sheds necessary for putting on The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
We return home, to the leafy, tree-lined street of suburban middle America and I pause and look down the street as Bill goes inside. I think of Sebastien Bourdais, a man who shouldn’t even be here. A man of uncommon talent and bravery and skill. I think of concepts like “luck” and “risk” and “mortality.” But mainly I think of the racers. I think of Sebastien Bourdais.
I think of Sebastien Bourdais. I think of Sebastien Bourdais. I think of my friend/acquaintance/guy I met. I think of a man who should be dead. I think of a man who, but for the grace of God or Fate or Luck is still alive. I think of Sebastien Bourdais.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He means well, even if he has a bias towards lighter, agile cars rather than big engine muscle cars or family sedans.
This series, Bricks And Bones, in its entirety can be found here.
Cover Photo: David Yowe.

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