In the first episode, Lamborghini started making sports cars,
but some of the most iconic and expensive Lamborghinis
are still to come.
This is the second episode of the Evolution of Lamborghini.
In 1972, Ferrucio Lamborghini sold his controlling shares
to Georges-Henri Rossetti,
a wealthy Swiss businessman and a friend of Lamborghini.
Rossetti bought the shares for $600,000.
In December 2020, those shares would be worth a whopping $6 billion!
Under new ownership, the Lamborghini company switched things up
by releasing a 2.5 liter V8 model,
named the Lamborghini Urraco,
which is a Spanish slang word meaning ‘little bull’.
The 4-passenger sports car was priced at $22,500
and intended to be a more affordable alternative
to the Ferrari Dino and Maserati Merak.
It could reach a top speed of 149 miles per hour
and go from 0 to 60 in 6.7 seconds.
Besides the 2.5 liter V8 model,
2 and 3 liter models of the car were also made available
with either worse or better top speeds and acceleration times.
In total 776, Urracos were built over a period of 7 years.
Next, the Lamborghini company started working
on a successor to the Miura in 1974.
The result was the Lamborghini Countach,
which oddly enough was not named after a bull or an area of Spain.
The name actually came from an expression made by a guard in his local dialect
when he saw the design of the new car.
Its equivalent in English would be something like “Wow!”
And it's easy to understand why he had this reaction.
The wedge-shaped Lamborghini had a completely different design
than any other car on the market.
It also was the first production car to incorporate scissor doors.
Returning to the 3.9 liter V12 engine,
the Countach caused a few gasped expressions
with its speed and acceleration too.
It could reach 187 miles per hour
and accelerate from 0 to 60 in just 5 seconds,
making it much faster and quicker than the Miura.
The Countach wasn’t cheap though.
It was the first Lamborghini to cost over $50,000.
It became the longest-running production car,
with 1,983 units made over 16 years.
Emerging from the shadows in 1976, was the Lamborghini Silhouette.
It replaced the Urraco,
with a Targa roof, basically making it semi-convertible.
It had a 3 liter V8 engine,
making it faster and quicker than the Urraco,
but also more expensive.
The Silhouette wasn’t a success though.
The plan was to win over the US market,
but that never happened.
In 3 years, only 55 units were made…
With that amount, they wouldn’t even win over the North Pole market.
The Silhouette wasn’t the only bad thing that happened to the company.
Lamborghini also had internal problems because of the change in ownership,
and to make matters worse, in the 1970s, there was an oil crisis,
skyrocketing oil prices.
As a consequence, Lamborghini car sales suffered
because of their high fuel consumption.
In 1978, Lamborghini’s situation worsened so much
that it entered bankruptcy.
Two years later, the company was purchased for $3 million
by Patrick Mimran and his brother.
Mimran, who was only 24 at the time, became the CEO
and was later credited for being the man who saved Lamborghini.
In 1981, under the leadership of Lamborghini's new owners,
the Jalpa was produced.
It was the last Lamborghini to use a V8 engine for a long time.
The Jalpa was named, once again, after a famous breed of fighting bulls.
It replaced the Silhouette
and although the top speed was lower and it had a higher price,
the Jalpa was more successful with 420 units produced in 7 years.
You probably wouldn’t choose Lamborghini as a go-to manufacturer
if you’re looking to travel across rough terrain,
but did you know that Lamborghini has made
several off-road trucks over the years?
The LM002,
also known as the “Lamborghini truck” or the "Rambo-Lambo"
was made in 1986, after two prototype off-roaders had been made
including the Cheetah, which was a military vehicle.
The LM002 came with special Pirelli tires
which could run virtually flat without risk
and handle the desert heat.
Two special versions of the truck participated
through the tough terrains in the Dakar Rally.
The 5.2L V12 Rambo-Lambo
could reach a top speed of 130 miles per hour
and accelerate to 60 in 8.5 seconds.
300 units were made costing $65,000.
FUN FACT:
The first LM002 was delivered to the King of Morocco.
Another fun fact, the truck featured in several movies
including the Fast & Furious.
With the arrival of the 1990s came a new era for Lamborghini,
the era of supercars that were capable of speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour
or 320 kilometers per hour!
It started with the Lamborghini Diablo that was powered by a 5.7 liter V12 engine.
The Diablo could hit 202 mph and go from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds.
Over the course of 11 years, 900 units were made.
The most expensive Lamborghini before the Diablo
was the LM002 that had a price tag of $65,000.
The Diablo was more than 3 times as expensive
as it was sold for a whopping $200,000!
The Lamborghini Diablo SV followed in 1995
and improved upon the speed of the Diablo,
which makes sense since SV stands for ‘Super Veloce’
or ‘Super Fast’ in English.
It maxed out at 208 miles per hour
and went from 0 to 60 in 3.8 seconds.
It was also more expensive with a price tag of almost $230,000.
Not content with those figures, Lamborghini then made the Diablo GTR
as a track-ready model with power improvements,
a stripped interior, and a reduction in weight.
It pushed 210 mph and had a 0 to 60 time of 3.4 seconds.
Only 32 GTRs were made and were sold for over $300,000.
The Diablo line-up became super successful.
Almost 3,000 units were sold across the world!
FUN FACT:
The name Diablo means “devil” in Spanish.
In 1998, Ferdinand Piëch, the chairman of the Volkswagen Group,
went on a buying spree purchasing Lamborghini,
Bentley and Bugatti.
Lamborghini was bought for around $110 million
and placed under parent company Audi, which is also owned by Volkswagen.
FUN FACT:
Currently the Volkswagen Group owns 12 huge car brands!
That is just unbelievable!
The Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001
and served as the flagship V12 of Lamborghini’s line-up.
It was the first model made under the new ownership
of German parent company Audi.
The Murciélago had a 6.2 liter V12 and performed similarly to the Diablo,
but its look made it a favourite of many.
It’s probably why almost 4,000 of them were made
with a starting price of $273,000!
FUN FACT:
The Murciélago Roadster was driven by Bruce Wayne in ‘Batman Begins’,
which is a very clever nod to the superhero
because Murciélago is the Spanish word for bat.
Following the success of the Murciélago, Lamborghini came out with the Gallardo.
Powered by a 5 liter V10 that could reach a top speed of 192 mph
and go from 0 to 60 in 4.3 seconds.
To own one yourself would have cost
at least $180,000 when they were first released.
In total, over 7,000 original Gallardos were produced!
In 2005, the Gallardo Superleggera was unleashed.
It was lighter than the original model due to the use of carbon fiber parts.
It maxed out at 196 mph
and could go from 0 to 60 in just 3.8 seconds.
618 units were produced and it cost $50,000 more than the original.
The fastest of the Gallardo range though was the LP560-4,
which was also used by the Italian authorities
to patrol highways.
It had a 5.2 liter V10,
and with a top speed of 202 mph,
you’d have a hard time outrunning the Italian police!
It could reach 60 mph in 3.6 seconds
and was sold for $198,000.
The Gallardo with all its variants became the best-selling Lamborghini model.
Throughout its production run, more than 14,000 Gallardos were built.
The Reventón is a limited edition masterpiece
that was first revealed at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.
With a design inspired by the very latest aeronautics,
this sleek, swift machine was named after a bull who killed a matador,
with the word Reventón meaning “small explosion” or “burst” in Spanish.
It was the first Lambo to utilize a 6.5 liter V12 engine
that could reach a top speed of 205 mph.
It could accelerate to 60 mph in just 3.3 seconds.
In total, only 21 units were made, including one for the Lamborghini Museum.
In 2009, a roadster version was unveiled
and Lamborghini produced another 15 units of the Reventón Roadster.
The Reventón became the first Lamborghini to be priced
at more than 1 million dollars!
And if that wasn’t expensive enough,
the Roadster version was sold for 2.1 million dollars!
Come on! For this amount of money, you can buy yourself a luxury villa!
In 2008, Lamborghini unveiled a four-door sports car,
the Estoque.
Just imagine someone bringing their kids to school with this beast.
It could reach a top speed of 211 miles per hour,
making it the fastest Lamborghini so far.
Production plans for the Estoque were canceled,
so only 1 unit was built.
In 2009, Lamborghini made a special version of the Murciélago,
the Murciélago SV.
Using a 6.5 liter V12 engine,
it broke the 3 seconds barrier for 0 to 60 miles per hour.
It did not only become the quickest Lamborghini so far,
but also the fastest with a top speed of 213 mph.
Only 186 units were made
and it was launched with a price tag of $450,000.
In the next episode, we’ll feature the most iconic,
futuristic and expensive Lamborghinis of all time,
so subscribe to stay up to date in the latest of this series.
Click the video on the left to watch episode 3.