3:51 am, March 21, 2010
Any production car that produces 670bhp is worthy of cult car status in Car Dealer Magazine’s eyes.
It’s even better when said power is produced at a dizzy, screaming 8,000rpm – and little short of genius when it is a mighty mid-mounted 6.5-litre V12 that’s doing all the hard work. Yes, there is little doubt that the Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce would be on our Lottery win shortlist.
Blimey, even the name is uber-cool. Say it out loud… ‘just taking the SuperVeloce out…’ yeah! How could you not be cool with one of them in the garage?
It is, in short, the world’s ultimate Murcielago. Lamborghini is, we hear, working on a replacement for the mighty Murci as we speak, but that hasn’t stopped the madcap Italian development engineers helping the current one go out with a bang.
It was revealed this time last year at the Geneva Motor Show. SuperVeloce is becoming something of a traditional run-out special name in Lamborghini’s world, and the Murcielago SV is fittingly bespoke for a model that will be limited to just 350 super-tuned cars.
Just look at it, for one. Car Dealer Magazine was simply blown away when we saw it in Geneva last year – bright yellow, all wings, spoilers and menacing black alloy wheels; combined with the sheer enormity of the massive Murcielago, simply staring at it became an event in itself.
Lamborghini didn’t stop at the styling, though. Acknowledging that the Murcielago is monstrous, it chopped a staggering 100kg from the kerbweight, through the use of lightweight carbonfibre body parts and a hyper-expensive exhaust. Apparently, this is not just whole kilogrammes lighter, it also sounds absolutely sensational.
209MPH!
A bit of weight was added by fitting six-piston brake calipers, but even this was offset by the use of carbon-ceramic brake discs. The stoppers themselves are bigger than the wheels on a standard Ford Fiesta; just what you need when you’re dealing with a 200mph car as super as this.
Not just 200mph, either; Lamborghini claims a top speed of 209mph with the standard Aeropack set of wings.
And if even that is too slow, you can get the factory to fit an optional high-speed small-spoiler set, which takes the all-out speed to a monumental 213mph. To us, being able to claim our car could do 213mph ranks right up among the top pub boasts in the world…
Mind you, our mates would probably already know this. See, it’s been on Top Gear, too. The Hamster set up a race between the Lambo and a McLaren-Mercedes SLR 722. Despite being a mega-car, the SLR only just beat it, showing that the Murcielago still has a trick or two up its sleeve despite its advancing years.
It would have to be a lottery win car, though. The current list price stands at more than £270k, which makes it one of the world’s most expensive production supercars.
You could get a Ferrari 458 Italia AND a Porsche 911 Turbo for that money. But, you know, the Porsche isn’t quite as quick in the dash from 0-60 and the Ferrari’s name isn’t quite as cool.
And neither can be bought with quite as many wings, in quite a violent a shade of yellow. Neither has a stupidly large V12 engine. Neither looks like they’re about to take off. By modern car standards, the mighty Lamborghini is a bit of a dinosaur. But in terms of cult car status, it’s a bit of an icon.
by RICHARD AUCOCK
