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Lamborghini Diablo SVTT

Here's where the story begins: In late 2001 I was in Costa Mesa, CA and happened upon an exotic car dealership, at that time know as the Automarket or Lotus of Orange County. In the showroom there were several rare exotics including a Diablo GT and a Jaguar XJ220. The real treasure, though, was a Diablo SVTT that happened to be the only one in the world. I hadn't even been aware of the car's existence before seeing it, and afterwards I tried researching the car's history on the internet. The only information available was that on the dealer's web site, which gave a brief history and some estimated specifications and performance numbers.

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200 MPH Club: 2005 Ford GT, Lamborghini Murcielago, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, and Porsche Carrera GT

We bring the Ford GT, the Lamborghini Murciélago, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, and the Porsche Carrera GT together in one place. You're about to learn exactly what it's like to live with the four fastest cars on sale in America.

You've devoured every word the automotive press has written about them. You've memorized their almost unbelievable technical specifications, marveled over their futuristic constructions, pored over cutaways and power curves, and tried to get your pointy little heads around performance numbers that seem nearly incomprehensible for roadgoing production cars.

Some of you actually have plunked down the suitcase full of stacked and banded C-notes for your place on the short list for your favorite, and we suspect that more than one of you have ordered all four.

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Lamborghini Miura

Introduction:

This was where it all started - the Miura was the first car to prove itself worthy of the 'supercar' tag. Prior to the Miura's arrival in 1967 many sportscars had offered high levels of performance and handling - but the Lamborghini was the first built around the criteria that define our modern concept of the supercar: massive speed, jaw-dropping design and technical innovation - together with a wallet-wilting pricetag to which only the wealthiest could aspire.

When the Miura's chassis was first shown at the 1965 Turin motorshow it caused a sensation - Lamborghini were proposing to build a mid engined supercar with a transverse mounted V12 engine. The production car appeared at the 1966 Geneva show, featuring beautiful Bertone-designed bodywork and performance figures set to make it the quickest and fastest production car in the world. The Miura's price was similarly other-worldly - £8050 in Britain, at a time when the Jaguar E-Type cost under £2000. The Miura was produced between 1967 and 1973, with a grand total of 764 cars being constructed.

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Lamborghini

Ferruccio Lamborghini was already a successful businessman when, in 1963, he decided to found a car company, named after himself. He chose Sant'Agata Bolognese as the location and recruited a variety of famous and capable engineers to design his cars, including Bizzarrini, Dallara and Stanzani. The first car, the 350GT, entered production in 1964 and combined a Bizzarrini developed quad-cam V12 with a Dallara developed chassis. As might be guessed, this combination proved Lamborghini 400GTvery effective, and it remained in production until 1968 (albeit in revised 400GT form from 1966).

More ground breaking was the 1966 release of the Miura, which used a transversely mounted V12 behind the occupants. With a Bertone designed two seat bodyshell (actually by Gandini and Giugiaro whilst working there), the Miura proved a great success and continued until 1973 when it was replaced by the equally famous Countach. In the meantime, the Islero had replaced the 400GT in 1968 as the companies 2+2 coupe, whilst in the same year the Espada had introduced genuine four-seater capacity to the marque. 1970 saw the Islero replaced by the similar Jarama whilst two years later the V8 Urraco entered another market segment, that of the 'small' supercar.

Also in 1972 Lamborghini sold 51% of his company to a Swiss businessman, with the remaining 49% going to another Swiss in Lamborghini Coutach1974. The latter year saw the Countach revealed in production form complete with 4-litre mid-mounted V12 and brutal, angular styling. Production continued until 1988 by which time the engine had been increased to 5-litres. The companies problems did not go away, however, and in 1978 they went into receivership. Three years later the Mimram brothers took control and began to revitalise the marque. First came the Jalpa, a restyled and heavily modified Urraco, then more potent Countachs and then, in 1982, the LM002. The latter was a Countach engined four wheel drive off-road jeep-like vehicle, quite a break with tradition !

In 1987 Chrysler purchased Lamborghini and development began of a new Countach replacement, as well as a Formula One engine. The latter debuted in 1989 and continued for some years without success, whilst the former, named Diablo, emerged in 1990 and continues in production until today. Continuing the mid-mounted V12 theme it is also available with four wheel drive and a roadster has also been built. In 1998 Lamborghini was sold to the VW Group, where it comes under the control of Audi.

Super Tuners: Pagani Zonda and Lamborghini Murcielago roadsters

Ahead of the Pagani’s Gatling-gun exhaust tips runs an AMG-built V12, bigger and mounted lower in its chassis than the Lamborghini V12. It will run with the bull, which can run like the wind.

As you stare at your own car languishing in the driveway, contemplating how you can swing the money for a new exhaust system for your daily driver, just imagine the price tag if you owned one of Italy’s finest. In this AutoWeek comparo to beat all comparos they actually take two handmade Italian masterpieces, not really “tuner” versions, and take them to task. But hey it’s a catchy headline. And who doesn’t want to read about the $596,000 Pagani Zonda Roadster and $419,250 Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster going head to head. The results? Owners of either win.

No supercar test can beat this one for convenience. Pagani Automobili does what it does just southeast of Modena, Italy. Automobili Lamborghini is just eight miles to the north, amid the plowed fields of Sant’Agata Bolognese. We fetched the yellow Murciélago Roadster first and 10 minutes later parked it next to a burgundy Zonda Roadster. These car-making neighbors have built similar coupes for a while, but now the tops come off and it is time for an autumnal run through the countryside for evaluation and pretty picture-making.

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Who's the Dude in the Silver Lamborghini? Yo, Bill Gates!

THERE comes a moment in every James Bond film, and every Bond book, for that matter, when 007 takes the wheel of a snazzy European sports car. It might be the signature Aston Martin or, in the films, a Lotus Esprit, but either way, the setting always seems to involve a sinuous stretch of coastal road with a casino and a beautiful woman at the end. Under a brilliant Mediterranean or Caribbean sun, Bond motors skillfully at top speed, one hand on the wheel, the other on the gear shift, his mind on the chemin de fer tables and a woman named Vesper or Domino.

Bond at the wheel made a deep impression on my young mind when the Ian Fleming books first came out. The films only reinforced it. For decades I dreamed of getting my hands on a top-flight Euro sports car, the kind of precision-tuned mechanical marvel that gives out a throaty, animal roar when a toe tickles the accelerator. It never happened — until a few weeks ago, when I lowered my now middle-aged frame, creaking and groaning, into a 2004 silver Lamborghini Murciélago.

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