Bucking the tide of volume sales in exchange for giving consumers something to fill the desires of their hearts, a few manufacturers out there have given the auto world what they are REALLY after: power, finesse, control, style, heritage, and don't forget a heaping dose of knee-buckling exhaust resonance! Unfortunately, like everything fine in this world, it always comes at a cost. You can typically expect to spend all of your piggy bank savings and still have to borrow a couple hundred thousand from the bank to squat yourself into one of these cars. But not if you're smart about it.
We picked up this little beauty from the dealership that had just given it a full service and inspection and took it to a local parking structure. The gloomy morning clouds broke as we began our shoot.
Lamborghini gave birth to the Gallardo in 2003 and introduced it to the world at the Geneva Auto Show that year. Like it or love it, the Gallardo quickly made its presence known in the world of affordable supercars. Breaking away from Lamborghini's trademark scissor-doors, the Gallardo definitely made a statement. This kid brother to the Murcielago came packing a wallop too. Hanging only 46 centemeters from mother earth from whence its alloys were mined was a 512 horsepower aluminum block Cosworth V10 with finishing touches placed at Györ in Hungary. Power then was transfered to the pavement via an all-wheel drive system creating an agile machine capable of slapping the silly smile off the faces of any naysayers.
Adam and I couldn't help but smile as we drank in this car's lines. Having seen our share of "used" supercars and finding them all too often to be lacking, it was comforting to find one that needed nothing but a new owner. Clearly this car's current owner understood what it meant to care for the finer things. Not a rock chip or scratch existed on this car. Usually I can find at least one. Not this time.
Prohibition was a time in the history of this country where the government told people what they could and could not do to satisfy their need to consume alcoholic beverages. Many took it upon themselves to self govern and came up with a history making idea of their own. Deep in the backwood hills in darkened shacks bubbling with copper kettles a new and powerful concoction was developed. A distilled form of corn alcohol, sometimes called White Lightning, was born. The moonshiners found it necessary to outrun the lawmen of the time to distribute their "rocketfuel" to those seeking its intoxicating effects. We all know what they did with their cars and that NASCAR was born out of it.
Deep in the darkened cubicles at the skunkworks of Automobili Lamborghini SpA, much like those shacks in the hills, the bubbling minds of another sort of imagineer churned out a creation that would fly in the faces of those who felt that such things should never be made manifest. Women and children hide your eyes! A new form of White Lightning was here!
As mentioned previously, I had found myself in the presence of a diamond. Brand new in 2006 you could expect to pay in the neighborhood of $165,000 for this car's intoxicating effects. With only 11,000 miles on it however, this one won't break you in half each time you go to make the payment. Too good to be true? A "used" supercar that someone actually took real care of? Believe it.
Lamborghini stands alone in the hyper-fit and fully proficient super muscle car world. You can attempt to compare others to what they produce, but nothing else will fit into their mold. The sweetest thing about this fact is since no others will fit, Lamborghini has carte blanche to come up with whatever they want! The ultimate reality is that they recognize this and have the good sense to push the envelope of what others feel can not, or should not, be done. All praise to these free thinkers! Keep it coming!
