Celebrating 50 years of Lamborghini

Ferruccio Lamborghini’s ‘perfect car’ has stood the test of time and Lamborghini celebrates a glorious 50 year anniversary in 2013. The celebrations have been on since the start for 2013 and will culminate in May as the streets of Italy flood with over 300 raging bulls.

If the famous legend is to be believed, Lamborghini was started in 1963 by Ferruccio Lamborghini who at the time ran a successful tractor business. When he went to Ferrari to get a replacement clutch for his Ferrari 250GT he found it to be the same unit he used on his tractors. When he asked for a more sturdy replacement Ferrari responded saying that he was just a tractor maker and didn’t know anything about sports cars. This incident goaded Ferruccio enough to get into the business in a bid to build the perfect sports car.

Lamborghini have had many success stories in these 50 years from the Miura in 1967 to the edgy Aventador of 2012. But the emphasis has always been on sport and speed with a little consideration made for driver comfort. And this is one of the reasons of their universal appeal; they have always been ‘no excuses’ sports car and we love them for that.

Of course they have a new special to commemorate the anniversary and at the Shanghai Motor show in April they unveiled the Aventador LP720-4. Only a hundred will be made and in case you don’t manage to get your hands on one, don’t worry, any Lamborghini purchased in 2013 will have a glazed 50th anniversary emblem in the cabin.

While the celebrations have been on through the year at Lamborghini, the finale kicks off now as hundreds of vintage and modern Lamborghini’s and their owners will parade through over 1200km of streets. The celebrations drive kicked off on May 7 in Milan where owners started off on a tour that will take them through the Tuscany countryside and also part of the route the Mille Miglia used to take. They will then arrive at the Piazza Maggiore, Bologna's main square on the evening of May 10. On the final day, the cars will be displayed to the public followed by a factory and museum visit. The celebrations will then conclude with an exclusive gala dinner and fireworks show.

By Team Overdrive
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Why Italians are no longer buying supercars

Italy is the wound that continues to drain blood from the body financial of Italian supercar and sports car makers. The wound was opened by the country's various financial police who decided to get serious about superyacht-owning and supercar-driving tax cheats a few years ago, by noting their registrations and checking their incomes. When it was found that a rather high percentage of exotic toy owners had claimed a rather low annual income - certain business owners were found to be declaring less income than their employees - the owners began dumping their cars and prospective buyers declined to buy.

Car and Driver has a piece on how the initiative is hitting the home market the hardest. Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide in 2010, 1,602 cars in 2011 and 2,083 cars in 2012 - an excellent surge in just two years. In Italy, however, it's all about the ebb: in 2010, the year that Italian police began scouring harbors, Lamborghini sold 96 cars in Italy, the next year it sold 72, last year it sold just 60. The declines for Maserati and Ferrari are even more pronounced.

Head over to CD for the full story and the numbers. What might be most incredible isn't the cause and effect, but where the blame is being placed. A year ago the chairman of Italy's Federauto accused the government of "terrorizing potential clients," this year Luca di Montezemolo says what's happening has created "a hostile environment for ­luxury goods." Life at the top, it ain't easy.

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2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP720-4 50 Anniversario is indeed worth celebrating

The entire Porsche Panamera lineup gets a refresh for the 2014 model year, and new additions to the range include two long-wheelbase models and this E-Hybrid fuel-sipper that makes its debut here at the Shanghai Motor Show. And, well, we say "fuel-sipper" lightly.

Here is the Giallo Maggio candle that carries the flame of Lamborghini's 50th anniversary: the
Aventador LP720-4 50 Anniversario Edition. There will be just 100 of them produced, each one in the buttery hue that has been the most popular color among the Lamborghini palette since the Miura arrived in 1966.

This limited-edition Aventador gets 20 more horsepower than the standard car for a total of 720 horses, and there's a new aerodynamics package to keep all of them planted on the ground. Inside, there's new leather in colors tied to the Bolognese home of Lamborghini: Terra Emilia brown or Giallo Quercus yellow, and black. A new diamond type of stitching also sets it apart from any other Aventador out there.




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Range-topping 800-hp Lamborghini Aventador SV hits the 'Ring

A couple of years ago, rumors were circulating about a possible high(er)-performance version of theLamborghini Aventador, and our spy photographers have just captured what appears to be a prototype of this new supercar testing at the Nürburgring. Supposedly called the Aventador SV (for Super Veloce), this even-more-hardcore version of Lamborghini's range-topper could boast as much as 800 horsepower. Yowza.

As for the car you see here, our spies point out new center-lock wheels wrapped in ultra-thin high-performance tires that hide revised brake calipers mounted in a different position than on the normal Aventador. Up front, there's a new aerodynamic piece that makes for an even lower air splitter, and around back, an extra piece of trim (often referred to as a Gurney flap) has been added to the spoiler to provide enhanced downforce.