Recovery position
The Gallardo sets Ted Macauley’s heartbeat racing
I relived my dreams behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Gallardo 30 years after I sold my own Lambo Espada. What has happened in between to the oft-troubled Italian car maker is little less than a miraculous recovery with a supercar series to set the heart racing and the profit margin soaring.
The revival is due to Audi’s takeover and the appointment of a bold planner in Stephan Winkelmann, a German who developed his reputation at Fiat. Barely two decades ago Lamborghini was a loss-maker, happy to sell 250 cars a year – now, it is selling old Espada a really distant memory. There is a mighty, muscular 5.0-litre, V10 engine to hurtle you along and a brilliantly constructed body, with hardly any lean, that soaks up the bumps with contemptuous ease. It is pretty costly to run, with only about 7kpl on the combined cycle. Bottom line: the price is around US$223,000 – but, remember, you are buying a showpiece. www.lamborghini.com
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