Audi 2011 Annual Report Download - page 89

Fe
rruccio Lamborghini loved
many things: the industrial
empire he built from the
ground up after the war; the
wines he made at his own winery and
the high-horsepower sports cars he
was able to aff ord beginning in the
mid-1950s. At the time, Lamborghini
could not have imagined that this
particular passion would end up
making him famous. It seems the
engineer, annoyed by the poor quality
of many of his cars, did what he had
to do: In 1963 he began building
his own sports cars, and the world
had a bright new star – Automobili
Lamborghini, headquartered in
Sant’Agata Bolognese.
Of course, the engineer and
perfectionist in Ferruccio Lamborghini
also shone through in the design of
his automobiles – even the very fi rst
model had a 12-cylinder engine with
four overhead camshafts; the 5-speed
transmission was designed and built
in-house according to Lamborghini’s
own quality standards, and inde-
pendent suspension on all four
wheels was also still unknown in this
form. And when the fi rst Miura
with a transversely mounted V12
engine made its appearance at the
Geneva Motor Show in March 1966,
the mid-engined coupe styled by
Carrozzeria Bertone attracted crowds
of people, and Ferruccio Lamborghini
had fi nally cemented his reputation
as a manufacturer of Italian sports
cars. A reputation that would be
carried on by Countach, Diablo and
Murciélago, and that culminated
in the Gallardo and Aventador models
being built today.
While the 515 kW (700 hp)
Aventador is causing a sensation in
the world of supercars, the Gallardo,
exuding agility, nimbleness and
tailor-made sportiness, is set – for
the fi rst time in the long history
of Lamborghini – to put its sporty
capabilities to the test on the
racetracks in the Lamborghini
Blancpain Super Trofeo. It’s not
surprising that customers began
asking Lamborghini for a roadgoing
version of the LP 570-4 Super Trofeo.
A request they couldn’t refuse, nor
did they want to. The result is the
Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo
Stradale, whose very name boldly
draws attention to its 419 kW
(570hp) of output and all-wheel
drive. 570 powerful cavalli, which
the 5,204 cc ten-cylinder deploys at
8,000 revolutions per minute, and
which propel the 1,340 kg coupe with
relative ease: It reaches 100 km/h in
just 3.4 seconds, 200 km/h in 10.4
seconds, and it’s not until 320 km/h
that acceleration, rolling resistance
and aerodynamic drag achieve parity.
And thanks to the standard all-wheel
drive, this race car domesticated
for the road off ers, even on snowy
mountain passes, the perfect,
sporty handling that has long become
the hallmark of these masterpieces
on wheels from Sant’Agata.
86 _Passion
Fuel consumption and emission fi gures at the end of the Annual Report
The Lamborghini Gallardo
handles snow-covered
switchbacks with ease.
PHOTOS | OLAF HAUSCHULZ/KAI TIETZ AGENTUR DER PHOTOGRAPHEN