Autoblog

Remember your Roots: Lamborghini Toro tractor concept

Noah Joseph — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:33:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Work, Lamborghini, Rendered Speculation

Lamborghini Toro concept - Click above for a gallery

Most automakers try desperately to hold on to their roots. Just look at all the anniversaries we've been celebrating lately and you'll know what we mean. Lamborghini, on the other hand, seems keen to leave them behind. That's probably because Lamborghini's roots are actually in agriculture. As any sportscar aficionado worth his salt will tell you, Ferruccio Lamborghini started out building tractors and only got into the sportscar business to piss off Enzo Ferrari. The gap between its tractors and sportscars was bridged only by the LM002 sport-ute, known as the Rambo Lambo. But one aspiring designer is keen to resoil Lamborghini's past and present into one vehicle, and you're looking at it right here.

Called the Lamborghini Toro, it's the brainchild of aspiring Canadian designer Jason Battersby. Taking cues from Lambo's own agricultural equipment and its supercars, the Toro cuts a mean profile to envision what an integrated product would look like. Of course it's just a series of conceptual renderings, which you can view in the gallery below. But a small town farm boy can dream, can't he?

Gallery: Lamborghini Toro tractor concept

[Source: JBDesign via eGMCarTech]

Remember your Roots: Lamborghini Toro tractor concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 May 2009 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lamborghini Insecta concept has us buggin' out

Noah Joseph — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:59:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Performance, Supercars, Lamborghini, Rendered Speculation

Click above for a hi-res gallery of the Lamborghini Insecta concept

Playing a quick game of automotive-animal word association, you'd probably link Lamborghini to a bull. Between the emblem on the hood, supercars named after famous fighting bulls and the farming roots of the company, the association is well established. Iulian Bumbu thinks otherwise. The aspiring Romanian car designer, who interned at Alfa Romeo's styling department after earning his master's in car design in Milan, created the design study you see here.

Called the Insecta, the radical concept's design elements were borrowed from bugs instead of bovines.
Combining organic shapes with Lamborghini's trademark geometric angles, the Insecta concept integrates themes culled from the body armour observed on certain species of insects. With its dimensions and powertrain borrowed from the Gallardo, the Insecta would pack a sting as sharp as its buzz, and it could make a compelling successor to the current LP560-4 - but Lambo would have to drop a load of bull first.

Gallery: Lamborghini Insecta

[Source: Car Body Design and Luxist]

Lamborghini Insecta concept has us buggin' out originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lamborghini planning to put Estoque into production

Noah Joseph — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:29:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Lamborghini

Click above for high-res gallery of the Lamborghini Estoque concept

Emerging reports indicate that Lamborghini is currently in negotiations with the suits at its corporate superior Volkswagen to put the Estoque into production. The four-door Lamborghini concept was unveiled last month at the Paris show after a drawn-out parade of teasers, but with no actual engine unde-hood and little in the way of specifications revealed, most surmised that the Estoque was just a flash-in-the-pan publicity gimmick. Not so, according to the company's R&D chief Maurizio Reggiani, who confirmed to British weekly Autocar that the company is in the process of making a business case to the VW executive board. If approved, the Estoque could hit showrooms by late 2011 with a UK sticker quoted at around £150k, which lies in between the Gallardo's £135k British list price and the Murcielago's £220k.

To make financial sense, the Estoque would have to borrow heavily from the corporate parts bin, but Reggiani was quick to dismiss speculation that the Estoque would share its platform with any current or next-generation Audi. So what would provide the power, you ask? A re-tuned version of the Gallardo LP560-4's direct-injection V10, optimized for usability at the slight expense of peak output and driving through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox -- another first for Lamborghini. Also under consideration for the Estoque are hybrid and diesel V8 options, noting that the concept car's platform was designed to accommodate a variety of engines.

Wait a second, a diesel hybrid automatic four-door Lamborghini? What's going on in Sant'Agata since Porsche took over in Wolfsburg? Nothing all that unusual for the company that started out making tractors and even produced a HUMMER rival for a while. But with the Porsche Panamera and Aston Martin Rapide on the way, the market for the four-door exotic super-coupe could be the new premium battlefield.

Gallery: Paris 2008: Lamborghini Estoque LIVE

[Source: Autocar]

Lamborghini planning to put Estoque into production originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Paris Preview: Drip, drip drip, Lambo teaser #4

Sam Abuelsamid — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:55:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Paris Motor Show, Supercars, Lamborghini

Click above for gallery of Lamborghini "Urus" teaser shots

The trickle of images from Sant'Agata continues today as Lamborghini has shipped yet another teaser of the new car that it will show on Thursday at the Paris Motor Show. This time around we get a frontal image of the headlight area. Unlike the last two production models, the Gallardo and Murcielago, the orientation of the light cluster has been switched from vertical to horizontal. There is also a large vent visible implying that the engine is up front this time around. We only have one more day to wait for the full reveal, so it will be interesting to see what Lamborghini has wrought when it unveils the Urus or Estoque or whatever this concept turns out to be named.

Gallery: Paris 2008: Lamborghini Estoque Concept

[Source: Lamborghini]

Paris Preview: Drip, drip drip, Lambo teaser #4 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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