Autoblog

A wealthy Arab man, thought to be a Sheikh, recently had his black and gold Lamborghini LP640 flown 3,250 miles to London via Qatar Airways and trucked to a certified UK Lamborghini dealership last Friday for a fluid change, which cost him a paltry £3,552 compared to the £20,000 round-trip flight. That's a grand total of £23,552 ($46,644 USD) for a friggin' oil change.

Environmentalists are obviously not pleased with the owner's wanton display of conspicuous consumption. Airport workers at Heathrow also blasted the owner's excess after watching the car get the royal treatment on the runway. One commented, "This car doesn't have a carbon footprint - more of a crater," and another pointed out that it would've been much cheaper to just fly certified Lamborghini technicians to Qatar to do the service.

This type of behavior begs the question of how far one's personal choice extends in the face of the greater good. We're told the Earth is dying beneath our feet and it's all our fault, so should a Sheikh be allowed to ship his car around the world for an oil change while the rest of us stick compact flourescent light bulbs in our lamps and wait in line to buy a Prius? Perhaps the only act that could be more environmentally egregious than this is if he just threw out his exotic and bought a new one every 3,000 miles.

[Source: The Sun]

Click above for hi-res gallery of the LP640 Roadster Versace

Lamborghini has teamed up with Versace yet again to offer a special edition of the Murcielago LP640. If you're thinking this isn't a first, you're thinking right: Back in 2006, the two Italian houses of striking style teamed up to offer a small run of 10 LP640 coupes, and then produced an additional black roadster for a charity fundraiser. But now Lamborghini is offering the Versace edition LP640 Roadster to the public at large – that is, those who have the big bucks to cough up for one.

As could be expected, the Versace edition is more about style than substance. The bright white exterior is plastered with Versace's Greek motif, while the interior gets special full-grain, hand-embroidered, ultra-soft, white nappa leather on the seats, dashboard and center console. The Versace edition also gets a transparent engine cover that showcases the V12 for the first time. The special edition, unveiled yesterday at Versace's Via Gesu 12 in Milan during Men's Fashion Week, was accompanied by a new range of Lamborghini Versace merchandise, including leather luggage, gloves, driving shoes and an assortment of other accessories.

Check out the press release after the jump and the images in the gallery below to take in all the little touches that sets the Versace edition LP640 Roadster apart.

[Source: Lamborghini]

Click above to view Magvisio's Lamborghini Ferruccio in hi-res

Anything you can do, I can do better. That's pretty much been Lamborghini's attitude towards arch-rival Ferrari since Ferrucio Lamborghini starting building sportscars to spite Enzo Ferrari. Fast forward 45 years and with both men gone, the idea remains the same: if Ferrari could create an exotic supercar and name it after its founder, so can Lamborghini. Only in this case, the heritage is carried on by independent designer Pule Magau of carrozzeria Magvisio.

What you see before you is the Lamborghini Ferruccio. Like the Reventon, the Ferruccio was conceived as an ultra-exclusive uber-exotic based on the Murcielago LP640. But while the Reventon had its production run upped to 100, the Ferruccio was planned for only 10 road-going examples: five coupes and five roadsters. Also like the Reventon, the Ferruccio was supposed to sell for Є1 million ($1.5 million), but it very well might have been the manifestation of the Reventon that stopped the Ferruccio project in its tracks, siphoning off potential customers to the factory's own show-stopper.

The use of carbon fiber inside and out on the Ferruccio promised to undercut the Murcielago's 0-60 time to three seconds flat en route to a claimed top speed of 230 mph, with 330mm ceramic discs and six-pot calipers to keep the speed in check. Couple that with razor-sharp styling to rival the Reventon, and you've got an interesting package, if only it didn't cost so much. Magau, however, is reportedly working to reduce the costs. If those goals can be met and the deposits roll in, the Ferruccio project could turn from wet dream to startling reality. Thanks for the tip, Mike!

NOTE: Autoblog team is split 50/50 on whether this is actual news or a bit of chain yanking from the Brits. Nunez wants it categorically stated on record that he is 100% convinced this is an "elaborate BS festival", noting that CAR's link to Magvisio's website is bogus. Noah, meanwhile, points out that there's even a video rendering of the Ferruccio, which means it would be one very elaborate hoax if it weren't the real deal. Alex fires back that the BBC was responsible for the most famous April Fools stunt ever. Your call.

[Source: Car Magazine]

Click image for a gallery of the record-setting LP640

You see, this is how it's done. Real top speed records are set by teams of professionals in controlled environments, and they're verified by precision instrumentation. That's why Edo Competition's mark of 214 mph in a lightly-modified Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 at Nardo counts, and the YouTube-ified "219 mph" trip computer banzai run on an Arizona freeway by a former dentist and his buddies does not.

Edo's LP640 was fitted with a rear wing and sported a reprogrammed ECU, high-flow air filters, and high-performance catalytic converters. Engine output in that guise was bumped up to 663 horsepower. According to the GPS-based measuring system used on all the cars at the Nardo high-speed event, Edo's machine (complete with Calvin sticker) topped out at 214.8 mph. That is the official fastest top speed ever recorded by a Lamborghini. They're going back next year, too, with 700 horses behind the driver and a goal of 224+ mph.

UPDATE: Videos added after the jump. (H/T to OneEightTurbo)

[Source: Edo Competition]

This is by no means substantiated in any way other than a forum post, but a member of the FerrariChat forum is reporting that Lamborghini will privately unveil a new supercar based on the LP640 Murcielago (shown) and costing $1.5 million to a select group at the Pebble Beach Concours this week. The rumor goes that 20 will be made, with 15 earmarked for the U.S., and that the new supercar's official unveiling will occur at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. We have people on the ground at the Pebble Beach Concours this week with cameras ready in case a tent flap gets blown up by the wind, and we'll of course be in Frankfurt next month, as well. Just how powerful and fast this new Lambo will be, and whether the rumor is even true, is still unknown.

Thanks for the tip, Fred!

[Source: FerrariChat]

A former Autoblogger is in need of your help. Chris Paukert, current online editor for Winding Road, former Autoblog editor and, at least next week, official lucky bastard, had a visit from his boss who promised him the keys to a Lamborghini LP640 roadster for a day. Paukert has a gas card, the company credit cards, and 24 hours to shoot the shoot the car for his March issue before the bull goes back in its cage.

So what could a guy with free run of a Lamborghini possibly need help with? Paukert looking to you to find ways to spend every last second of his 24-hour day with LP640 Roadster.

At the top of our suggestion list is what we imagine every gearhead, car geek, torque-toker and grease monkey daydreams about: going back to your hometown strip, taking that 640-hp beast, lining it up at the light next to Billy Bob Jackass in his bottled Chevy 454 SS pickup, then dropping the hammer to watch his smug little grin turn to embarrassment and shame. Oh, what dreams we have.

So what would you do if given 640 Italian horses for a day?

Oh, and Chris, if you just can't think of anything to do with that beauty, give your old pals over here a call. We'll unburden you of that huge responsibility.

[Source: Winding Road]