Lamborghini says it could build the Sterrato rally car at a profit

Automobile spent an hour working out the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato concept at the Volkswagen Group's Nardo test track. Naturally, the question of a production version came up. Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini's chief technical officer, told the magazine a customer version would be possible, only because "the provisional business case suggests that we can build this car at a profit." And the secret to making money on the car would be 3D printing.

The composition of the Sterrato is 96 percent bone-stock Huracán EVO. Same naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 with 631 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque, same all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering and torque vectoring, same 20-inch wheels. The exterior departures come in the handling software retuned for dirt and loose surfaces, a 1.85-inch lift, fender flares and a one-inch wider track, off-road tires backed by mud guards, aluminum plates front and rear. and those auxiliary LED lights. The cabin gets a titanium roll cage and five-point racing harnesses.

Perhaps save for the software, the edits are cosmetic add-ons, and Reggiani said Lamborghini can fabricate "all restyled or new body panels, claddings, ducts, and splitters on 3D printers." The carmaker developed a kind of plastic especially for the cause, "a lightweight synthetic material which is in its final shape bolted or screwed onto the finished body."

The Automobile piece said Lamborghini would need to assess the material's durability, and perhaps sort out a different solution for the "armadillo rear-window cover that messes up what view there is." There would also be the "jackhammer noise level" to attend to. Otherwise, the mag's assessment is that the Sterrato is "even more playful than its brethren, and the mere prospect of enjoying a long cold winter in a hard-core sports car is bound to make quite a few Lambophiles reach for their checkbooks."

The case for the car is presented as the Sterrato forming one in a line of special edition Huracáns that will maintain interest in the model until the replacement arrives in 2023 or 2024. Next year we'd get the hardcore Huracán STO, or Super Trofeo Omologato. A potential Sterrato could show in 2021, limited to between 500 and 1,000 units, sold for about $271,000 each. That's about $9,000 more than the 2020 Huracán EVO AWD coupe. A Huracán hybrid would be follow in 2022, a Huracán Superveloce providing the model's backstop before the successor.

Lamborghini's jink into a potential supercar off-roader shouldn't be a complete surprise; the Urus appears to have renewed a zeal for un-beaten track. The Urus ST-X one-make, mixed-surface series is meant to kick off next year. Why wouldn't the brand want to take full advantage?

First comes getting approval from three boards, though — Lamborghini's, Audi's and Porsche's, and the Volkswagen Group's. If they won't go for it, though, we're confident the aftermarket will.