The
Arizona sunlight flashed off the gleaming metal outside The Sanctuary
on Camelback Mountain Hotel on the outskirts of upscale Scottsdale, Arizona,
as the mechanical machine gun stutter of Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
V10s firing into life blew the peaceful silence to splintered fragments.
And having strapped myself to the lurid, Borealis Orange,
530bhp missile, I flicked the engine into life on our chosen weapon, clicked
it into first gear with a simple pull of the right finger and, with an
aggressive clunk as the inner workings of the car slammed home, a flash
of revs and the gentlest touch of wheelspin, a luxurious breakfast was
a distant memory.
This is the stripped out, lightweight version of the
best-selling Gallardo. That and the range-topping Murcielago were the
first cars to come after Audi’s takeover in 1998, and between them,
they turned a niche and loss-making super car manufacturer into a global
superpower. This year, Lamborghini’s profits went up 360 per cent,
and they’re expecting even more in the next 12 months, with global
sales of the Gallardo approaching 2000. Only 350 will be Superleggeras,
and they were sold within weeks of the car’s launch at the Geneva
Motor Show: this car is selling faster than it can move. Almost…
|
