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Lamborghini's path to the future is paved with forged composites

As far back as 1983, Lamborghini has been researching carbon fiber for automotive use. The automaker felt confident enough in its ability to work with the high-tech material in 1985 that a team led by Maurizio Reggiani, now the Lamborghini Board Member in charge of Research and Development, crafted a revolutionary Countach with a chassis made almost entirely of hand-laid carbon fiber. The result was spectacular in that the car's chassis weighed about half of its all-metal counterpart. It turned out that first foray into carbon fiber was just as spectacular when it was finally tested for crashworthiness, but in a completely different way. Catastrophic would be an appropriate word, according to Paolo Feraboli, who now leads Lambo's brand-new Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory in Seattle, Washington. Proving how far Lamborghini has come since that ill-fated carbon-fiber Countach Evoluzione, Feraboli told us during the ACSL's grand opening that today's Aventador, which boasts a high-tech carbon chassis, aced its very first crash test in 2009. Chalk that success up to high-tech computer modeling and the practical application of lessons learned over several decades of trial and error. The dull red monocoque of that crashed Aventador now hangs on the wall at the ACSL like a functional piece of art, a reminder of Lamborghini's cutting-edge milestones of the past. Lamborghini's future will be hewn from what the company calls forged composites. First seen on the stunning Sesto Elemento Concept from the 2010 Paris Motor Show, the patented carbon-forging process forgoes hand-laid sheets, injected resins, and high-heat autoclaves. Instead, wads of randomly oriented carbon fibers that sort of resemble the kind of dough you'd use to make pasta undergo a three-minute press inside a mold. The resulting parts are just as strong as other carbon-fiber bits, but can be mass-produced at a fraction of the cost. While it's true that cost is often a secondary consideration for high-end supercars, it's still relevant. By reducing the cost and increasing the scale of composite pieces, Lamborghini can then afford to spend more money on other parts of the car. It's not just body panels and chassis components that Lamborghini thinks it can build using forged composite technology. The Sesto Elemento featured forged-composite suspension control arms that haven't yet made it into production, but probably will soon.

Lamborghini's Lock out as American COO

It looks like Lamborghini is going to need a new executive to run its North American operations, as the man who's held the job until now has parted ways with the exotic automaker.
That man is Michael Lock, who has held the position of Chief Operating Officer at Automobile Lamborghini America LLC for nearly two years now. We don't know what the reasons are for his departure, or for that matter whether the departure was instigated by Lamborghini or Lock. However, Lamborghini's official notice released yesterday does state rather flatly: "as of today the collaboration with Michael Lock, COO of Automobili Lamborghini America, is terminated" even as it thanks the executive for his efforts and wishes him the best moving forward.
For the moment, Lock's post will be assumed by Thomas Felbermair, Commercial Director at Automobili Lamborghini, while site operations will be handled by Rene? Sueltzner, who is also in charge of after sales at Automobili Lamborghini America.

Lamborghini Miura from 'The Italian Job' is for sale

Just one month ago we posted on "The Ultimate Lamborghini Miura" going up for sale, a 1968 Miura that had been turned into a built-to-race Miura Jota. This one might be even better, and it is certainly more famous: the 1968 Miura P400 from the opening scene of the movie The Italian Job. Two Miuras were used in that opening scene and some aren't sure that this is one of the actual movie cars, but most sleuths believe it is – and the story of its history since filming is so wild, it could have come from the movie. Iain Tyrell, the owner of Cheshire Classic Cars in England, said he received a tip last Christmas that the Miura was in Paris. The coupe's owner led him to a secret, underground parking garage and gave him three hours to verify that it was indeed from The Italian Job, a challenging task since no one knew what happened to the car since Paramount Pictures returned it to Lamborghini at the end of filming in 1968. It seems that Lamborghini sold the Arancia-colored coupe to an Italian dealer, and it had four owners up to 2005 when Norbetto Ferretti bought it. Ferretti is not only one of the founders of the Ferretti shipbuilding group, he is the son of the dealer who bought the Miura from Paramount after the movie - and neither Ferretti nor any of the car's previous owners realized it. Octane magazine ran a 15-page feature in its March issue with all the forensic details matching this car to the movie car, however, even the magazine says it can't be sure. A different classic car broker recently put it up for sale, but that broker still doesn't believe it's the movie car. Top Gear called the film car "the coolest car in the world" in 2004, and if it is the real deal it's said to be worth more than one million pounds, or $1.5M US. Tyrell and his partner Keith Ashworth have listed the car for sale, the price "POA," which means "price on application" in UK-speak. In layman's terms that means, "Bring money." In the video below you can see the star of the show in the movie's opening scene. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.