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Mexico to auction Lamborghini, other seized assets to help poor

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's government will auction a Lamborghini, homes and other assets seized from gangsters and at least one former politician, officials said on Tuesday, part of a "Robin Hood" program to use millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains to aid the poor. The first auction, set for Sunday, will seek bids for 77 vehicles with a total starting price of around $1.5 million, Ricardo Rodriguez, head of the newly created Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People, said at a news conference. "Before, this worked like a reverse Robin Hood ... taking from the people and giving to the corrupt. Not anymore," Rodriguez said. The proceeds will go to two municipalities in the southern state of Oaxaca, which President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said are among the poorest in the country. The vehicles up for auction include Porsches, Corvettes, Mercedes-Benzes, a Mustang convertible and a 2007 Lamborghini Murcielago. A 2017 report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development noted that recent studies estimated Mexico lost between 5% and 9% of its gross domestic product (GDP) to corruption annually. Since taking office in December, Lopez Obrador, a leftist, has rolled out a string of welfare programs for the poor and the elderly, cut salaries for top civil servants and said he is saving public money by eliminating corruption. He announced plans for a "Robin Hood" institute in April. The Mexican president, who has shunned the often luxurious trappings of the country's wealthy elites and was known to drive through the capital in a modest white Volkswagen Jetta, added that two cars and an ambulance donated by the King of Jordan will go to the National Guard, a new security force. One of the auctions will seek to sell three homes worth at least $7 million, including one with an indoor pool in an upscale Mexico City neighborhood. The money will go towards a youth drug rehabilitation program. Proceeds from another auction of jewelry seized from organized crime groups will go to communities in the mountains of Guerrero state, where many families struggle to eke out a living by growing opium poppies. Not all the assets come from drug lords. Rodriguez said one of the homes up for auction belonged to a former politician. Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon.

Lamborghini will unveil an enigmatic hypercar at the Frankfurt auto show

Lamborghini released a dark teaser image that previews a new model scheduled to break cover during the 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show. Posted on its official Instagram channel, the teaser shot asks more questions than it answers while giving us one more reason to look forward to the event. "Just open your eyes to the future," Lamborghini instructed its fans in the caption that accompanied the photo. That's not much to go off of, but the blacked-out image looks like it depicts the front of a low-slung supercar wearing Y-shaped LED running lights. The company's logo is the only other visible detail, but we see enough to tell whatever Lamborghini is teasing shares a few key styling cues with the striking Terzo Millennio concept unveiled as a design study in 2017.  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.   The resemblance fills in another piece of the puzzle. Developed jointly with MIT, the Terzio Millennio ditched the Aventador's sonorous, naturally-aspirated V12 in favor of in-wheel electric motors fed by supercapacitor energy storage technology. These components aren't ready for production yet, but earlier rumors claimed the Terzo Millennio's strikingly futuristic design and proud emphasis on clean, eco-friendly performance would influence Lamborghini's first road-going gasoline-electric hybrid. We might be looking at the yet-unnamed model. Where it will slot in the Lamborghini range is up in the air, too. It's not replacing the Huracan, and the Aventador S is expected to stick around until the early 2020s. It doesn't look related to the high-riding Urus in any way, either, which hints it's a limited-edition model. Lamborghini has a proven history of previewing new cars with limited-edition models, so the Frankfurt-bound model could give the public an early taste of the car that will replace the Aventador S. We're also not ruling out the possibility that the car is somehow related to Lamborghini's interest in the new hypercar category created for the World Endurance Championship (WEC). None of these theories are mutually exclusive; the car could draw inspiration from the Terzo Millennio, hint at the Aventador's replacement, and give the Aston Martin Valkyrie a run for its money at Le Mans in 2020. The speculation around Lamborghini's next model will end when it makes its debut in Frankfurt 10.

Lamborghini's upcoming V12 hybrid leaked in patent images

Varryx and Wilco Block are two Euro-based car enthusiasts we've come to know mostly for their ability to get spy video and images of coming treats. They've both done it again, both on Instagram, and both with the same car, publishing a series of design patent drawings. Lamborghini Automobili SpA submitted figures of its hybrid V12 successor to the Aventador to the North Macedonian bureau of the World Intellectual Property Office, perhaps hoping the out-of-the-way geographic location would translate to an out-of-the-way digital sequestration before the reveal this spring. But the Internet hates keeping secrets, so here we are. What we're privy to are every major angle of a coupe that looks like it has the design of the Aventador as its foundation, bookended by fascias from a couple of Aventador-based specials. Varryx provided the colors for the image above.  Lamborghini said design of the Sian FKP 37 "is just for the Sian." Fundamentally, perhaps, yes. But in the patent images, the tall, horizontal-y-shaped lighting DRL that welcomes the sharp, pincer-like curve of the front fenders, and the lower intake outlines make clear connection to the Sian. The Huracan Tecnica is the bridge, the V10-powered coupe adopting another take on the Sian's style. The vertical spat behind the front wheels could also trace its lineage from the limited edition super sports car. The rest of the middle is all Aventador, a swelling body and large side intakes embracing the low cabin and naturally aspirated V12. In back, it's the Centennario, a special edition introduced at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. The six long strakes on the immense diffuser mimic the number on the Centennario, the difference being the coming production car moves its exhaust up high, where two Centennario taillights flank with two large hexagonal ports instead of the show car's three small tips down low. That engine will be an all-new V12 unit in a new drivetrain, we've been told, aided by a small battery and some supercapacitor tech that's another nod to the Sian. Total output's a mystery, but the Aventador Ultimae clocked 769 horses, the Countach 800 horses, and those not only didn't have hybrid help, they were lighter. Fear not about the weight, automaker CEO Stephan Winkelmann says drivers won't feel the additional weight. We wouldn't be surprised to hear a number higher than 800.