2004 Lamborghini Gallardo Coupe. Silver Over Black. E-gear. 22,898 Miles. on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Weekly Recap: Takeaways from the Frankfurt Motor Show

We obsessively covered the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, and naturally, we selected our favorites from this fall's biggest automotive event. Now that the dust has settled, we're looking ahead to what it all means. Here are three takeaways from the floor in Frankfurt. The Germans are serious about electric vehicles: It's a bit cliche to say BMW, Mercedes, and Audi have downplayed electrics in favor of other technologies, like diesels. For a time that may have been true, but those three companies, along with Porsche and Volkswagen, are emerging as leaders in EV development. That was on display in Frankfurt, when all of them revealed either all-electric or plug-in hybrid models. Gas prices are relatively low in the United States, but clearly the Germans are thinking long-term and globally. Everyone is serious about SUVs: You gotta have one, even if you're Bentley or Jaguar. It's 2015 and it's what consumers want. As Jaguar design director Ian Callum put it, "Not to be in the sector would be a little naive for the sake of purity." It's not just the flashy exotic luxury makers. Nissan showed the Gripz concept, which is rakish, radical, and meant to blend traits of SUVs and sports cars into a vehicle that really crosses over. Look for more, especially in the luxury sector, as Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin ramp up their own SUV efforts. There's no ceiling to the luxury market: Speaking of high-end cars, companies are continuing to invest in extravagant wares beyond just SUVs. Even during the recession, ultra-luxury makers remained relevant, and now they're back at full stride. In Frankfurt, that was illustrated by yet another S-Class model, the cabriolet, which will come in S550 and S63 AMG variants in the United States. Ferrari also showed off the 488 Spider, and Lamborghini opened up the Huracan LP 610-4 Spyder. Meanwhile, Bugatti's Vision Grand Turismo concept reminded enthusiasts that it's plotting life after the Veyron. European auto shows always draw the glitziest reveals from luxury makers, and this year didn't disappoint. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 Honda Civic redesigned with snazzier style, turbo power The 10th-generation of the Honda Civic debuted this week at events in Los Angeles and Detroit ahead of its launch in the United States this fall as a 2016 model. Honda fortified the Civic with LED lights, an available turbo engine, and a more tech-laden cabin.

2015 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster Review

"Lamborghini Murcielago." That's what I would tell anyone who asked what my favorite car was. Yes, there were easier cars to drive than the wailing wraith from Sant'Agata Bolgnese, and that was partly why I liked it so. It was impossible to see out the back – reversing was easiest done with the door open, sitting on the sill. My head banged the door frame when I checked traffic on the left. The seat made my butt hurt. The cabin ergonomics were based on a design language that humans haven't yet translated. It boiled over in stop-and-go traffic. It was big. Yet it drove like nothing else, with the instant zig-zag reflexes of a mako designed in The Matrix. The Murcielago's thrills weren't laid out on the ground, you had to dig for them with your bare hands. And that's what made it outstanding. When I first drove the Aventador at its launch in Rome, I spent the day blasting around the circuit at Vallelunga. It was so easy to drive – "too easy by half," as Jeremy Clarkson would later say of it – viciously quick, unholy fun, and very good. But it was a little too easy to drive. Which is why the Murcielago remained my favorite car, ever. Until two weeks ago. The Aventador came when the rough-diamond Gallardo was Lamborghini's in-house reference for ease-of-use. But now we have the fire-and-forget Huracan. Having driven one after the other, and on the context of LA streets instead of the smooth and open landscape of Vallelunga or Laguna Seca, I now see the Aventador for what it truly is: the representation of the bull that's on the Lamborghini badge – head-down, horns-out anger. Like the Murcielago, the Aventador is big. It's more than ten inches longer than a Chevrolet Corvette, five inches wider than a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, and 3.5 inches wider than a Dodge Viper. It is also low, an inch lower than the already ground-floor Huracan. I won't pretend to be rational about it: the Aventador says everything I want a car to say. It's the certain, antidotal statement to brief and befuddled everyday lives. The cabin is a cockpit in every sense: close-fitted, button-filled, lit up. I'm five-foot-eleven, and I wear it like a tailored suit. I gave a ride to a guy who's six-foot-three and perhaps 260 pounds, so it can fit much larger frames but I still don't know how he got in or out through that scissor-door opening. The trunk in the Murcielago was big enough to hold a single dream.

Lamborghini Centenario to grace the cover of next Forza game

The creatives at Turn 10 Studios must have had a heck of a time choosing which new supercar would feature on the cover of the next installment in the Forza franchise. We saw an unsurpassed array of exotic machinery, after all, unveiled last month alone at the Geneva Motor Show, but in the end it's the Lamborghini Centenario that got the nod. The exclusive supercar marks the 100th anniversary of Ferruccio Lamborghini's birth, and stands as "the most powerful Lamborghini produced to date," in the words of the company's own R&D chief Maurizio Reggiani. Unfortunately only 40 examples will ever be made – 20 coupes and 20 convertibles – and they've all been sold for the equivalent of nearly $2 million apiece. It will hit the small screen in the next Forza game before any of those extremely fortunate customers have theirs delivered in real life. Microsoft will reveal the new game at E3 in June, but for now we don't even know what it will be called. Forza Motorsport 7? Forza Horizon 3? Something else entirely? We'll have to wait to find out, but the Centenario will definitely be on the cover. This won't be the first time that a Lamborghini has graced the cover of a Forza game. The Huracan appeared on the cover of Forza Horizon 2. Previous cover cars have included the Ford GT, McLaren P1, Dodge Viper, Ferrari 458 Italia, and Audi R8. That'll make the Raging Bull marque, by our account, the only to be featured twice in the series. Related Video: Lamborghini partners with Microsoft: Lamborghini Centenario is cover car for next Forza game on Xbox. Sant'Agata Bolognese, 04 March 2016 : The Lamborghini Centenario will feature on the front cover and within the next Forza racing game on Xbox. Lamborghini and Microsoft's Turn 10 Studios announced their latest collaboration at Geneva Motor Show in March 2016, with the new Xbox game to be revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2016. The Centenario will be available "First in Forza," giving millions of fans around the world the exclusive opportunity to experience the virtual version of the car on Xbox before its road debut. Thus, players will be the first to enjoy the aspects of the car celebrating the 100 year anniversary of founder Ferruccio Lamborghini's birth, starting from the naturally aspirated V12 Centenario which produces 770 hp and powers from 0100 km/h in 2.8 seconds ( 0-300 km/h in 23.5 seconds) with a top speed of more than 350 km/h.