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Lamborghini unveils 50th anniversary Aventador Roadster and Gallardo

Though hardly moving into Porsche levels of 50th Anniversary celebrations, Lamborghini is taking its own golden jubilee pretty seriously. The Italian company treated the world to a 50 Anniversario version of the Aventador LP720-4 earlier this year in Shanghai. At this year's swanky show at The Quail during Pebble Beach weekend, Lamborghini is showing off the convertible version of the car, the very sultry Aventador LP 720-4 Roadster 50 Anniversario.
What's more, the company has brought along the anniversary-treated Gallardo LP560-2 50 Anniversario as well, which we officially saw for the first time in China. Hey, a stage full of Lambos is no bad thing in our book.
As the coupe version before it, the 50th Anniversary Aventador has been massaged to make a full-bodied 720 horsepower from its stunning 6.5-liter V12, as well as done up with special edition paint and badging. A subtlety redesigned front splitter will call out the limited run Aventador Roadster to those in the know, too. Enough reading; check out both the Aventador Roadster and the celebratory Gallardo, live from the show stand at The Quail, in our attached galleries of images.

Watch a parade of five Lamborghinis make their way through a shopping mall

It's easy to forget that high-performance cars are not limited in size to something like a Lotus Elise or Mazda MX-5. They can get big. Take Lamborghini, for example. It might focus on combining low curb weights and high-output engines, but an Aventador very nearly occupies the same amount of space on the road as a fullsize Range Rover (the Lambo is only about eight inches shorter, although it is an inch wider, excluding the mirrors on both vehicles).
Considering this, getting one of the Italian exotics inside the cramped confines of a mall is a rather tall order. After all, the thoroughfares there are designed for people, and are often bisected by either smaller shopping stands, pillars or some sort of fauna. Getting five Lamborghinis in, though, is an exercise in patience in precision.
Lamborghini of Miami did just that, stuffing five of the exotics inside a local mall. On the way out, one of the workers used GoPros to chronicle the entire process. It's an entertaining bit, if not a bit cringe-inducing on some of the tighter bits.

Leno's Lamborghini Espada is a freshly restored super-wagon

To give you a sense of why we love Jay Leno, outside of just his taste in cars and ability to preserve so many of them, is that he didn't always have a massive warehouse full of exotics. At one point during his 30-year ownership of this 1969 Lamborghini Espada, it was his only car. Now it has somewhere north of 100k miles on it (he doesn't know exactly because the odometer stopped working at one point – go figure!), and it's still driving great. Leno claims he have it a mechanical refresh about 10 years ago, mostly to clean up some dodgy wiring, and it is fresh out of a cosmetic refresh to address some rust bubbles in the quarters. The V12 is healthy – Leno credits that to letting it warm up before setting off – and it sounds phenomenal. Other than some minor upgrades, like a modern air conditioning system and some added sound insulation, it's mechanically stock. Inside, there's plenty of room for four adults, and Leno's large frame fits just fine in the driver's seat. The Espada set Leno back $26,000 in 1986, when he considered buying a Ferrari 330 GTC. The Ferrari was $2,500 more, so he picked the Lamborghini. Now, that 330 GTC is a $1m+ car, and the Espada? Not so much, although they are appreciating. Don't cry too much for Leno, he turned out all right. Just enjoy the Espada ripping along in sunny California, making all the right noises. Celebrities Lamborghini Wagon Classics Videos Jay Lenos Garage lamborghini espada