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Lamborghini Lanzador Concept — what it's like to drive an extreme EV vision of the future

MONTEREY, Calif. — ItÂ’s not every day that an automaker gives you the chance to drive a priceless, one-of-one concept car on regular roads. ItÂ’s not every day that the car is LamborghiniÂ’s Lanzador concept, an EV thatÂ’s LamborghiniÂ’s (VOW3.DE) vision of what an electric, Lamborghini hypercar will look and feel like, when it comes out in 2028 — a distant five years from now. Yahoo Finance was one of only a handful of outlets allowed to drive the Lanzador. There are many rules in life, but when an automaker gives you the keys to a one-of-a-kind supercar — you take them. 'It looks like a spaceship' Many industry experts were surprised that Lamborghini even debuted this car, a 2028 model, during last month's Monterey Car Week — let alone allow a few select journalists to drive it, but here we are. At first blush, the Lanzador is unmistakably a Lamborghini. Industry watchers expected the car to be a GT-style sport touring car with two rows, or in this case a 2+2 seating design, but Lamborghini went with a two door coupe setup. WeÂ’ll see if this holds for the production model. The Lanzador sits higher up, with extra ground clearance, giving the car an almost crossover look, though with a much lower roofline. The car has LamborghiniÂ’s shark-like front and strong shoulder line, which flows into sporty, wide haunches and an extremely raked rear windshield housed in the rear hatch door. The car is all hard angles, no curves. “The starting point is a super sports car proportion in a higher position, a pilot position,” said Lamborghini head of design Mitja Borkert to Yahoo Finance. “Lamborghini is always designed with this one single center line — this is our trademark — this is where you recognize a LamborghiniÂ… So if I'm doing this and if I'm doing the sculpture already, you've got a beautiful Lamborghini because it looks like a spaceship, and something really innovative.” Inside, the Lanzador is even more “concept car,” with a floating dash and center console, featuring sharp angles you might see in an alien starcraft. The seats sit low in the cabin, though higher than in a sports car, and feature impossibly thin cushions giving it a stark, futuristic look. My first thought was, "Does the interior, with its amped up and dramatic vibe, give the EV the emotion it needs, given the fact an EV drivetrain usually subdued?" Rouven Mohr, LamborghiniÂ’s chief technology officer, thinks so.

Here's why the Lamborghini Lanzador EV is neither sedan nor SUV

Unveiled earlier in 2023, the Lamborghini Lanzador concept previews the Italian brand's first series-produced electric car. It features a 2+2 interior, which isn't new for Lamborghini (the company built 2+2 GTs for decades), but it's characterized by a rather unconventional design pegged at the intersection of crossovers, coupes, and station wagons. Here's why designers and engineers chose to straddle segments. "We were scouting opportunities in our portfolio [when we started the project], and there are two segments that we are not covering. One is the sedan segment, and the other is the 2+2 segment," Federico Foschini, Lamborghini's chief marketing and sales officer, told me. His team quickly ruled out taking Lamborghini into the sedan segment for the first time, as the body style had at least two strikes against it. "One, it was already clear when we decided to do the Urus instead of the Estoque that the sedan segment is declining, while the SUV segment is picking up. The second point is that, when it comes to sedans, it's a very regional discussion. In China, which is one of the main sedan markets, you need a long-wheelbase car — a chauffeur-driven car. This is not Lamborghini. This can't be Lamborghini," he said. Meanwhile, the 2+2 body style is more closely aligned with the firm's image in terms of design, performance, and heritage. And yet, the Lanzador eschews the usual GT proportions defined by a low ride height and a long hood. Mitja Borkert's design team did that on purpose. "It is the volume of a super-sports car in a higher position. It's as simple as that," Borkert, Lamborghini's head of design, told me. Instead of looking toward the past, or taking a peek at what rivals are doing, he drew inspiration from the firm's current range of models. "We were working on the Huracan Sterrato, where you have this higher seating position. There's the exterior cladding, and it looks quite rugged. I said that a cleaner version of the Sterrato could work perfectly for the 2+2. It's a spaceship with a higher position," he summed up. As for the proportions, Borkert cited the electric drivetrain as one reason to think beyond the classic definition of a 2+2 gran turismo. "The tradition of having a long hood is giving you the impression that there's a huge engine, and that is not the case when you have an electric car. An electric car is different, and we don't want to follow what others are doing.

Volkswagen Group names Paefgen head of classics program

You may remember the name Franz-Josef Paefgen. Until recently, the German engineer and executive was head of both Bentley and Bugatti. Before that he was chief executive of Audi, after working for several years at Ford. He technically "retired" earlier this year, but like the cars he helped create, an executive like Paefgen could never really retire. So it should come as little surprise that the Volkswagen Group has named Dr. Paefgen head of its Classic program.
In his new capacity, Paefgen will oversee the historic automobile activities of the entire VW Group, including those of Volkswagen, Seat, Skoda, Audi, Lamborghini, and of course Bentley and Bugatti. It strikes us as a suitable semi-retirement for the man responsible in no small part for the Bugatti Veyron and Bentley Mulsanne, to name just two, and who was decorated in 2006 by the ACO as the "Spirit of Le Mans" for his contribution to endurance racing. Read the official announcement after the break.