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Lamborghini debuting limited-edition hypercar soon?

Rumor, anonymous sources, and Internet probing point to Lamborghini preparing a new limited-edition hypercar in the vein of the Centenario, Veneno, and Sesto Elemento. At the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, the carmaker's head of R&D told Car Advice, "Soon we will present to our most important customers a new version of what we call a one-off." The Supercar Blog reports Lamborghini did just that a few weeks ago at a private event in Italy. An anonymous source said the vehicle is codenamed LB48H, and looks like the 2017 Terzo Millennio concept. Assuming all of this is true, whatever's coming won't be a genuine one-off. Remember, the Sant' Agata brand made 40 Centenarios, four Venenos, and 20 Sesto Elementos. The only true one-off for recent sale was the 2012 Aventador J. According to The Supercar Blog, Lamborghini will make 63 of this newest revelation. We checked the production runs for every Lamborghini, no previous model got exactly 63 units. But the company started production in 1963 with the 350 GTV. The same way the Centenario referenced the 100th anniversary of Feruccio Lamborghini's birth, the LB48H could celebrate the company's beginnings in the second millennium — a natural tie-in with the Terzo Millennio (Third Millennium) inspiration. The name, and an Instagram post, bolster suspicions. Lamborghini's already said the next-gen Aventador due in 2020 and Huracan due in 2022 will get naturally-aspirated engines with hybrid power. We also know alphanumeric Lamborghini vehicle names identify aspects of the car. In the hybrid Asterion LPI 910-4 concept from 2014, the LP stood for longintudinale posteriore, as with current production models, the I stood for the Italian word for hybrid, Ibrido, the 910 for the horsepower. With the LB48H, we take the the L we know, we'll take the H for Hybrid. So what do the B and 48 represent? On June 18, Miguel Costa, who appears to head Lamborghini's Lisbon, Portugal dealership, published an Instagram post that said, "We made it possible! Soon!" For hashtags, he wrote, #masterpiece, #lamborghini, #lamborghinilisboa, and #lb48h. The #masterpiece and #lb48h hashtags soon disappeared from the post. When Jalopnik asked Lamborghini about the situation, the automaker said, "We are not confirming this." The Italian automaker uses these specials to preview design and technology elements headed for the range; the Centenario introduced rear-wheel steering that made its way to the Aventador S, for instance.

Original Lamborghini Countach designer wants no association with 2021 remake

The designer of the groundbreaking 1974 Lamborghini Countach, Marcello Gandini, has issued a remarkable statement to the press regarding the recently released Countach LPI 800-4. In it, he repeatedly affirms that he had nothing to do with the revived Countach that Lamborghini revealed at Monterey Car Week on the occasion of the model's 50th anniversary. Gandini alleges that Lamborghini may have misled the public into thinking he had something to do with the Sian reskin, and he wants to make it clear that he had nothing to do with it. "The external public, seeing and reading what has been communicated by Automobili Lamborghini and consequently by the media during recent weeks, may be led into believing that Marcello Gandini was a part of, or was involved with, or the project may have had his blessing. It is therefore appropriate to clarify the facts and reiterate that he did not participate in, nor was he aware of the project in any way."   Rarely has a designer of Gandini's stature and repute so publicly refuted a company they've worked for. Though Gandini penned cars from the humble Renault 5 to the masterful E12 BMW 5 Series to the incredible Lancia Stratos, it is Lamborghini — where he was responsible for the legendary Miura, Espada, Marzal and Countach, among others — that Gandini is historically most closely associated with.  Some of the confusion Gandini references stems from a video published by Lamborghini earlier this year. In it, Gandini talks about his design philosophy (which, ironically, includes breaking new ground with every design) and current Lamborghini head of design Mitja Borkert presents Gandini with a scale model of the then-upcoming Countach LPI 800-4. The latter believes that his presence in the video equates to tacit approval of the new design. "Neither earlier, nor during the interview was it stated that the car was scheduled for limited series production. With the elegance and kindness that have always distinguished Marcello Gandini, when Mitja Borkert presented the scale model during the interview, the former did smile and acknowledge as would be customary to do so."   Gandini believed that the model was the end of it, but after Lamborghini pulled the wraps off of the LPI 800-4, he says he received "countless requests for clarification" from press and colleagues in the auto design field. He decided to issue the statement to make clear he had nothing to do with the remake.

Lamborghini may offer rear-drive Huracan

Lamborghini may not offer a manual-transmission option on the new Huracán - so few customers were asking for it on the preceding Gallardo as it was - but don't think that it won't pursue ever more hardcore variants. And that will reportedly include a rear-drive version.
Speaking with journalists at the Pebble Beach unveiling of the new Huracán Super Trofeo, Lamborghini CEO Stefan Winkelmann is reported to have said, "We did it with the Gallardo so it might be an option. We are a four-wheel-drive super-sports car [manufacturer] but why should we not do a rear-drive option?"
The rear-drive Huracán would naturally shed a few pounds off the all-wheel-drive version's curb weight, but the question is just how much. There is said to have only been so much of the AWD system that Sant'Agata was able to strip out of the Gallardo to make the rear-drive Balboni edition after the fact, but if the Huracán was engineered from the get-go for both drivetrains, the rear-drive version could prove that much more thrilling to drive.