2013 Lamborghini Gallardo Lp550-2 Spyder on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Party sponsored by Lamborghini tried to airlift yacht into Austin lake for F1 race

This was the kind of understatement we didn't expect to encounter in the Lone Star State: on our way into Austin to attend the Grand Prix of the Americas, the man sitting next to us on the plane - an Austinite born and raised - said, "There's gonna be a lot of wealthy people here." You know, as if Texas didn't have its fair share already.
Wealthy people need wealthy things to do and not-as-wealthy people to arrange such things for them. Case in point is My Yacht Club, which follows the Formula 1 parade and other rah-rah events around the globe, hosting guests and parties on yachts. In Austin the event group has had to change its schtick; there's no way to navigate one 150-foot motor yacht into Austin's Lady Bird Lake. MYC principal Nicholas Frankl told KUT News, "We spoke to the Army Air Corps. They couldn't lift it." We believe he meant the Army Corps of Engineers, but no matter, they couldn't lift it either.
So MYC has switched to a land-lubbers venue, The Long Center where Ballet Austin, the opera and the symphony perform. In case you readers are worried about how guests will manage without chiseled Italian deckhands in epaulets, not only has Frankl promised that "the elements of decadence and luxury and coolness and exclusivity are all there," guests will get to guzzle 24-karat gold-infused champagne. Because the stars at night just aren't as big and bright without it, obviously.

Why Italians are no longer buying supercars

Italy is the wound that continues to drain blood from the body financial of Italian supercar and sports car makers. The wound was opened by the country's various financial police who decided to get serious about superyacht-owning and supercar-driving tax cheats a few years ago, by noting their registrations and checking their incomes. When it was found that a rather high percentage of exotic toy owners had claimed a rather low annual income - certain business owners were found to be declaring less income than their employees - the owners began dumping their cars and prospective buyers declined to buy.
Car and Driver has a piece on how the initiative is hitting the home market the hardest. Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide in 2010, 1,602 cars in 2011 and 2,083 cars in 2012 - an excellent surge in just two years. In Italy, however, it's all about the ebb: in 2010, the year that Italian police began scouring harbors, Lamborghini sold 96 cars in Italy, the next year it sold 72, last year it sold just 60. The declines for Maserati and Ferrari are even more pronounced.
Head over to CD for the full story and the numbers. What might be most incredible isn't the cause and effect, but where the blame is being placed. A year ago the chairman of Italy's Federauto accused the government of "terrorizing potential clients," this year Luca di Montezemolo says what's happening has created "a hostile environment for ­luxury goods." Life at the top, it ain't easy.

One-off Lamborghini supercar coming to Geneva

At a reception in Monterey, CA, last night, Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann confirmed something we've kinda-sorta known for a while. The Italian automaker will debut a one-off supercar – sort of like the Veneno – at the Geneva Motor Show next year. We don't know anything about the bespoke machine, but Road & Track suggests it'll be a hybrid. Even though Lamborghini is iffy on this powertrain technology, electrification is a good way to make sure this supercar is on the same level as things like the Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder. Makes sense to us. Even though Lamborghini won't publicly show the car until March, a few folks are getting a preview this weekend in Monterey. Lamborghini invited a very small, very special group of owners and prospective customers to check out the supercar. Of course, we aren't sure if they're seeing the actual car or just some drawings or renderings. Not that it matters. We're sure this will be another case of the car already being spoken for as soon as it makes its debut. Related Video: