2013 Lamborghini Gallardo Lp560-4 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lambo Urus to stay true to concept, but almost didn't happen

Lamborghini has been making noise about adding a third model line for years, and it's finally going to happen now that the Urus concept has been approved for production. It'll likely be a while yet before all the details are sorted out and revealed to the public, but while visiting the factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Autoblog was able to glean some intriguing details about the Italian automaker's forthcoming crossover and its path it is taking from concept to production. "It's good to have heritage, but the LM002 is not the reference or the blueprint." - Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann We first saw the Urus concept back in 2012, and Lamborghini has been lobbying its parent company Volkswagen ever since for the go-ahead to put it into production. Now three years later, it finally has the green light. A company representative told Autoblog the production version looks "very" close to the concept. (No ground-up redesign here, then, like sister-brand Bentley did with its inaugural crossover project.) Speaking with a small group of journalists in Sant'Agata, the company's chief executive Stephan Winkelmann confirmed that "the SUV could be the [company's] first car with a turbo, and it could be the first car with a plug-in, if we have the opportunity to have more than one engine." The Urus (or however it's ultimately labeled for production) will also be decidedly geared towards on-road performance – unlike the Rambo Lambo on display in the museum next door. "It's good to have heritage," said Winkelmann, "but the LM002 is not the reference or the blueprint" for the new model. As to the question of why it has taken three years to get approval, and why it will take another three to put it into production, Winkelmann was frank: "Basically if you look at our numbers, we are a company which is growing at a fast pace, but we are very small," said the affable executive. "We had to find a way to almost double our efforts, because it's not the exchange of a model line, with the Gallardo and Huracan, it's adding a model line. And not out of 20 to come to 21 models, but from two to three is a major effort, and you have to have a rock-solid business case." "Putting 500 more people inside a company which is now at 1,200, you can imagine what it means. Doubling almost the size of the area here where we are sitting today. Investing hundreds and hundreds of millions.

Lamborghini teases new Huracan GT3

The Volkswagen Group supports many racing programs among its various brands, but somewhat surprisingly, Lamborghini is not chief among them. Not by a long shot. But even Lambo is getting in on the action with the upcoming launch of the Huracán GT3 previewed in this latest video clip from testing at the Vallelunga circuit near Rome.
The new Huracán GT3 will be Lamborghini's first major in-house competitive racing project, building on the Huracán Super Trofeo spec racer and the previous Gallardo and Murciélago racers that were developed by Reiter Engineering (with varying levels of support from the factory).
Expect the Huracán GT3 to be based closely on the production version, but in order to comply with FIA GT3 class regulations, we can expect that it will have to shed a good few hundred pounds off its curb weight - even more if the Squadra Corse wants to keep the 5.2-liter V10 at the same 600-horsepower output it boasts in road-going trim.

Dax Shephard, Lamborghini Super Trofeo racer?

Dax Shepard is no Paul Newman, nor even Patrick Dempsey, but he has a pretty cool gig mixed with plenty of acting and racing. While you might know him from Hollywood comedies like Employee of the Month and Hit & Run, the Michigan native now seems to be dabbling in road racing after competing in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America, and to celebrate, Lamborghini has issued a new short video introducing Shepard and kicking off its new pro-am racing series.
Like many kids of the '70s and early '80s, Shepard's love of cars can be traced back to a Lamborghini Countach, and, fittingly, his first time road racing in a car happened to be in a Lamborghini - an experience he comically suggests would be like another sort of "first time" with Selma Hayek. In addition a few chuckles, the video posted below also gives us some of our first racing footage of the Super Trofeo North America's opening weekend at Lime Rock in early July, in which Shepard grabbed a third-place finish.