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Lamborghini Aventador bursts into flames in London traffic

Italian supercars have a well-deserved reputation for sexy styling, fiery souls, and eye-wateringly high performance. They also have a reputation for occasionally bursting into flames with little to no provocation. The latest example of this startling habit happened in London when a bright yellow Lamborghini Aventador caught fire in the middle of rush hour traffic. According to Express, six firefighters and one engine from the London Fire Brigade were dispatched to the intersection of Southwark Street and Blackfriars Bridge in central London on the evening of June 8. When they arrived, they found a bright yellow Lamborghini Aventador burning in the middle of the street surrounded by curious onlookers. Traffic at the busy intersection ground to a halt as police moved people away from the burning car and firefighters worked quickly extinguished it. "This chap was sitting in traffic and I heard the car revving then someone shouted, 'Your car is on fire'," Dan Jenkins, a passerby who filmed the incident, told the Evening Standard. "It started off as a small flame on the side and then it escalated very quickly getting close to the engine. At the start, it looked like the exhaust was flaming like some supercars do." Amanda Compton, another witness, told the Standard, "The driver was revving up the car at traffic lights in a queue, there was a loud bang and the engine caught fire." Thankfully, the driver escaped unhurt, but the Lambo is probably a total loss. This isn't the first Aventador that has burned to the ground after the driver got a little too spirited with the accelerator. In October 2015, another yellow Aventador burned down in Dubai after the driver redlined the big V12 a few too many times in traffic. Related Video: News Source: The Evening Standard, The Mirror, The Express Auto News Weird Car News Lamborghini Coupe Supercars car fire

Jon Olsson drives his Lambo up a glacier because why not?

The latest stunt by Jon Olsson has no particular purpose, but we love it just the same. Olsson, a former ski racer, always has a neat car with an equipment carrier stuck on top, and in this video he puts his customized rear-drive Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640 to work at Fonna Glacier Ski Resort in Norway. Makse sense to us. As he says in the short video, the aim is to have fun. He drives the Lambo up the Norwegian glacier aided by monster rear tires with some frightening studs, and then he makes things a little more interesting by creating a giant giant slalom course for the car. Olsson even clips the gates with the mirrors and front tires as he makes the turns, like you would on skis (except replace mirrors with pole guards and tires with skis). Snow is sprayed, there's lots of V12 revving, and it's all beautifully shot. It looks like he accomplished his modest goal. A little more about the car: On his website, Olsson says it took three years to build. One year was wasted by the first guy that offered to build it for free and ended up selling parts off of it to make rent. It then took two years to make things right again and add a carbon-fiber body kit, an IPE exhaust, a suede interior, a carbon steering wheel from a Gallardo, bigger brakes, and convert it to rear-wheel drive. His signature ski box sits on top, supported by a custom rack, and of course the whole car is plastered with logos from Olsson's sponsors, because those winterized supercars cost money, you know? Oh, and Olsson has owned a lot of cars. Mostly Audis and Lamborghinis lately, but his past includes a couple of track-prepped 3 Series and a Mazda B2000. Our kind of dude. Related Video:

VW makes $23K on every Porsche sold, more than Bentley or Lamborghini

It's a good time to be in the luxury car business. In Volkswagen Group's financial report for the 2013 fiscal year, it is revealed that that Porsche enjoyed an operating margin of 18 percent. That means the Stuttgart brand made on average about $23,200 per car sold, according to BusinessWeek. Bentley wasn't far behind, and Audi (which was combined with Lamborghini) posted a 10.1 percent margin. This compares to only around 2.9 percent for the Volkswagen brand.
"Luxury brands are on fire," said Dave Sullivan, an industry analyst at AutoPacific. He said that the average profit margin is between six and eight percent. Brands like Porsche and Bentley have the benefit of competing in rarefied markets. Buyers looking at one their vehicles have fewer models to shop against and don't care as much about price. They can also charge more for options, which further boosts income, according to BusinessWeek.
In a way, we should be more impressed by the continued success from Audi. Its models generally have direct competitors in every segment from the other premium automakers. Plus, their buyers aren't the captains of industry who are shopping for a Bentley. Still, the Four Rings is leading rivals in sales so far this year.