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Lamborghini unveils 50th anniversary Aventador Roadster and Gallardo

Though hardly moving into Porsche levels of 50th Anniversary celebrations, Lamborghini is taking its own golden jubilee pretty seriously. The Italian company treated the world to a 50 Anniversario version of the Aventador LP720-4 earlier this year in Shanghai. At this year's swanky show at The Quail during Pebble Beach weekend, Lamborghini is showing off the convertible version of the car, the very sultry Aventador LP 720-4 Roadster 50 Anniversario.
What's more, the company has brought along the anniversary-treated Gallardo LP560-2 50 Anniversario as well, which we officially saw for the first time in China. Hey, a stage full of Lambos is no bad thing in our book.
As the coupe version before it, the 50th Anniversary Aventador has been massaged to make a full-bodied 720 horsepower from its stunning 6.5-liter V12, as well as done up with special edition paint and badging. A subtlety redesigned front splitter will call out the limited run Aventador Roadster to those in the know, too. Enough reading; check out both the Aventador Roadster and the celebratory Gallardo, live from the show stand at The Quail, in our attached galleries of images.

Ford Mustang challenges Lamborghini in amazing drift battle

Engines scream and tires billow with smoke as Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Daigo Saito stage a drift battle through an abandoned Japanese resort that looks like a Russian village in this stunning clip. The high-performance ballet of these amazing machines sliding around makes this one of the best videos of the year. To fight this duel, Gittin straps into his 550-horsepower Ford Mustang, and Saito meets the pony car's challenge with a drift-prepped Lamborghini Murcielago. The drivers hit a curving road and show expert car control as the men slide these very different vehicles just inches from each other. Eventually, night descends, and they add some fire to the scene to give the stunts a more apocalyptic look. The production values for this short clip are phenomenal, and the editing makes the viewer feel right in the middle of the action. If you want to get behind the scenes of this impressive display of drifting, Speedhunters did a great job capturing the event in photos. Related Video:

Lamborghini officially reveals new Veneno Roadster

Sexy or vulgar - whatever you thought of the Veneno which Lamborghini unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this past March, it didn't much matter. Because by the time we saw it, all three examples were already bought and paid for... at the equivalent of $3.9 million each. But if you had that much cash burning a hole in your pocket and lamented missing out on the opportunity to put one in your driveway, we've got good news, because Lamborghini has just confirmed another nine examples to be built. Only this time, it's got no roof.
Now officially confirmed after leaking out the other day, the Lamborghini Veneno Roadster features the same radical styling, extreme competition-derived aerodynamics, carbon-intensive construction and twelve-cylinder powertrain as the coupe that proceeded it and which we enjoyed photographing for your viewing pleasure just last month. The principal difference, of course, is the open-air cockpit, which offers no protection from the elements whatsoever: no fabric umbrella contraption, no removable glass or metal panel, nothing to get between your dome and the air rushing by at 220 miles per hour. That's the same top speed as the coupe, while the 0-62 run takes just a fraction of a second longer at 2.9 seconds. But we doubt you'd notice the difference with that 6.5-liter V12 revving just behind your ears.
It's the same engine and seven-speed ISR gearbox that powers the Aventador, only tuned up to 750 horsepower for the Veneno. And it should have more power, because at 3.3 million euros (about $4.5 million, give or take a Gallardo), the Veneno Roadster isn't just $600,000 more expensive than the Veneno coupe, it's also more than ten times the price of an Aventador. Still with us? You can scope out all the details in the press release below and browse through the photos in the gallery above for a closer look.