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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.

Range-topping 800-hp Lamborghini Aventador SV hits the 'Ring

A couple of years ago, rumors were circulating about a possible high(er)-performance version of the Lamborghini Aventador, and our spy photographers have just captured what appears to be a prototype of this new supercar testing at the Nürburgring. Supposedly called the Aventador SV (for Super Veloce), this even-more-hardcore version of Lamborghini's range-topper could boast as much as 800 horsepower. Yowza.
As for the car you see here, our spies point out new center-lock wheels wrapped in ultra-thin high-performance tires that hide revised brake calipers mounted in a different position than on the normal Aventador. Up front, there's a new aerodynamic piece that makes for an even lower air splitter, and around back, an extra piece of trim (often referred to as a Gurney flap) has been added to the spoiler to provide enhanced downforce.
We don't imagine there's much in the way of weight to shed from the Aventador's carbon fiber monocoque chassis, so this SV version will likely focus more on better suspension tuning, improved aero and a 80-100 more horsepower to set it apart from the rest of the range. Expect more details to arrive around the time of the Frankfurt Motor Show this fall.

Drive shows how Lamborghini LP750-4 SV hits 217 mph

No matter how you look at it, the Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV is an absolutely astonishing automobile. Imagining more performance than the standard Aventador is difficult by itself, but company's engineers are able to boost power by almost 50 horsepower to 740 ponies, and copious carbon fiber body parts trim 110 pounds from the scales. We also already know that this limited model offers the spectacular ability to race around the Nurburgring in just less than seven minutes. Now in a sponsored video about Lambo, the brand's research and development boss Maurizio Reggiani is poetically telling Drive what goes into crafting such a special machine. According to Reggiani, the whole point of the SV is to make any driver feel like a hero behind the wheel. The model's abilities should let a person reach their own limits well before the coupe ever nears its own. That massive performance envelope then pushes the coupe's owners to keep getting better. While Reggiani beautifully expresses the passion behind engineering the Aventador SV, the real thrill in this clip is seeing and hearing the coupe snake around the Catalunya circuit. The 6.5-liter V12 makes a symphony of exquisite sounds around the Spanish track. Best of all, the closer the revs get to the 8,500-rpm redline the more that the engine lets out that rapturous wail. This is a video where you should turn the volume up and enjoy.