2007 Lamborghini Gallardo on 2040-cars

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Ferruccio Lamborghini's twin-twelve Riva speedboat restored [w/video]

Everyone knows that Lamborghini makes exotic sportscars, but true aficionados are also well versed in the other types of machinery that has worn the Raging Bull emblem. There are the tractors, of course, with which founder Ferruccio got his start, but the company has also marinized its high-revving twelve-cylinder engines for use on the water.
Over the years, Lamborghini engines powered many crews to offshore powerboat racing trophies, but before all of that came the vessel you see here. The 278th of 769 made between 1962 and 1996, this Riva Aquarama was commissioned by Ferruccio Lamborghini himself. It was delivered from the shipyard in 1968, complete with a pair of 4.0-liter V12 engines out of a Lamborghini 350 GT, and old man Ferruccio enjoyed using it for many years.
Following his death in 1993, the one-of-a-kind Riva Aquarama Lamborghini disappeared into obscurity, hidden away from the world under a tarp until a Dutch collector tracked it down and had it restored by Sandro Zani and his team at Riva World. The project took three years to complete, including the restoration of the wooden hull with 25 coats of lacquer applied.

Actor Eric Bana returning to Bathurst 12 enduro race

Eric Bana joins the field of the 2014 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour race next month, driving for the Australian FXD Workwear team. Bana's done the race twice before, coming in tenth overall in 2009 in his Love the Beast Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo X, posting a DNF in the same car in 2010.
This year he'll be in Class B behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 prepared by Racing Incident, joined by teammates Peter Hill and Simon Middleton. The race happens during the weekend of February 7-9, you can find a press release with the announcement below. You'll want to take the time to get to know it this year, because it's been widely reported that Eric Bana will return next year to share a Porsche 911 GT3 with Mark Webber.

Audi reportedly shoots down $9.2 billion investor bid for Lamborghini

Volkswagen is open to divesting some of the brands in its portfolio, but it hasn't put a "for sale" sign on in front of Lamborghini's lawn yet. The firm allegedly shot down a big offer for the brand from a group of investors. Quantum Group SA, a newly-established holding company based in Zurich, Switzerland, made the non-binding offer in May 2021, according to anonymous sources who spoke to WardsAuto. The publication adds the group is ready to spend 7.5 billion euros (around $9.2 billion at the current conversion rate) to buy the entire Lamborghini division from Audi. The sale would include the brand, its intellectual property (like its trademarks and patents), its historic factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese, and its racing division. Full details about the proposed acquisition were closely examined by top Volkswagen executives, including company CEO Herbert Diess and Audi boss Markus Duesmann. While the offer sounds like it's neatly packaged, Volkswagen replied that it's not having a garage sale. "Lamborghini is not for sale. This is not the subject of any discussion within the group," a company spokesperson told industry trade journal Automotive News. These comments are in line with the ones made in December 2020. Quantum's aim wasn't to sever all ties with Volkswagen. It planned to turn Lamborghini into "a spearhead for innovation by consistently implementing new clean drivetrain technologies" across the range, a strategy that's already in the pipeline; Lamborghini announced it will electrify in the 2020s and launch its first series-produced EV. Investors also hoped to sign a five-year supply agreement with Audi, and to create what they called an Advanced Automotive Innovation Center headquartered somewhere in Lower Saxony, the German state Wolfsburg is in. In late 2020, when rumors about an imminent Lamborghini spin-off were rampant, Volkswagen stressed it had no plans to sell the Italian supercar manufacturer or to find a new home for Ducati, which Lamborghini owns. Unverified reports claim a chunk of the company could be listed on the stock market in a bid to raise revenue, however. Bugatti is another part of the Volkswagen empire that Diess and his team allegedly wanted to trade in to fund the group's pivot towards electric powertrains. In September 2020, reports claimed top executives had approved swapping the storied French carmaker and its assets for a significant stake in Croatia-based Rimac that would be transferred directly to Porsche.