Lamborghini Gallardo Lp560-4 Spyder on 2040-cars

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Santa upgrades to Lamborghini Gallardo, spreads joy in LA

We understand. It's hard to slow down and really take in the holiday season, so it often comes and goes in a blur. That's especially so in Los Angeles, where almost everything moves fast and you feel like a face in the crowd. Determined to keep up with the fast pace and be noticed, one Santa Clause and his "elf" assistant decided to upgrade their "sleigh" - to a Lamborghini Gallardo (no reindeer needed).
We commend Santa's choice in the beloved Lamborghini and think Los Angelenos did notice him (though we're not sure he wanted to be approached by Freddy Krueger up there). Head below to watch Santa and his helper spread holiday joy with V10-powered goodness.

Drive like a prince: Join us for a walk through Monaco's car collection

Small, crowded, and a royal pain in the trunk lid to drive into during rush hour, Monaco sounds like an improbable location for a huge car museum. And yet, this tiny city-state has been closely linked to car culture for over a century. It hosts two major racing events every year, many of its residents would qualify for a frequent shopper card if Rolls-Royce issued one, and Prince Rainier III began assembling a collection of cars in the late 1950s. He opened his collection to the public in 1993 and the museum quickly turned into a popular tourist attraction. The collection continued to grow after his death in April 2005; it moved to a new facility located right on Hercules Port in July 2022. Monaco being Monaco, you'd expect to walk into a room full of the latest, shiniest, and most powerful supercars ever to shred a tire. That's not the case: while there is no shortage of high-horsepower machines, the first cars you see after paying ˆ10 (approximately $11) to get in are pre-war models. In that era, the template for the car as we know it in 2023 hadn't been created, so an eclectic assortment of expensive and dauntingly experimental machines roamed whatever roads were available to them. One is the Leyat Helica, which was built in France in 1921 with a 1.2-liter air-cooled flat-twin sourced from the world of aviation. Fittingly, the two-cylinder spun a massive, plane-like propeller. Government vehicles get a special spot in the museum. They range from a Cadillac Series 6700 with an amusing blend of period-correct French-market yellow headlights and massive fins to a 2011 Lexus LS 600h with a custom-made transparent roof panel that was built by Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet for Prince Albert II's wedding. Here's where it all gets a little weird: you've got a 1952 Austin FX3, a Ghia-bodied 1959 Fiat 500 Jolly, a 1960 BMW Isetta, and a 1971 Lotus Seven. That has to be someone's idea of a perfect four-car garage.  One of the most significant cars in the collection lurks in the far corner of the main hall, which is located a level below the entrance. At first glance, it's a kitted-out Renault 4CV with auxiliary lights, a racing number on the front end, and a period-correct registration number issued in the Bouches-du-Rhone department of France. It doesn't look all that different than the later, unmodified 4CV parked right next to it. Here's what's special about it: this is one of the small handful of Type 1063 models built by Renault for competition.

Autoblog's exclusive Lamborghini Aventador SV Roadster photo shoot

Sometimes it just takes a few little tweaks to transform something from good to great, and that's definitely what Lamborghini's stylists manage to do with the Aventador LP750-4 SuperVeloce Roadster. While there's no question that the Aventador SV coupe is an amazing machine, slicking off the roof for the newest version is the perfect bit of tailoring to create something truly bonkers. Why are we talking about it again? Following the roadster's debut in Monterey, we arranged a date with the car and our photographer extraordinaire, Drew Phillips. The result is the absolutely magnificent gallery of photos you see above, that you're definitely going to want to view in high resolution. The engineers at Lamborghini HQ in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, had a pretty easy job when the time came to the Aventador SV droptop because it carries over all the special parts from the coupe. Still, buyers have no reason to be disappointed with the 6.5-liter V12 making 740 horsepower (750 in metric ponies) and offering a screaming, 8,500 rpm redline. The seven-speed gearbox and all-wheel-drive system zaps the convertible to 60 miles per hour in less than three seconds and to a top speed of over 217 mph. Weight also falls by 110 pounds compared to the standard roadster to tip the scales at 3,472 pounds – some 110 pounds more than the SV coupe. It's the razor-sharp styling that really makes the SV Roadster a showstopper, through. The droptop still wears the coupe's carbon-fiber body panels but somehow makes them look even better. The key is removing the two top sections to create a small break in the roofline, and that little change is enough to accentuate the rear's curvy hips. The side-mounted intakes look big enough to carry extra passengers in a pinch. Removing the roof and reshaping the rear emphasizes the nacelles running behind the seats even more. These elements are somewhat visible on the SV coupe, but the engine cover largely hides them. Here, the angular shapes are brashly obvious and look directly inspired by an F-117 stealth jet. To make things even better for the driver, the rear window can be lowered to fully open the cabin to nature. The first deliveries to customers don't start until early next year, and the $530,075 starting price makes it about $37,000 more expensive than the SV coupe. Lamborghini likely doesn't have to worry about finding buyers for this beautiful machine, and production is limited to 500 units, 100 fewer than the hardtop.