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Novitec Torado takes a stab at improving the Lamborghini Aventador [w/video]

Novitec has finished its tuning program for the Lamborghini Aventador, and it has called the mean-looking finished product, Torado. It looks like it wants to take the pedestrian sinisterness of the Aventador into an otherworldly rage, with carbon fiber vents, spoilers and protrusions lining the body from front to back.
Novitec says it's still good for daily use, even with four different stages of power tune and a fifth out-of-the-ballpark injection called "Bi-Kompressor." The power bumps start at 722 horsepower and 519 pound-feet and go up to 969 hp and 672 lb-ft with the bi-kompressor. The exhaust systems included in those packages are also good for shaving around 20 kilos from the car's weight.
There's a short press release below with more on Novitec's work, and a video of the Torado in the wind tunnel.

Ferdinand Piech (1937-2019): The man who made VW global

Towering among his peers, a giant of the auto industry died Sunday night in Rosenheim/Upper Bavaria, Germany. Ferdinand Piech, a grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who conceived the original Volkswagen in the 1930s, was the most polarizing automotive executive of our times. And one who brought automotive technology further than anyone else. Ferdinand Porsche had a son, Ferdinand (called "Ferry"), and a daughter, Louise, who married the Viennese lawyer Anton Piech. They gave birth to Ferdinand Piech, and his proximity to two Alfa Romeo sports cars — Porsche had done some work for the Italians — and the "Berlin-Rome-Berlin" race car, developed by Porsche himself, gave birth to Piech's interest in cars. After his teachers in Salzburg told his mother he was "too stupid" to attend school there, Piech, who was open about his dyslexia, was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland. He subsequently moved on to Porsche, where he fixed issues with the 904 race car and did major work on the 911. But his greatest project was the Le Mans-winning 917 race car, developed at breathtaking financial cost. It annihilated the competition, but the family had had enough: Amid growing tension among the four cousins working at Porsche and Piech's uncle Ferry, the family decided to pull every family member, except for Ferry, out of their management positions. Piech started his own consultancy business, where he designed the famous five-cylinder diesel for Mercedes-Benz, but quickly moved on to Audi, first as an engineer and then as CEO, where he set out to transform the dull brand into a technology leader. Piech killed the Wankel engine and hammered out a number of ambitious and sophisticated technologies. Among them: The five-cylinder gasoline engine; Quattro all-wheel drive and Audi's fantastic rally successes; and turbocharging, developed with Fritz Indra, whom Piech recruited from Alpina. The Audi 100/200/5000 became the world's fastest production sedan, thanks to their superior aerodynamics. Piech also launched zinc-coated bodies for longevity — and gave diesel technology a decisive boost with the advent of the fast and ultra-efficient TDI engines. Less known: Piech also decided to put larger gas tanks into cars. Customers loved it. Piech's first-generation Audi V8 was met with derision by competitors; it was too obviously based on the 200/5000.

Lamborghini to show Gallardo replacement concept in Frankfurt

Lamborghini will give us a big clue as to the look and feel of the impending replacement for its Gallardo model at this September's Frankfurt Motor Show. According to a report by Autocar, the Italian supercar maker will have a concept car in Frankfurt that will preview a 2015 replacement for the current Gallardo (pictured above).
While nothing is set in stone, the word is that Lamborghini is still considering "Cabrera" as the Gallardo-successor's name. We didn't know the company had so many Tigers fans, but the Autoblog Detroit office is stoked.
The same report tells us that the new Lamborghini, currently going by the internal designation LP724, will be based on the same platform as the second-generation Audi R8, rather than on the more exotic Aventador underpinnings. That means a modular spaceframe, aluminum and carbon fiber construction and a reduction in curb weight as a result - the target is less than 3,300 pounds. Even with the diet, the next Gallardo will be slightly longer than the current car, but about the same height and width.