1989 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Edition Red Black Only 6880 Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lamborghini rules out sub-Huracan sports car

There is a kind-of-new segment emerging in the sports car market: an area in between vehicles like the Porsche 911 Carrera and supercars like the Ferrari 488 GTB or Lamborghini Huracan. It's a space recently defined by the Audi R8 and Porsche 911 Turbo, with some newcomers rushing in. McLaren joined in with the 570S and Ferrari is tipped to be looking at a new six-cylinder Dino revival. But Lamborghini isn't in any rush participate. At least not for now, and not with a completely new model. Speaking with Car and Driver during the New York Auto Show, Lamborghini chief Stephan Winkelmann said you can "never say never" about anything in this business, but that the prospect a more accessible sports car underneath the Huracan is not currently on the table. Winkelmann pointed towards pricing and volume considerations, but we imagine there's more to it than that. The Volkswagen Group of which Lamborghini is part already tackles that segment with the aforementioned Audi R8 and Porsche 911 Turbo, and while the German giant has never shied away from flooding a market segment with overlap from its various divisions, the R8 and the Huracan are already closely related. The Lambo chief did hint that decontented versions of the Huracan could fit the bill, though. Sant'Agata's ten-cylinder model currently starts at $237,250, but the previous Gallardo started at $191,900 before it was phased out. That was for the less powerful, rear-drive LP 550-2, which could hint at a successor under the Huracan's umbrella. And that's just $7k more than McLaren will be asking for the 570S. Aside from the prospect of a cheaper Lambo, Winkelmann also told C/D that the Asterion hybrid concept was strictly a technological demonstrator with no chances of production, that the Urus crossover project is still on the table, and that the supercar market isn't growing as fast as you might think. Related Video:

Rare early Lamborghini Countach sells for record $1.2 million

Lamborghini may have made headlines with the highly exclusive, $4.5-million Veneno and the even more expensive Veneno Roadster that followed, but when it comes to classics sold at auction, their prices seldom approach the kind of figures attained by rare classics made by arch-rival Ferrari. Early 350 GTs and rare Miuras (like the SV prototype Gooding sold a few years ago for a record $1.7 million) have been known to breach the seven-figure mark, but now the Countach is making its way into the big leagues as well.
Pictured here is a rather exceptional early example sold by Bonhams in Connecticut last week. This 1975 Lamborghini Countach LP400 "Periscopica" - so dubbed for the unique rearview mirror fitted to the first 150 examples made - has just over 10,000 miles on the odometer. With flawlessly retouched Blu Tahiti (read: French racing blue) paint and an immaculate deep tan leather interior, the Periscopica was the subject of feverish bidding before selling for $1.2 million to a buyer present at the auction, beating out a dozen or so telephone bidders.
The record price for a Countach trumps the previous record, also set by Bonhams at the Quail Lodge last August, where another '75 Periscopica sold for $836,000. The rising prices surely reflect the coming of age for the Countach, now nearly 40 years since its introduction - particularly for the generation that grew up idolizing it as the prototypical supercar. Scope it out in the artful gallery of 76 high-resolution images above and the details of the auction below.

Donald Trump's Lamborghini Diablo is up for sale

Back in Donald Trump's booming heyday, a car couldn't get much flashier, much more outlandish, much more... Trump than a Lamborghini Diablo. Turns out he actually owned one – a 1997 Lamborghini Diablo VT roadster, to be specific, like the one pictured above. And now it's up for sale. This VT roadster is one of just 200 or so that were made before the 1999 facelift. It featured the Viscous Traction (viscous-fluid coupling) all-wheel drive system that debuted on the Diablo VT, and the carbon-fiber roof panel could be removed and stowed over the engine cover. Short of the Ferrari 575M Superamerica with the Fioravanti-designed flip-top, we could hardly imagine a more fitting set of wheels for the mogul. Bear in mind that the Diablo was developed when the company was owned by Chrysler – which would not, of course, prove the last time Chrysler would be in bed with an Italian automaker. This one was built after the brand was sold to a Malaysian company (before it was absorbed into the Volkswagen Group). And in those days, Lamborghini was closely allied with US-based supercar manufacturer Vector Motors. The Diablo was about as American as an Italian supercar could be. Trump's is finished in French Racing Blue and appears to be in pristine condition. It's now been adorned with Trump stickers, seemingly well-documented as having belonged to Trump himself, and formerly registered in Palm Beach, FL. It's being sold by one Michael Digonis in New York via The Drive, who is asking $299,000 for it. That is a lot, but considering the celebrity provenance it could prove a sound investment – especially if Trump wins the Republican nomination and the general election next year. Related Video: