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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.

Dave Lang lands 180 Rollerblade jump over Lamborghini, Bam Margera crashes it anyway

Lending further credence to the internetism "This is why we can't have nice things," real-life court jester Bam Margera had a tough weekend with his Lamborghini Murciélago after letting rollerblader Dave Lang perform a 180-degree jump over it.
While the stunt seemed to go off without a hitch, a second video has emerged showing Margera attempting to back his Lamborghini convertible up. Despite the presence of side mirrors, the former Jackass host hits a Cadillac. The damage to the Murciélago appears largely cosmetic, although we highly doubt the error is going to come cheap.
There is some salty language in the video, although everything, even the subtitles, are bleeped out. We've got both videos below, so if you're in the mood for a little schadenfreude, feel free to take a look.

Lamborghini Hurac?n gets an official trailer

In what appears to be the first of a series of shorts akin to Project Hexagon in advance of the official reveal of the Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4, Lamborghini has released its first trailer. We don't get much from this video - a man, a car, a storm, a hot dispatcher with a headset - but it's not like we need much enticement to spend time with the new junior bull. In fact, senior editor Seyth Miersma spent some time drooling all over the thing this week.
The Geneva Motor Show unveiling of the 610-horsepower coupe will be live streamed on March 4. We'll be there with cameras on burst mode, but until then there's the video below, the configurator, our Deep Dive, and the mini site to enjoy.