2004 Lamborghini Gallardo Base Coupe 2-door 5.0l on 2040-cars

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Lamborghini's path to the future is paved with forged composites

As far back as 1983, Lamborghini has been researching carbon fiber for automotive use. The automaker felt confident enough in its ability to work with the high-tech material in 1985 that a team led by Maurizio Reggiani, now the Lamborghini Board Member in charge of Research and Development, crafted a revolutionary Countach with a chassis made almost entirely of hand-laid carbon fiber. The result was spectacular in that the car's chassis weighed about half of its all-metal counterpart. It turned out that first foray into carbon fiber was just as spectacular when it was finally tested for crashworthiness, but in a completely different way. Catastrophic would be an appropriate word, according to Paolo Feraboli, who now leads Lambo's brand-new Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory in Seattle, Washington. Proving how far Lamborghini has come since that ill-fated carbon-fiber Countach Evoluzione, Feraboli told us during the ACSL's grand opening that today's Aventador, which boasts a high-tech carbon chassis, aced its very first crash test in 2009. Chalk that success up to high-tech computer modeling and the practical application of lessons learned over several decades of trial and error. The dull red monocoque of that crashed Aventador now hangs on the wall at the ACSL like a functional piece of art, a reminder of Lamborghini's cutting-edge milestones of the past. Lamborghini's future will be hewn from what the company calls forged composites. First seen on the stunning Sesto Elemento Concept from the 2010 Paris Motor Show, the patented carbon-forging process forgoes hand-laid sheets, injected resins, and high-heat autoclaves. Instead, wads of randomly oriented carbon fibers that sort of resemble the kind of dough you'd use to make pasta undergo a three-minute press inside a mold. The resulting parts are just as strong as other carbon-fiber bits, but can be mass-produced at a fraction of the cost. While it's true that cost is often a secondary consideration for high-end supercars, it's still relevant. By reducing the cost and increasing the scale of composite pieces, Lamborghini can then afford to spend more money on other parts of the car. It's not just body panels and chassis components that Lamborghini thinks it can build using forged composite technology. The Sesto Elemento featured forged-composite suspension control arms that haven't yet made it into production, but probably will soon.

Watch the Lamborghini Hurac'an LP 610-4 do donuts in Project Hexagon

Before we officially met the Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 recently, and even before Autobild got to hear it start during its presentation, the Gallardo replacement had been whipped into smokey donuts in the dark of a Sant' Agata night as part of Project Hexagon. That was a four-episode series of short films that followed a trio of Brits determined to see the Huracán before its reveal. They did such a good job that they were able to play Grand Theft Auto in the Lamborghini HQ parking lot.
You'll find all four episodes below, but if you're looking for a more thrilling taste of the baby Lambo than Autobild could give us, then head straight to the final entry. Someone chose to lay a loud musical track over the revving, so try to ignore it and enjoy the 610-horsepower V10 underneath.

Lamborghini Gallardo ready to tow your Home Depot load

It's possible the Lamborghini Gallardo would have had an even grander reputation as an everyday exotic if more people had used it to tow trailers and lug home-renovation materials from store to workshop. That's what Canadian channel Canal Vie did to promote its new renovation show, strapping a couple of two-by-fours and a roll of insulation to the roof, and hooking up a trailer to the back of a second-generation Gallardo. The promotion had its intended effect. How could it not? People stare at a Gallardo even when it isn't hauling. With 398 foot-pounds of torque at its disposal, we wonder if you could slip a fifth-wheel on it...