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One-off Lamborghini Revuelto Opera Unica took 435 hours to paint

Lamborghini turned the Revuelto, its new flagship model, into a one-off art car to celebrate its 60th birthday. Unveiled ahead of its public debut at the 2023 Art Basel show in Miami Beach, Florida, the 1,001-horsepower coupe named Opera Unica was designed in-house. Beyond commemorating 60 years of Lamborghini's V12-powered cars, the Opera Unica showcases what the brand's Ad Personam team is capable of. It was painted entirely by hand. The front end is finished in a color called Viola Pasifae, and the livery gradually fades into a shade of black called Nero Helene. That's just the base layer; Lamborghini then added blue, red, and orange accents to emphasize speed. Getting it perfect was more difficult than it might sound. Lamborghini notes that the livery required 76 hours of development and testing plus around 435 hours (that's over 18 days!) to apply. The finish touch is a 60th Anniversary logo on the hood that's only visible in the right light. That's just the exterior; the interior took 220 additional hours to complete. It's characterized by two-tone Nero Ade and Viola Acutus leather upholstery to echo the paint job's base layer and the 60th Anniversary logo embroidered into the seats and door panels. The color of the thread used matches the color of the brush strokes applied to the exterior. This color combination appears on the start button cover as well. "We wanted to create something purely artistic using brushes and a combination of colors, as if the Revuelto was a canvas. This is what fueled our inspiration for this special livery," summed up Mitja Borkert, the head of Lamborghini's design department, in a statement. It's business as usual under the body, meaning power for the Opera Unica comes from a gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid drivetrain built around a new, 6.5-liter V12. Crucially, the engine is naturally aspirated; Lamborghini resisted the urge to downsize and add turbos. The system also includes three electric motors and a 3.8-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. Its output checks in at 1,001 horsepower and 793 pound-feet of torque, which is enough for a manufacturer-claimed zero-to-62-mph time of 2.5 seconds and a top speed of over 217 mph. Lamborghini hasn't revealed what the future holds for the Opera Unica. It could end up in the company's museum in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, or it might find its way into private hands. Either way, you'll know it when you see it: this is the kind of one-off car you can't miss.

Next-gen Lamborghini Aventador to get batteries and active aero?

Sportscar makers at the pointy end of class flout what appear to be inevitable business decisions the same way their offerings flout what appear to be inevitable physical limitations. Questions we've asked for years include: How long until Ferrari builds an SUV? (Next year.) How long until Chevrolet reveals a mid-engined Corvette? ( Soon?) And how long until Lamborghini must perform hybridised open heart surgery on its nonpareil V12? According to Motor Authority, as part of an interview with Lamborghini R&D honcho Maurizio Reggiani at the Detroit Auto Show, the answer to that last question is likely with the next generation. Reggiani told MA that the next-gen Aventador will definitely come with a V12. After that, the man who makes the bulls said "we must decide what will be the future of the super sportscar in terms of electric contribution," the principle issue of that contribution not being performance, but weight and power delivery. The 4,085-pound Aventador makes scales weep, explaining why Reggiani is so grave about weight implications that even a dual-clutch transmission - a seeming shoo-in for the next-gen car - won't get a pass until it justifies its extra heft over the present, hoary, single-clutch gearbox. Carbon fiber already forms the Aventador's tub, so engineers in Sant' Agata can't evaporate hundreds of pounds with that conversion. Lamborghini's been working on the new car's platform a for more than a year, no doubt with batteries in mind, yet stuffing a load of Triple As into the chassis could turn a battleship into a dreadnought. That formula works for Bugatti, but won't serve Lamborghini nor its clientele. Reggiani isn't opposed to some sort of electric assistance when the next-gen car bows in 2020 or 2021, and at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year said he sees plug-in hybrid tech as the next step, but we won't be surprised if the V12 song remains the naturally-aspirated same at launch. Still, the question of electrification - and turbocharging - remains one of "When?" There's so much writing on the wall that the writing is the wall: two years ago, Reggiani admitted that turbos will get bolted on "sooner or later," as did Lamborghini's commercial officer Federico Foschini last year, the Urus will dial up a hybrid powertrain soon, reports declare the next-gen Huracan will go hybrid in 2022, and Euro 6 emissions aren't getting less stringent. No matter how the coming flagship makes its power, expect more of everything.

2020 Lamborghini Huracan EVO First Drive Review | Sant'Agata's killer app

Lamborghini is, and always has been, all about the drama. Its cars epitomize excess, with chiseled lines, raucous engines, and boldface attitude. The last special Huracan, the Performante, was no exception — a track-focused special with trick active aero. For the latest Huracan, Lamborghini is taking a different tack: the 2020 Huracan EVO, short for evolution, embraces a ton of tech in the interest of building a quicker, more versatile car. That means there's some give and take. While the howling, naturally aspirated 631 horsepower V10 plucked from the Performante remains untouched, virtually every other piece of the EVO's performance hardware and software has been digitally upgraded or enhanced. That means the Performante's ALA (Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva) system, which vectors airflow in order to maximize corner speed, is out — but a trick four-wheel steering system, adapted from the range-topping Aventador, is in. Evolution, indeed. Even without ALA, the EVO's new fixed aerodynamic setup produces significantly more downforce than the outgoing base Huracan. A series of splitters, ducts and a new fixed, slotted spoiler produce seven times more downforce than the old model. At 174 mph, airflow presses the insectoid EVO down with 161 pounds at the front and 132 pounds at the rear — splitting the vast difference between the base Huracan and the Performante's maximum of 770 pounds at 193 mph. That rearward pressure is being particularly important because it minimizes the Huracan's well-documented tail skittishness during hard braking. EVO is also the first Lamborghini to feature torque vectoring and a new drivetrain ECU called LDVI, or Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integrata, which orchestrates the car's dynamic systems. While drivers won't feel the system's g-force enhancements while sitting in rush hour traffic, they will appreciate the new 8.4-inch multi-gesture touchscreen. Mounted low on the center console, the screen manages a host of features including climate control, an upgraded navigation system with realtime traffic, and stereo functions. The system is Apple CarPlay compatible, with Android Auto coming soon. Want to monitor the behind-the-scenes drivetrain sorcery? The screen can depict torque vectoring levels, g-force and steering angle via a slick overhead vehicle schematic. It doesn't go as far as the Nissan GT-R's datafest, but it does use the interface in the same spirit.