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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.

Undamaged 'Wolf of Wall Street' Lamborghini Countach sells for $1.66M

The tale of the two Lamborghinis from "The Wolf of Wall Street" took another turn this month. Two genuine examples of the 1989 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Edition in Bianco Polo saw screen time. One made it through filming unscathed. The other, used to demonstrate how not sane and sober protagonist Jordan Belfort was during a drive home, ended up beat to pieces and undriveable, more art installation than car. The soap opera began back in August, when RM Sotheby's announced it would auction the pristine example this month, December. At the time, we didn't know where the other car was. Not far into November, Bonhams solved the mystery in announcing it would auction the wrecked car at the end of that month during the season-ending Formula 1 race weekend in Abu Dhabi. Given the same pre-sale estimate as the working Lamborghini of $1.5M to $2M, the high bid came in at $1,350,000 during the Abu Dhabi auction. The consigner turned that sum down, the car didn't sell. The clean RM Sotheby's car did sell, and on schedule, fetching $1.65M after fees on December 8 in New York City. Not bad for a vehicle Hagerty values at $780,000 in concours condition. Lamborghini only made about 660 of the Silver Anniversary coupes for global sales, 12 came to the U.S. in Bianco Polo.  As for the car itself, RM Sotheby's says the Maryland owner drove the car to New York for filming, and that this car was specced a bit differently than the second Lamborghini; this one wore the smaller European bumpers and its cabin had a black-and-white steering wheel, for instance. The owner had also removed the rear wing, which was put back on for the film. What the two cars shared was a With a 5.2-liter V12 making 449 horsepower and 370 pound-feet of torque, bolted to a five-speed manual transmission. The owner sold the coupe sometime after the film made its mark, the new owner — the consignor for the RM Sotheby's auction — reinstalled a larger U.S.-spec bumper and kept the rear wing. Now that the bar's been set, we're waiting for the second Countach to appear in an auction catalog. We suspect that consignor won't turn down $1.35M a second time. Related Video This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2022 Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 revealed

2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster

What Dreams May Come
The Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster left me stupefied. Despite my experience with countless other high-powered exotics on a variety of racing circuits, including nearly all of its Gallardo siblings, the all-wheel-drive, 700-horsepower flagship dropped my jaw to the ground.
Less than 24 hours earlier, I had been sitting on an airplane at 39,000 feet studying press releases about the Italian automaker's newest range-topping convertible. While everything looked spectacular on paper, I was genuinely concerned that its new cylinder deactivation system and open-roof configuration would spoil some of the fun - soften its personality, to be more specific.