2012 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Spyder:Specification

Lamborghini is one of the best car makers in terms of luxury and speed of the car is concerned. Lamborghini has made some of the fastest cars in the world. To add to there portfolio, Lamborghini is coming up with a new model of the Spyder,  Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Spyder.

The latest  Gallardo LP550-2 Spyder uses a 5.2-liter V10 engine that delivers a total of 542 hp power and 398 lb-ft of torque. With a total weight of 3,351 lbs, the roadster will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds on its way up to a top speed of 198 mph. The name of the car says a lot of things,  Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Spyder,  LP stands for Longitudinale/Posteriore, for the mid-engine built longitudinally in front of the rear axle. The 550 refers to the power output and the 2 stands for the drive to the rear wheels., superb nomenclature.

The main competition of the car is from Ferrari 458 Italia Spider.

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2012 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Spyder[Pics]

 Lamborghini, when ever we hear this name, first thing that comes to our mind is that it must be one of the fastest car. Lamborghini has reveled the 2012 model of the Lamborghini Gallardo. See it for yourself.

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Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2

Lamborghini is a one of the finest makers of sports car in the world. They have made any cars that are a liked by one and by all.
The latest model of Gallardo is one of the most successful model of Lamborghini. Its most importance specification is indicated in the name it self. It gives a power of about 550 HP and 2 stands for the rear wheel drive.
This new model of he Lamborghini is in the honor of the Valentino Balbone , a remarkable test driver. He is a brand ambassador of Lamborghini. This model of Gallardo is limited edition with only 250 units.

This is the only model of the Lamborghini that delivers its power via rear wheels alone. The Gallardo is powered by a 5.2 liters V10 drive line engine generating 550 HP of power. With such a powerful engine the gallardo goes from 0-100kmph in just 3.9 sec which is superb. The maximum speed of the car is about 320 kph which gives you the pleasure of driving a sports car.
The designing of this car is typical Lamborghini styling. It has huge lights giving a very sporty look to the car.. It has a strip if white color running from the front to the end in the middle of the car and in the rare it has a transparent engine cover.
Alongside many new features there is a rear view camera, navigation system with blue tooth. In addition to the standard equipment , it is available in e-gear transmission and carbon ceramic brakes.
This beauty can be yours for $219800.


Picture Gallery







Enjoy...

Fuel Economy In Car And Driver October 2010

Six vehicles were examined in Car & Driver's October 2010 issue for fuel economy results. Oh, many others were tested. But the Lamborghini Gallardo is the one that comes out of testing with an mpg figure; the Nissan Juke does not.

There are reasons for this, I'm sure. So we won't complain. But it's interesting to note that, compared with the EPA's numbers, the Honda Fit was only 1 mpg shy of its estimated highway rating while the Mazda 2 was two below its highway rating and the 2011 Ford Fiesta was five mpg below. As you can see in C/D's 0-60 numbers from the magazine's October issue, the Fiesta's superior power-to-weight ratio was of no benefit, either.

Honda Fit Sport: 34 miles per gallon
Mazda 2 Touring: 33 miles per gallon
Ford Fiesta SES: 32 miles per gallon
Cadillac CTS Coupe: 20 miles per gallon
Jaguar XJ Supercharged: 16 miles per gallon
Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni: 13 miles per gallon

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Fuel Economy In Car & Driver November 2010
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Fuel Economy In Car & Driver August 2010
Real-World Fuel Economy Results From GCBC's Long-Term Smart Fortwo
0-60 In Car & Driver October 2010

LOW VOLUME AUTOMAKER SALES IN THE USA - JUNE 2010

This isn't something GoodCarBadCar.net is able to do every month, but since we're halfway through 2010 and June Sales Stats were available early, here's a rundown of eight low-volume premium automobile manufacturers from June 2010, along with year-to-date U.S. totals through June. Get January's figures here.

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#8 - Maybach: 3

Year-to-date: 18

Maybach sales fell in June and are down from 30 at the halfway point of 2009.

#7 - Rolls-Royce: 26

Year-to-date: 156

Rolls sales have fallen slightly this year and were down 1 unit in June, despite having more models on offer than in most moments in history.

#6 - Lamborghini: 27

Year-to-date: 162

Slight declines in both June and year-to-date sales shouldn't be that surprising given Lamborghini's aging lineup.

#5 - Lotus: 55

Year-to-date: 330

Although competing in a significantly lower price bracket than others on this list, Lotus is unable to grab large chunks of the automotive Marketplace which falls to BMW, Porsche, and Audi with far greater frequency.

#4 - Aston Martin: 92

Year-to-date: 552

Chock full of models like ne'er before, Aston Martin has still found a way to post a slight drop in June and year-to-date volume.

#3 - Bentley: 116

Year-to-date: 688

Sales at this old Rolls-Royce partner dipped a bit in June but are up through June 30th of 2010.

#2 - Ferrari: 120

Year-to-date: 720

Try to set aside your envy and replace it with satisfaction that there are 720 more Ferraris on U.S. roads (and in garages) than there were at the end of last year. Sales have slipped a bit from 2009, but not much.

#1 - Maserati: 180

Year-to-date: 912

This Fiat-connected Ferrari ally has put together a 54% increase in 2010 sales. June 2010 was a 58-sale improvement on June 2009, too, thanks to the beautiful Quattroporte and the GranTurismo familia.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net

Low Volume Automaker Sales - January 2010

Top 10 Best-Selling Auto Brands In America - June 2010

Top 10 Best-Selling Luxury Brands In America - June 2010

Premium Sporty Car Sales In The USA - June 2010

Top 10 Most Expensive Sedans In The World

EVO LAPTIMES FROM ISSUE 142 AND 143 - PORSCHE, ASTON MARTIN, AND LAMBORGHINI

Over the course of the last two issues of evo magazine there've been plenty of delicious vehicle reviews, tantalizing future cars, and drives to exotic locations. But tests of a vehicle's true capability at Bedford Autodrome's West Circuit have been sadly lacking. Four cars have made the jaunt around the West Circuit: two Porsches on a damp track and two V12-engined supercars in better conditions. Their laptimes?

Porsche 911 Carrera S - 1:36.6
Porsche 911 Carrera 4S - 1:34.2
Aston Martin DBS - 1:26.4
Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 - 1:22.9


Not only does the quicker Porsche 911 reap the benefits of all-wheel drive on a cool and damp track, the 911 C4S is also fitted with ceramic-composite brakes. Despite the 911's testing conditions, it's still shocking that the remarkable Porsche Panamera Turbo, a competitor for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, was ten seconds quicker at Bedford. Indeed, despite the conditions suffered by the 911 C4S, its laptime is a hair slower than an Audi Q7 V12 TDI, a lumbering SUV which enjoyed a dry track. 

As for the V12 cars, it pays to weigh less. A BMW M3 is quicker than the Aston Martin DBS. Though 1:22.9 sounds fast, a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 is faster still. The DBS and Murcielago are big cars ill-suited to the demands placed on them by a tight track. Their engines help them find a good spot on evo's laptime Knowledge, but it must be embarrassing to be that expensive and that much slower than much less enticing machinery.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
evo Laptimes From Issue 139
Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera - Gallery
evo Laptimes From Issue 138
Porsche 911 Turbo S Described
evo Laptimes From Issue 137

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP570-4 SUPERLEGGERA GALLERY

Just a couple days ago GoodCarBadCar.net began hosting a video in which evo's Chris Harris test drove the very wonderful, very expensive Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera. The Good Car Guy even made mention of the Superleggera when discussing the Ford Focus RS500 yesterday.

Now, finally, GoodCarBadCar.net has a photo Gallery to enjoy, as well, seen after the jump. The details on this special V10-engined Lamborghini Gallardo are spelled out in the earlier post. Lamborghini's greatest feat may have been the institution and execution of the Gallardo's diet. The Superleggera weighs just 2,954 pounds. And so it should be: Superleggera means "superlight". With enough horsepower to make a gigantic SUV seem unbelievably fast, one can safely assume the Gallardo Superleggera's capabalities in a straight line are astounding. However, this Lamborghini's sublimity brings attention to a real problem in the current Marketplace.

Mid-engined vehicles are, more often than not, of the supercar variety. Time was a Toyota MR2 Spyder, ugly as just about anything on the road, showed mid-engine handling dynamics to a completely new demographic. But for the most part, mid-engine placement is for Lamborghini, Ferrari, Pagani, Koenigsegg, and Bugatti.

Great though this Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera may be, its connection to the real world is as barely there as a SoCal beach bikini. This is like discussing the trickle-down effect Formula 1 has in modern times. And it's not meant in derision of the Superleggera. Oh no, the Gallardo Superleggera is a-w-e-s-o-m-e. Yet the least expensive mid-engine vehicles available in America today are the Lotus Elise $47,250 and the Porsche Boxster ($47,600). Both are favourites of The Good Car Guy. Both are twice the price of a well-equipped Mazda MX-5 Miata.

Where's the Miata's competition? The mid-engined Toyota MR2 Spyder didn't fail because it was mid-engined but because of its absolute lack of storage capacity and its poor styling. Then the front-engined Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky disappeared with their brands. It's time somebody stepped up to the plate with a verifiable sports car rival for the Mazda MX-5 Miata. As good as the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera is, I'm certain they won't be selling any for $21,000.




Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Watch Chris Harris Drive the Gallardo Superleggera
Low-Volume Automaker Sales In the USA (January 2010)
Lamborghini Murcielago SV Performance Stats
Low Emissions Lamborghinis

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP570-4 SUPERLEGGERA AS DRIVEN BY EVO'S CHRIS HARRIS

One of the latest addition's to evo magazine's fold is Chris Harris, a skilled writer and able driver who appears to have a taste for finer four-wheeled machinery. In the video clip you'll see after the jump, Chris is driving the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera, a bright orange V10 Italian masterpiece. Oh, and by the way, the 1:06 point is where the video starts to get really interesting.

561 horsepower. Less than 3,000 pounds. Air intakes worth framing and hanging in your living room. This ain't your friend's LP560-4 Superleggera.

LOW VOLUME AUTOMAKER SALES IN THE USA (JANUARY 2010)

Establish the context first, The Good Car Dad always says. This is the domain of ultra-low volume automakers. For better understanding, take the number 43 into account. That's how many Audi R8s were sold in January in the USA. 67 people bought a Nissan GT-R in January. 503 people took possession of some version of the Porsche 911. (Porsche USA lists 14 unique 911 variants at present).

The best-selling car in America in the first month of 2010 was the Honda Accord. Honda managed to push 20,759 of those. As far as sales of Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Maybach, and Rolls-Royce go; their Numbers would be deemed irrelevant if their respective asking prices weren't so high; if their allure wasn't so strong.

And what's Lotus doing in this group, you ask? Supercars, mega-luxury, ultra-luxury, tier two premium, and.... low volume manufacturers fit nicely in this Graph. Low volume means Lotus.

CLICK GRAPH FOR LARGER VIEW

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net

VW USA Cracks Top 1- But How?

Midsize Luxury Sedan Sales, January

Ferrari 458 Italia In Motion

Top 10 Most Expensive Sedans In The World

100 FAVOURITE CARS - PART VII

Count the Kia Soul as one of GoodCarBadCar.net's current favourite cars, certainly. But as far as The Good Car Guy's 100 Favourite Cars of all time, no Kia stood a veritable chance. Every single Hyundai was passed over, as well. GMC? Ignored. Hummer, Isuzu, and Geo make nothing worthy of a list of this magnitude. Fortunately, this leaves plenty of room for high-end machinery. On the opposite end of the Kia Soul's pendulum sits the first vehicle in today's edition of 100 Favourite Cars, cars 61-70.

LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO: Exotic cars, the cars you never see in all your life, should look like something you'll never see in all your life. That statement is embodied by the Murcielago.... and its V12 engine.
LANCIA FULVIA COUPE (GEN1): The problem with the Fulvia concept of 2003 wasn't that it lacked design quality. No, the original Fulvia was so simply stunning that a predecessor was bound to disappoint.
LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER (L322): Being labelled as the best vehicle on Earth comes with expectations. Imagine how much stronger those expectations would be if the Range Rover had the potential for reliability.
LEXUS LS400: Acquainting a continent with a new luxury brand and its S-Class/7-Series competitor should be a huge challenge. This car made Lexus the kind of brand that would outsell Benz and BMW in total sales.
LEXUS SC400: The SC400 was and is the only Lexus design Jaguar's Sir William Lyons could ever be proud of. Long, low, and wide; the original V8-engined SC was high-value luxury and pace. With space and grace.
LINCOLN CONTINENTAL ('64): Only a few years after the loopy Cadillac Eldorado, Lincoln adopted an understated art deco feel for the Conti and wowed everyone.
LOTUS 340R: Because the Elise wasn't completely stripped to the bone, Lotus felt another step was necessary. Behold, a true bare-bones Lotus.
LOTUS ELAN ('62): Tiny in every dimension, the Elan's best quality was "less". Though likely not a star in modern crash test safety, the Elan is the vehicular equivalent of an Olympic triathlete; a lean and lithe multi-faceted athlete.
MASERATI 3200GT: "Rediscovering mojo", aka "getting groove on for another run at life", is difficult. For an automaker to do so, a 3200GTesque vehicle is a big help.
MASERATI QUATTROPORTE (V): New Subaru Legacy commercials mock the "sedan" - the Accord, Camry, Fusion group - while trying to sell you... a sedan. The Quattroporte puts the words "four" and "door" in its name and will never be taunted. Nay, never.

100 FAVOURITE CARS
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
71-80
81-90
91-100

100 FAVOURITE CARS - PART VI

Now that The Good Car Guy's 100 Favourite Cars introductions are past the halfway point, let's take a look at a few statistics. Fourteen (or fifteen if you don't count the AC Shelby Cobra as British) of the fifty have been American vehicles. Two have been Japanase. So, carry the one; multiple by seven; divide by three.... that leaves forty-four or forty-five European automobiles in the first fifty of GoodCarBadCar.net's 100 Favourite Cars. Take the hint: only sixteen out of the next fifty are not European. Here are cars 51-60.

HONDA INSIGHT (GEN1): Honda thought not highly of luxury or weight with the first Insight. Light weight, just enough power to live normal life, and strong aerodynamics made the little Honda rather chic.
HONDA PRELUDE (BB5-BB9): By the late '90s, Preludes had long since secured their place in the pantheon of junior sports cars. This final Prelude may have secured its place as the best-handling front-wheel drive car in history.
INFINITI FX45: A fan of both generations of the FX, including the FX35, the absurdity and bodaciousness of the 4.5L V8/bionic cheetah styling combo knocks me over.
JAGUAR E-TYPE: Every picture is able to tell at least a thousand words. I could write a few thousand on this picture of the E-Type.
JAGUAR XJR (X308): Before Jaguar softened and made the XJ's back seat liveable in 2003, the XJR was a supercharged sport sedan capable of wild & wooly or serene & smooth.
JEEP WRANGLER: Why do we need our off-roaders to cart six kids to school with a grocery load in the back and a 25-ft trailer attached? Actually, that's kind of nice. For every thing else, there's the Wrangler.
KOENIGSEGG CCX: Any of Christian's cars will do, but the CCX is certainly the most photogenic. Its mid-engine, cab-forward proportions weren't allowed to compromise the Swedish style. An IKEA supercar? Form and function united.
LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH: One of my older brothers knew cars like the back of a stranger's hand. Which is to say, not at all. But he loved the Countach. Smart choice.
LAMBORGHINI DIABLO: Changing from Countach to Diablo was like switching Dos for Windows (or Windows to Mac's Snow Leopard). Somehow Lamborghini kept the drama cranked up to 11 while ironing out the kinks.
LAMBORGHINI MIURA: The Picasa slideshow seen above will be forever thankful that it was able to hold both the Jaguar E-Type and the Miura, the two most worthy candidates for most beautiful car of all time.

100 FAVOURITE CARS

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

61-70

71-80

81-90

91-100

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO/MURCIELAGO/REVENTON EMISSIONS "IMMEASURABLE"

After arriving in Nova Scotia, The Good Car Brother bemoaned his Chevrolet Suburban's poor fuel economy and envied the efficiency of GoodCarBadCar's recent long-term addition, an '09 smart fortwo. Traveling extensively on highways all across this continent, his Suburban was achieving somewhere under 20 miles per gallon. The smart? Routine driving sees near 38 miles per gallon.

Converted to people miles per gallon, however, his Suburban would have been rated around 108 pmpg. GoodCarBadCar's smart with full human capacity wouldn't be rated beyond 76 pmpg. While it's true that no current Lamborghini could attain a pmpg rating over 40, there is another argument - another perspective, really - that ought to be considered when attacking the manufacturer for the consumption and emission of its automobiles.

Over its 46-year history, Lamborghini has produced approximately 22,000 cars. Americans made the Hyundai Elantra the tenth best-selling car in the USA last month by buying 21,673 sedan and wagon Elantras. Context given.

Of the 22,000 Lamborghinis manufactured in the last 46 years, only 11,000 are driven regularly. Unfortunately, this means 11,000 sit in living rooms, museums, and.... avert your eyes, junkyards. More context required? Toyota sold 10,656 Highlanders in August. One can assume they're all being driven. On the school run.

So few Lamborghinis are being driven, yes, but hardly driven in truth. On average, those 11,000 Lamborghinis are driven about 3,000 miles annually. GoodCarBadCar's long-term smart is driven sparingly yet will cover that distance in six months.

Measure the equivalent this'a'way. Take 2,750 cars and drive them each 12,000 miles per year. In other words, that's about 7% of the Honda Accords sold in the U.S. in August driven a regular amount.

Finally, says evo's Harry Metcalfe on Stephan Winkelmann's subject, the "CO2 levels of all the Lamborghinis ever produced is almost immeasurable". And yet, even amongst the automotive enthusiast society, we continue to expect companies like Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Bentley to produce E85-burning hybrids with hydrogen fuel cells and curb weights under 2,000 pounds.

Just for full disclosure's sake, here are some of the Numbers from the EPA on Lamborghini's 2010 models. By the way, the EPA (@ fueleconomy.gov) uses 15,000 miles per year to calculate the carbon footprint of automobiles.

Lamborghini Gallardo 6-speed manual: 12 mpg city/20 mpg highway, 12.2 tons of CO2/year

Lamborgini Murcielago 6-speed manual: 8 mpg city/13 mpg highway, 18.3 tons of CO2/year

Lamborghini Reventon Roadster: 9 mpg city/14 mpg highway, 16.6 tons of CO2/year

LAMBORGHINI INTRODUCES THE REVENTON ROADSTER- GALLERY

Around this time two years ago, Lamborghini unveiled the Reventon. Although criticized in some corners - including this one - for being comparably overpriced in light of the upgrades over Lamborghini's Murcielago, the Reventon's exclusivity and stop-you-in-your-tracks design led to some success. Now we have the Lamborghini Reventon Roadster. Rather extreme, we must admit, the Reventon in topless form still generates 661 horsepower, accelerates to 60mph in 3.4 seconds as it makes progress toward a 205mph top speed.

Read more about Lamborghini here

Lamborghini's boss, Stephan Winkelmann, says the Reventon Roadster "adds an extra emotional component" to the most extreme car in the brand's history. Yeah, as if the buyers of the regular Reventon weren't a bit emotional over the whole thing anyway.

Lambo Reventon Roadster buyers will be asked to pony up €1,100,000, today's equal of $1,601,431 USD. That's way too much money to pay for a car with the Lamborghini Reventon Roadster's capabilities. However, there will be about 20 of Lamborghini's "friends and collectors" willing to shell out.

Find out which car compete with the Reventon Roadster for the wallets of the mega rich

GALLERY - LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP560-4 SPYDER - 53 PICTURES

They're spending productive hours attempting to cure cancer and discover the habits of icebergs. I wish, for just five or ten minutes, that researchers would determine the ratio of Lamborghini sightings in real life and Lamborghini sightings in pictures as seen by the eyes of a regular Joe who doesn't live in Beverly Hills.

When I saw that Lambo had updated pictures and clicked on the Gallardo Spyder Gallery, it quickly became clearer than ever that exclusivity commands a great price.

The fact that the three best pictures on this Gallardo LP560-4 Gallery pose the Lamborghini in areas it may never visit again should aptly connote the absurdity of you seeing the Gallardo in these scenarios. Nevertheless, we enjoy the images anyway. Scroll through all 52 pictures in the Gallery below, check out all Lamborghini-related posts here, and take special note of the three wildly edited and outsized pictures in the post to see the Gallardo Spyder at its best.

FUTURE EUROPEAN AUTO INDUSTRY

With news that Porsche has eventually succeeded in wresting victory from the jaws of defeat (otherwise known as the state of Lower Saxony), the future of the European automotive industry is.... confusing. In ultra-simplistic visual form, the images below show the Porsche group with Volkswagen and its underlings as well as a possible Fiat group, with the GM Europe additions and Chrysler LLC group, too.

WATCH THE LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP560-4 IN THE SNOW

This 5-minute clip is really good. With that clarification made, you want to skip down and just press play. But wait... you need some background. Former Formula 1 driver Tiff Needell has taken a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 to the Italian Alps. Yes, the Gallardo is painted in shade of green that has begun to sicken The Good Car Guy when applied to the Ford Focus RS, but, who cares? This is a Lambo; lairy hues are what we've come to expect and enjoy. This whole clip appears to take place on the white stuff. Tarmac - no. Concrete - never. Asphalt - not at all. Enjoy.

For more WWW posts from GoodCarBadCar.net, see these:

Nissan GT-R, Nurburgring & Snow

Nissan 370Z In Motion

Bugatti Veyron Drag Races Pagani Zonda

CARS WE CARE ABOUT #4 - LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP560-4 SPYDER

Modern structures from Ferrari, Lamborghini and Pagani are so rock-solid that dynamically, the convertibles lose next to nothing. Pagani proved that with the roadster. Ferrari recently expressed great confidence in their 430 Spider by giving it the full Scuderia 16M treatment. Now Lamborghini shows us the high-octane LP560-4 in Spyder trim.

Compared with run-of-the-mill Gallardos, the LP560-4 drops weight and adds power. Indeed, horsepower is two north of 550. Lamborghini's recent fascination with white is interesting, but the class of the Gallardo's design mixes well with the pure colour as Ferrari design grows relatively ostentatious. The LP560-4 droptop is the third of three cars we care about today. Check out the electric Mini and the 2010 Nissan Cube, too. Don't ignore today's full gallery of the new 370Z.

LAMBORGHINI MAY NEED FRANCHISEE - WILL PRODUCE ESTOQUE

On the same day Lamborghini lets out that the Estoque four-door concept will be produced (thank goodness), the planet's best-selling Lamborghini dealership announces its doors will close. Shut. Lock. Firmly.

Santa Ana, California's Lambo store accounts for 10% of worldwide sales. Imagine for a second that were true of a Chevrolet dealer. Okay, now picture the profits attributed to this one dealership. Now picture Lamborghini's consternation at the thought of that dealer closing up. Okay, now start collecting donations from your friend so you can re-open that very same Lamborghini dealer. Because quite clearly, sales were not the issue.

True, Lamborghini doesn't sell a lot of cars. Typically, however, the vehicles sold cost above $200,000 and sometimes close to $400,000. Usually, OC Lamborghini could sell 240 cars per annum in modern Lambo times. With a middling profit margin of, say, 4%, OC Lamborghini would easily pull in more than $2,000,000. You could nudge that 4% upward safely and nudge up the earnings for "used" Lamborghinis and and servicing too. 

So, real estate issues are the suspected culprit. Many formerly rich Californians are just that: formerly rich. Perhaps the issues affecting OC Lamborghini are completely disconnected from sub-prime meltdowns. Nevertheless, there's never been a better opportunity to confront Lamborghini brass with a few million in coin with a suggestion that you run the OC Lambo biz. Get on the phone.

STOCK CAR COMPARO: AUDI A4, FORD FUSION, FORD FALCON & LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO

Turn it over to the dictionary. A stock car is "a racing car with a basic chassis of an ordinary commercially produced vehicle" or "an automobile of a standard make modified for racing" or "a standard model of automobile changed in various ways for racing purposes". 

Or as the people (Wikipedia) like to say, "A stock car, in the original sense of the termdescribed an automobile that has not been modified from its original factory configuration. Later the term stock car came to mean any production-based automobile used in racing. Now a days stock cars are not stock, since no Ford Fusion that us common people can buy has a 700 HP engine."

Without delving into the battle of Nascar pros and cons and protagonists and antagonists; let this be a comparison on purely superficial terms. Aesthetics only. Beauty, first and foremost.

While it's not difficult to discover that the Toyota Camry; Chevrolet Impala, Dodge Charger, and Ford Fusion you and I can buy in any car dealership in North America aren't exactly drop-dead gorgeous, their "stock car" racing brethren give a whole new meaning to ugly. NASCAR stock cars rank fourth in this four-way comparison. 

The German touring car series, known officially as the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, takes a somewhat NASCAR-like approach as far as alterring the car goes. However, technology is not avoided at all costs, resulting in amazingly capable cars. But the once-hot Audi A4 is turned into a monster. For a monster, it's not bad-looking. For an A4? Disappointing.

In Australia, however, the Pontiac G8 equivalent from Holden races against the rather alluring Ford Falcon in the V8 Supercars series. Good looks all around net the Falcon second place.

Will you have a look at this specimen, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Super Trofeo. Yow, and indeed, zah. This Gallardo stock car will race in its own series against other Gallardos of the same type in support of DTM, WTCC, and FIA GT races. Dealers and wealthy enthusiasts will have a chance at the thirty cars, cars that Lamborghini says will make for the fastest one-make series in the world. Each car costs about €200,000; support for which will surely increase the tag. The factory team will make use of celebrity drivers, some of whom we can assume will be at least half as good-looking as the car. The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Super Trofeo wins this comparison handily.

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP560-4 FOR ITALIAN POLIZIA - 20 PICTURES

I know exactly what you're thinking: apparently the Italian troopers were insatiable. The regular Gallardo wasn't good enough? In 2004, a Lamborghini Gallardo began a stint in the police service with tasks that - generally speaking - weren't related to tracking down high-octane speeders. Transporting organs for transplants was one of the Gallardo's more likely tasks, in theory. 

That first Gallardo has almost 88,000 miles on its odometer. A second Gallardo used in more northern areas since '05 has almost clocked almost 70,000 miles.

Check out the older Gallardo along with other wild police vehicles here 

and here along with police vehicle suggestions here

Apparently Lamborghini and the polizia believed more everything was required. The upgraded LP560-4 features 59 more horses than the original Gallardo with fewer pounds to propel. Thirty officers are trained in driving the Gallardo as well as in the use of its medical equipment. Thus, police personnel accustomed to Fiat Bravos won't be seen steering the LP560-4 off a cliff at 200mph.