Autoesque

Lamborghini and The Italian Sea Group have collaborated to create the Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63, an exclusive motor yacht which was inspired by the Sián FKP 37 hybrid supercar.

Buyers of the new Essenza SCV12 will, quite literally, become members of a very exclusive club. Production of this track-only model is being limited to only forty examples, plus Lamborghini intends to organise a series of ‘arrive and drive’ events at FIA Grade 1 circuits for Essenza owners. In between those outings, the cars can be stored in a purpose-built hanger in Sant’Agata Bolognese.

Ferruccio Lamborghini wasn’t an advocate of factory-supported motorsport, so the late founder of the firm that bears his name probably wouldn’t approve of the Huracán GT3.

Lamborghini has unveiled the Aventador LP 700-4 Pirelli Edition. As that name suggests, it has been created to recognise the fact that every road-going Lamborghini car has left the factory equipped with Pirelli tyres.

2014 promises to be another busy year for new car launches in the UK. Here are ten of the most significant models that are going to be introduced this year.

The all-new Lamborghini Huracán is named after a fighting bull. That’s rather fitting because, as a replacement for the Gallardo, it’s going to have to take on the likes of the Ferrari 458 Italia and McLaren 12C.

The Veneno, unveiled at March’s Geneva motor show, was created by Lamborghini as part of the company’s 50th birthday celebrations. Now a no less striking Roadster version has arrived.

Lamborghini is celebrating 50 years of car manufacturing by launching the limited edition Aventador LP 720-4 50° Anniversario.

Sixty-six jurors from across the world have completed a first round of voting to determine the 2011 World Car Awards finalists. With four different awards up for grabs, the shortlist models - in alphabetical order - are: 2011 World Car of the Year Audi A1 Audi A8 BMW 5 Series BMW X3 Jaguar XJ Jeep Grand Cherokee Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Nissan Leaf Porsche Cayenne Volvo S60 / V60 Obviously, this is the big prize. Each of the finalists will be judged on ‘overall merit, value, safety, environmental responsibility, emotional appeal and significance’, a combination that has lead to some previous winners being very worthy but also just a bit dull. What’s striking is that 2011’s entire crop is from premium or, in the case of the Volvo and Jeep, semi-premium manufacturers. Even the Nissan isn’t exactly mainstream, given its relatively high price. The Leaf could well repeat its 2011 European Car of the Year victory, but it does tend to divide opinion. There are those who b...

Lamborghini has unveiled the Gallardo Bicolore Special Edition at the 2011 Qatar Motor Show. Predictably, given its name, the Bicolore gets a two-tone colour scheme. Its top half including pillars, roof, engine cover and rear spoiler is finished in Noctis Black, while the lower portion comes painted in a choice of Giallo Midas, Arancio Borealis, Grigio Telesto, Bianco Monocerus or Blu Caelum. In other words, yellow, orange, grey, white or blue. The exterior effect is finished off by titanium grey enamel, 15-spoke Skorpius forged alloy wheels. Meanwhile, it’s a similar theme on the inside, where the Bicolore is upholstered in Persus Black leather with contrast stitching to match the paintjob. As a final touch, the centre console bezel surrounding the standard-fit e-gear automated transmission controls is also Noctis Black, to match the upper section of the bodywork. European and Asian-Pacific markets will get the Gallardo Bicolore Special Edition in LP 560-4 guise, which means 5...

The Environmental Transport Association (ETA), a UK-based ethical motoring organisation and sustainable travel lobby group, has announced its 2010 Green Car Awards winners. BMW took the honours in three of the nine categories. Toyota meanwhile won in two, plus its iQ was given the accolade of overall Green Car of the Year 2010. In deciding how the titles would be awarded, over 5,000 cars were assessed on their power, emissions, fuel efficiency and amount of noise produced. The worst cars in each category were also named, with the Lamborghini Murcielago being declared the least-green car overall. Perhaps the LP 640’s 495 g/km of carbon dioxide emissions and combined cycle fuel consumption of 13.3 mpg (21.3 l/100 km) had something to do with it? Some of the results seem a bit odd, though. For example, the winning Toyota iQ (presumably the entry level 1.0 VVT-i Manual) seems to be bettered in a number of key criteria by the car that (possibly) inspired it - the Smart fortwo. Acco...

The Audi R8 family continues to grow. First of all there was the V8- powered car, which was soon joined by the R8 V10 and Spyder. And now there’s the R8 GT. Based on the V10, but more powerful and lighter, the GT is aimed directly at the likes of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. The 5.2 litre engine has been up-rated to 553 bhp (412 kW / 560 PS), while a strict diet has dropped the weight by around 100 kg. As a result, the R8 GT accelerates from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 320 km/h (199 mph). That’s actually not much of an improvement on the standard V10, which does 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds and goes onto 196 mph. But it would have been embarrassing had the R8 ended up outpacing its very close cousin, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera, which takes 3.4 seconds to do the 0-100 km/h sprint and tops out at 202 mph. Changes to the chassis should mean the R8 GT is able to use its enhanced power to bes...

Audi already builds a rear-wheel drive version of the R8, the GT3. But, as the name suggests, it’s made solely for GT racing and therefore only available to race teams. All road-going editions of Audi’s flagship model, perhaps understandably, feature the company’s signature quattro all-wheel drive technology. But now German tuner MTM has announced its GT3-2. The clue to what differentiates it from a standard R8 is that final ‘2’. Yes, half the quattro system has been ditched in order to create the only street legal rear-wheel drive R8. However, MTM hasn’t stopped there. The 4.2 litre FSI V8 engine gets a supercharger, boosting power by 146 bhp to 560 bhp. Significantly, that’s more than the 518 bhp produced by Audi’s own R8 V10. That kind of power allows the GT3-2 to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.9 seconds, and achieve a top speed of 317 km/h (197 mph). Strangely enough, those figures are virtually identical to what the Audi R8 V10 and its close relative, the rea...