Lamborghini's Newest Raging Bull

The famous Italian supercar maker continues expanding its lineup with a superlative, $350,000 drop-top at the L.A. Auto Show

By Matt Vella

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If there's one dominant ethos in the supercar industry, it's that "more is better." And, no other brand name has made itself more synonymous with that sentiment—at times to uncertain, even chaotic results—than extreme sports carmaker Lamborghini, based in the Sant'Agata Bolognese.

Now, at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show, the company is unbridling its latest snarling bull, a $350,000 drop-top version of the brand's latest flagship coupe. The sexy convertible, dubbed the Murciélago LP640 Roadster, comes as the company hits a new high—productive and profitable under Audi ownership, with cars shipping on time and, more important, receiving critical and consumer acclaim.

Superb Comeback

The newest roadster is just one more example of a sensibly timed, well-executed introduction from the once notoriously troubled company. While the superior performance and sophisticated design of Lamborghinis past has been thoroughly unimpeachable since the early 1960s, financial performance has been anything but superlative, with a high-profile bankruptcy and multiple corporate owners.

But since the 1998 acquisition by the Volkswagen Group, the company's fortunes have turned around. At that time, Lamborghini sold a mere 250 units a year worldwide, with profits nowhere in sight. But by last year, annual sales had risen to 1,600, and they should hit about 2,000 in 2006. Today profits are rolling in on the strength of new models.

The roadster joins the $175,000 Gallardo and $195,000 Gallardo Spyder convertible, as well as its coupe version, the more powerful $320,000 Murciélago LP640 in the company stable. The hard-top LP640 launched this March was dubbed an "evolution" of the model with the same nameplate which originally debuted in 2001; its significant upgrades made imperative by a lighter and faster version of the less-expensive and better-selling Gallardo.

Distant Cousins

But it is an evolutionary link like that between birds and dinosaurs—significant, perhaps, to the experts but not at all obvious to the average eye or, for that matter, driver. For one, the coupe and the roadster share a monumental new powerplant. Their 6.5-liter V12 touts an astonishing power rating, 640 horses at 8,000 rpms, more than the competing Ferrari 599 GTB's 611.

That engine enables both vehicles to reach maximum speeds of over 200 mph. And, sprinting from a standing start to 62 mph takes just about 3.4 seconds. That makes it one of the fastest-launching cars in the world.

Significant modifications had to be made to the roadster's frame and chassis because convertibles often lose some of the high-performance characteristics of their coupe siblings. Dedicated reinforcements in the engine area and additional frame structure parts made of carbon fiber were added to maintain torsional resistance, a key measure of high-speed drivability.

Another unique feature shared by both cars is an innovative all-wheel-drive system. Most supercars feature exclusively rear-wheel-drive setups, but the LP640 can regulate the amount of power being sent to the front or rear wheels to adjust for grip or maximum forward thrust.

Cutting-edge…Literally

Perhaps the most striking additions were made by body designers. Reworked front and rear bumpers give the futuristic car an even more aggressive, otherworldly stance. With the top down, the roof-line seamlessly drops from the front to the aft of the cabin with sharp, modernist precision. Looking like an after-burner, meanwhile, the redesigned rear diffuser incorporates the exhaust system to create a massive, gaping tail pipe.

Lamborghinis are built to order, so every model manufactured is shipped to an eager, paying customer. For the 2007 model year, worldwide the company will build 200 of the new Murciélago roadsters and 300 coupes. Half of the drop-tops are bound for Lamborghini's single biggest market, California. It's hands down the company's "most important market" according to Lamborghini's boss, Chief Executive Stephan Winkelmann.

Speaking from the L.A. Auto Show floor moments after the new vehicle's unveiling, Winkelmann says the convertible version is less a product of reaching different types of buyers—performance specifications after all are largely the same—but an entirely environmental one. "Our strategy is always to have an opened and a closed version of every model," he says. "The roadster may look more extreme, but it's basically the coupe without a roof."

Buying Blind

Sight unseen, the concept alone has proven irresistible. Even before the grand unveiling, customers had already lined up at dealerships to order the new model without ever catching a glimpse of the car's ultramodern lines. Both the coupe and the just-announced roadster have waiting lists of over 12 months. Orders will begin shipping to lucky drivers next spring.

"The product is vital," Winkelmann says, waxing enthusiastic about the importance of fresh, new products. "But even more important than the product is the myth of the brand and the company. We say: Lamborghini is uncompromising, extreme, and Italian."

If nothing else, at $350,000, gorgeous and rocket-ship fast, the new Murciélago LP640 roadster certainly proves that.

Click here to see more of the new Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 roadster.

Vella is a writer for BusinessWeek.com in New York.