It is one of the most stunning and successful super sports cars of all
time - the Lamborghini Murcielago. And that will always be the case, even if its
production life has now come to an end. At the headquarters of the badge bearing
the sign of the bull in Sant'Agata Bolognese, the last Murcielago left the
production line on May 11, 2010 - headed to a Swiss customer. With "Arancio
Atlas" paintwork, the LP 670-4 Superveloce proudly bears the production number
4,099. This makes the Murcielago not only by far the most-produced Lamborghini
twelve-cylinder of all time, but also one of the world's most successful super
sports cars.
The "end of production" of the Murcielago was celebrated in
the factory on November 5, 2010, with a special exhibition of the most iconic
V12 cars of Lamborghini's history, followed by a parade in Sant'Agata Bolognese.
Supersportcars like the 350 GT, the Miura, the Countach and the Diablo
escorted a Murcielago SV of the Lamborghini Museum during a symbolic "last ride"
out of the gate of the Lamborghini factory.
"For almost a decade, the
Murcielago was the icon of the Lamborghini brand, and it was enormously
successful in the process," says Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of
Automobili Lamborghini. "The Murcielago embodies the pure, unadulterated values
of our brand. It is truly extreme, uncompromising and unmistakably Italian. This
already makes it one of the legends of the sports car world. But the Lamborghini
story continues. In 2011, we will take a huge step into the future with the
successor to the Murcielago - with the most innovative technology and, once
again, truly stunning design."
The Lamborghini Murcielago is a super
sports car of menacing character and brutal power. And at its presentation in
2001, it opened a new chapter for the Lamborghini brand - with state-of-the-art
technology and outstanding product quality, but most especially, with a new,
timelessly modern design philosophy. To this day, the purist form of the
Murcielago still exudes enormous sensuality. Broad and low, with a cockpit set
well forward and a long, taut back - the interplay of its calm underlying form
and razor sharp edges is unique, as are its vertically opening "scissor" doors.
Augmenting the Murcielago is the Murcielago Roadster. With 640 hp under
perfect control and no roof above - there is no more sensuous way to experience
movement; every kilometer is a journey into the eye of the hurricane. As a
roadster, too, the Murcielago knows no compromise. Its roof is nothing more than
protection from the elements.
The extreme design was accompanied from the
very start by phenomenal performance, razor-sharp handling and outstanding
high-speed stability. The Murcielago has always been the ultimate driving
machine for advanced sports car drivers. In its first generation, it featured a
V12 with 6.2 liters of displacement and 580 hp, mounted longitudinally in front
of the rear axle. In the second generation, the Murcielago LP 640, displacement
rose to 6.5 liters and output to 640 hp.
And even this was subject to
further refinement - Lamborghini works tirelessly on the ongoing development of
its models. This year, the arrival of the Murcielago LP 670-4 Superveloce - with
output increased to 670 hp, weight reduced by a further 220 lbs and an even
hotter design - marked an impressive finale to the story of this super sports
car. The performance figures for the Superveloce are nothing short of
breathtaking - in only 3.1 seconds, the SV is catapulted to 60 mph. Not until
212 mph do power and drag call a halt to the proceedings.
With the
construction of the Murcielago, Lamborghini demonstrated its extraordinary
expertise in lightweight engineering and in working with high-tech carbon-fiber
composite materials. From the very start, the structure of this super sports car
has been a mix of extremely stiff carbon-fiber components attached to a steel
frame - as in a race car. Center tunnel and floorpan are made from carbon-fiber,
as are the majority of the exterior panels and many interior components.
Lamborghini has significantly developed this lightweight philosophy for the
successor to the Murcielago.
4,099 units of the Lamborghini Murcielago
were built between 2001 and 2010 in Sant'Agata Bolognese - an impressive number,
and not only in comparison to its predecessors the Miura, Countach and Diablo.
Bearing the special production number, the final one to be produced is, of
course, an LP 670-4 Superveloce, sporting a large rear wing and "Arancio Atlas"
paintwork. The final car has been delivered to a customer in Switzerland. Even
though many sports car fans around the world are sure to mourn the passing of
the Murcielago, Lamborghini is ready to start the next all-new chapter in the
story of the super sports car in 2011 with its successor - welcoming the arrival
of a new automotive legend.