The sun wasn’t always out during the day, but at least we didn’t get any rain this time around, and from early on we could see a nice number of cars being driven by their owners arriving on the ‘show paddock’, an area designated for Lamborghini cars that would be restricted for VIP visitors only, and with cars like a pristine Countach, a stunning Murcielago Super Veloce and a Ferrari F40, you know the owners won’t like it not to have their cars a bit protected from the countless visitors that came to Assen that day.

What did surprise me was the fact no less than two Lamborghini Gallardo SE were present, and both were finished in a stunning pearl metallic white, that is really rare, just like the first edition Gallardo Superleggera, a white one is rare, but also a yellow and an orange one came to Viva ltalia … to be accompanied by an original 5.0 Gallardo, a few LP560-4, an LP570-4 Superleggera and a stunning, Rosso Mars Gallardo Performante … it is obvious the Gallardo was a success in sales.

For me one of the highlights of the day was encountering an Huracan Performante in Bianco Canopus, the satin pearl white metallic shade from Lamborghini I absolutely love … and rumor had it the owner actually had a second Performante at home.

Once again the Nero Nemesis Lamborghini Murciélago LP670-4 Super Veloce came from Germany together with a brand new looking, yellow Lamborghini Diablo … to join a few other Murciélago on display … one of them was retrofitted with SV wheels and LP640 taillights.

Probably the oldest Lamborghini at Viva Italia this year was the well-known, red Espada Series II, a classic lady that is celebrating her 50th anniversary this year, a powerful V12 four-seater made in Sant’Agata.

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Naturally the Lamborghini Club Nederland had their own area on the paddock at Assen, packed with some of the most amazing Raging Bull built in Sant’Agata over the last 53 years, this time the famous black 400 GT 2+2 wasn’t present (the owner recently sold her in fact) so the oldest Bull on the paddock in 2016 was a silver metallic Jarama, an S model actually, and she sure stood out from the pack of exotic V10 and V12 models around her.

From the Nineties you could admire a number of Lamborghini Diablo at the Dutch club stand, a pair of early yellow ones were parked side by side, they were joined by a late model Diablo VT 6.0 in the same shade and one of only 20 Diablo 6.0 SE, this one finished in an amazing looking Oro Elios shade … keep in mind the Diablo will be the next model rise in value as seen by the Diablo SE30 Jota that sold recently.

Lamborghini stepping into the next millennium meant the release of the Murciélago, the long awaited successor to the Diablo is quickly becoming a valued model these days, the early ones are still reasonably priced, but the later LP640 and LP670-4 Super Veloce are getting expensive now … from the original Murciélago 6.2 production there were two units in Assen, a dark grey one and a bright orange one … a later LP640 model was represented in a stunning Nero Nemesis, matte black finish.

This brings us to the Lamborghini Gallardo series, with a production of 14,022 units over a period of 10 years it is only logical a lot of these V10 are around, and they also show up at events like Viva Italia … in all kinds of shades, and in different versions.

In 2003 the Gallardo 5.0 was introduced, and this V10 became a success … many of these early ones were sold in yellow, and it shows … from the four early Gallardo at Viva Italia three were finished in Giallo, with the fourth one being a white version, one of the yellow Gallardo was rolling on some amazing looking Vossen wheels by the way.

A limited edition Gallardo SE was unveiled in 2005, only 250 of these Special Edition would be built and they were available in a limited number of shades, pearl white metallic like the one at Viva Italia with a glossy black roof was one of those shades … that same year the Gallardo Spyder was introduced at the IAA in Frankfurt, the convertible version of the V10 Bull, needless to say orders poured in.

There were three Gallardo Spyder at this event, once again a yellow one, but also a stunning Verde Ithaca one on black wheels while the third one had me puzzled at first … it looked like Verde Ithaca but something was wrong about the shade … turned out this was in fact a black Gallardo Spyder under a green wrap, the hue of Verde was just not right.

In 2007 Lamborghini released a special lightweight version of the Gallardo, called the Superleggera, today probably one of the more sought after versions, especially the showroom fresh white one at Viva Italia … white was a very rare shade on the original Superleggera, a second original Superleggera was finished in Arancio Borealis while the successor, the Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera was represented in Assen in a yellow finish.

The evolution of the Gallardo became known as the LP560-4 model, and naturally two of those came to Assen too, this time in another popular shade … Bianco. One was the closed Coupé form while the second LP560-4 was a stunning Spyder with a two-tone black and white leather interior.

Now there was one more Gallardo V10 at Viva Italia this year … but you might not recognize her at first glance … in fact this Bull was hiding underneath a Batman inspired body that was entered into the 2016 edition of the famous Gumball 3000 by Team Galag, rolling on massive 26-inch Pirelli Scorpion tires … it was one of several Gumball 3000 cars that came to Assen actually.

This brings us to the current production models from Sant’Agata, the Aventador and Huracán series … 19 of these recent cars showed up in Assen. Three of the Aventador LP700-4 units could be admired, one finished in stunning Nero Nemesis and rolling on some amazing HRE wheels while a glossy black one came with a Novitec rear wing and Batman sign on the door. The third one was finished in a stylish Grigio Estoque on black wheels with yellow brake calipers … in fact it almost looked like a His and Hers kind of thing as it was parked next to an Aventador LP700-4 Roadster in exactly the same combination … very nice indeed.

A second Aventador LP700-4 Roadster was finished in glossy black over a set of dark titanium Dione wheels, another beautiful combination … but for me the Grigio Titans finished Pirelli Edition Roadster was simply stunning, the matte body combined with glossy black parts and those red details just make this V12 stand out perfectly … and she wasn’t even the only Pirelli Edition in Assen, a bright red Coupé was also present … and this one came with an amazing clear carbon fiber DMC rear wing.

The icing on the cake for me was the number of Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce at Viva Italia 2016, no less than 6 of these limited edition cars came to Assen and with only 600 being built this was an impressive number. They came from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands … one of them competed in the Gumball 3000 just days ago and still had all the dirt and dust on her … on the complete body wrap that was hiding a Rosso Bia finish.

There was a green finished Superveloce with racing stripes and a custom, large yellow SV script on the side, another one came in Verde Ithaca with the small SV on the side while a third one looked like the Geneva show car in Nouva Giallo Orion, the white one in Assen boasted a large black SV on the side and was ordered with red brake calipers and red center locking screws … a very nice combination … while the sixth Superveloce was a custom order blue with black roof.

From these six Aventador Superveloce half of them had the optional comfort seats while the others came with the very special, carbon fiber sport seats … still all of them had the optional Dianthus central locking wheels … the Superveloce could be ordered with regular, five bolt Dione wheels, but I think most of them will have the Dianthus wheels installed in the end.

Which brings us the last Lamborghini model present at Viva Italia, the Huracán … six of these modern V10 could be admired in Assen, five of the LP610-4 models were shown, a Verde Mantis one was hiding in a pit box from the rain but it did take a stint on the track, while a black car was used by Vredestein to showcase their tires, an amazing looking orange Huracán boasted a carbon fiber rear wing … but also the fin underneath the taillights, the lower diffuser and the air intakes behind the side windows were done in carbon fiber on this car … very nice indeed.

Seeing a Lamborghini Huracán LP610-4 finished in Giallo Horus in real life is actually very interesting, the matte yellow finish is magnificent on this car, a rather rare shade, but beautiful … another owner decided he didn’t like the black finish of his Huracán anymore and decided to have a really impressive looking brushed aluminum look vinyl installed … he called his car the LP610-4 Steel Edition.

Finally one of the first Lamborghini Huracán LP610-4 Spyder in the Netherlands showed up, finished in a classic looking dark grey metallic over a brown interior, this V10 Spyder looked great, too bad the weather didn’t permit opening the roof as I’m sure that would have drawn a lot more attention to her.

So despite the rain, the wind and the cold … the sun did come out from time to time in Assen, so it was another great event with a lot of exotic supercars on display and some interesting action on the track … Viva Italia 2016 drew a lot of visitors and I can’t wait to do it all over again next year.

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Naturally cars like the Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari LaFerrari, Ferrari Enzo, Koenigsegg Agera, Porsche 918, McLaren 570S and a rare Mercedes SLR Stirling Moss draw a lot of attention as you rarely see them on the open road, still the large number of Lamborghini at this event was even more impressive, decades worth of production cars made in Sant’Agata were on display during SuperCarSunday.nl and Viva Italia.

I actually lost count of exactly how many Lamborghini could be admired that Sunday, on the Lamborghini Club Nederland stand we could enjoy some amazing catering together with a collection of Bulls with V8, V10 and V12 engines … the silver metallic V8 Jalpa even rolled on a set of those highly sought after Silhouette wheels while the massive, red LM002 was an earlier model with the Countach V12 engine up front.

A large number of Lamborghini Gallardo showed up at Viva Italia too, ranging from the early model both in Coupé and in Spyder form, over the LP560-4 model right up to the LP570-4 Superleggera … complete with a very rare, white Gallardo Superleggera and a beautiful matte grey wrap Gallardo and a duo of yellow V10. A nice dark grey metallic one, the black Gallardo Rally car and one of only 185 Gallardo Nera were also on display among others.

In the V12 arena a few Countach took battle, a nice white LP500S and a dark red metallic 25th Anniversary were accompanied by the well-known red Countach Quattrovalvole, the latter still wearing her starting number from the Grande Giro event back in 2013.

Naturally the by now classic Diablo wasn’t absent either, two silver metallic ones and a total of four yellow ones made their appearance, even the final production model, the VT 6.0 was present together with a rare 1999 model of the Diablo SV, complete with SVR rear wing.

A few units of the Lamborghini Murciélago were on show too, the very nice orange metallic one with a stunning Q-Citura seats, but also a yellow Murciélago showed up with two black Bulls, one of them in the amazing LP640 evolution.

Despite the higher prices for the more recent Lamborghini Aventador they sure weren’t kept in their garage, a large number of these new flagship made it to Assen this time, the original LP700-4 finished in white, black and green, but also the magnificent Aventador LP700-4 Roadster and even one of the very rare Aventador LP720-4 Roadster … only 100 of these 50th Anniversary edition models were built, and a white one could be admired in Assen this time.

It also became very obvious the new Huracan is a big success for Lamborghini … the sheer number of these brand new V10 models was breathtaking … finished in orange, green, black, red and blue they all looked very, very nice … I can’t wait for the next edition of Viva Italia, with a bit of luck we’ll be seeing the new Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce and the Huracan LP610-4 Spyder in 2016.

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This time the Lamborghini Club Nederland arranged a raised VIP area where you could enjoy some drinks and food while talking to fellow Lamborghini owners while admiring the multitude of Raging Bulls parked in front of the VIP lounge … classic cars like the black 400 GT +2+ and the red Espada Series II, but also a by now rare Jalpa was present too, accompanied by lots of Gallardo models naturally.

With over 14,000 built in the last 10 years, the Gallardo is bound to be seen at any Lamborghini related event, and Viva Italia 2014 was no different, several units of the early ‘pre-LP560’ era were present … yellow, orange, grey, black and even a matte grey wrapped one could be admired next to a bright green Gallardo Spyder.

Or how about a really rare Gallardo Superleggera … this white finished car was just registered by her owner, and only 10 have been made in this shade … the successor LP570-4 Superleggera was also among the Bulls on display, finished in Arancio Borealis, while Lamborghini Leusden had the Gallardo production number 14,021 on display … a white 50th Anniversary LP560-2 edition, very impressive with the clear carbon fiber rear wing and dark wheels.

In one of the pit boxes I found an even more intimidating Lamborghini … a 2013 specs Blancpain Super Trofeo race car while not one but two Gallardo LP570-4 Performante were parked in the super car section, a bright yellow one and a stunning red one … back to the Lamborghini Club Nederland stand where the amazing black Gallardo Rally arrived and another limited edition V10 Bull … the Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni edition in Verde Ithaca with the wide stripe in Bianco and Oro … a very beautiful car.

One more Gallardo had me confused for a second … this black LP570-4 Superleggera looked different, sure it had the correct wheels, rear wing, glass engine cover and interior … but the front and rear bumpers were different … in fact these were taken from the final production LP560-4 model, the so called FL2 (Face Lift 2). The Belgian owner even had an awesome carbon fiber tip Akrapovic exhaust installed and a glossy black/matte black finish on his Gallardo … a very nice car.

On to the V12 Bulls now … a total of three different Lamborghini Countach came to Assen this time, the well-known red Quattrovalvole but also a stunning white Countach LP500S on white wheels over a black leather interior … third one was a black over tan one with the classic gold wheels. Next generation was the Diablo, again a black one was present but also two silver finished units, one even in the rare MY1999 edition over a blue and grey alcantara interior.

A bright yellow Diablo showed a totally custom made interior using blue and yellow leather in a different design compared to factory specs … even the final evolution of the Diablo reign was present, the Diablo VT 6.0 in a beautiful orange metallic finish … possible the best Diablo model ever made in large numbers (I would prefer a Diablo GT, but they are very rare, so the Diablo 6.0 is the next best thing).

I’m sure the Murciélago is a model many people know and would possibly recognize … with the original 6.2 model getting a little older prices have come down so many are now able to make their dream come true and buy a V12 Lamborghini … at Assen a nice selection was available, in either yellow, orange or grey (one of the yellow ones even had an interior completely done in yellow leather) … a nice Murciélago Roadster was also present and the limited edition LP670-4 Super Veloce model was represented in bright orange … despite being succeeded by the Aventador this SV was still very impressive to say the least.

It was really great to see so many Aventador show up for Viva Italia/Super Car Sunday … first up were a bright green LP700-4 with a black roof that was accompanied by a stunning white Aventador Roadster … a real beauty and one of two Roadster that could be admired in Assen … Louwman Exclusive Cars had a magnificent Grigio Estoque Aventador Roadster on display … for sale by the way.

Two other Aventador LP700-4 showed up in Assen too, one finished in a matte black … which turned out the be a wrap over a Grigio Estoque finished Aventador … and another Aventador in glossy black rolling on black wheels and optioned with yellow brake calipers … a very nice combination on the Aventador.

So I would say Viva Italia 2014 was another massive success for us Lamborghini enthusiasts … not only the more recent models were represented but also the classic GT’s that started it all back in the Sixties … too bad there was no Miura or one of those massive LM002 this time … but still we had a great time once again … can’t wait for the next event …

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Just about every year the famous TT Circuit in Assen, the Netherlands is transformed into an Italian Motor City … hundreds of cars and bikes that once left the factory doors in Italy are on display and can be seen driving on the track during an action packed day, the paddock area is overrun with some of the most amazing cars ever seen, ranging from race prepared Fiat and Alfa Romeo to the very exclusive Ferrari and Lamborghini super cars … the latter being the most interesting for me naturally.

I can really enjoy the more beautiful cars from the ‘competition’, but a Lamborghini still stands out of the crowd … and once again this became very obvious during the 2013 Viva Italia event on Sunday … ‘Piazza Lamborghini’ was an appropriate name for the area surrounding the Lamborghini Club Nederland hospitality truck as nearly 40 Sant’Agata built exotics would be on display during the day, and not only the modern Gallardo but also some of the more classic models.

We’ll start the list with the second production model ever built by Lamborghini, the 400GT 2+2 finished in a nice black paint over a tobacco brown interior … this car just returned from Italy in fact as it participated in the Grande Giro only a week earlier, the successor to this classic GT was also present in Assen, a nice silver metallic Islero in S trim joined the Bulls on the paddock.

Now here I have to apologize … there was also a nice looking blueish silver metallic Lamborghini Jarama that arrived late to the party … and for some reason I didn’t get a photo of it, shame on me, but still I do list it here as it was present nonetheless … in fact the Jarama concludes the list of early, classic Lamborghini as we now take a jump in time to the early Eighties with a stunning dark red metallic Lamborghini Countach LP500S.

One of three Countach present at Viva Italia this year as there was also a pristine looking white 25th Anniversary edition … which seemed to have a little identity crisis as it was proudly wearing the 50th Anniversary logo on the doors and hood. In fact it was hard to believe this car is already 25 years old today, this white unit had an amazing looking red leather interior and optional sport seats while the second 25th Anniversary Countach in Assen was an equally pristine looking red one over a black leather interior … this latter one did have the optional rear wing.

From the same era a bright red Lamborghini Jalpa showed up, with the classic tan leather interior and removable roof section this car was the V8 powered ancestor to the current, very popular Gallardo model, little over 400 were built during the Eighties, hence we don’t see too many of them these days anymore.

Lots of Diablo were available to be admired too, a very early black finished car with the ‘rough’ engine bay and the large dashboard pod and also a silver metallic and a yellow one with the clean engine bay and the smaller dashboard also used in the Diablo VT model, so these ‘updated’ Diablo were built from 1993 on.

A magnificent looking blue metallic Lamborghini Diablo with a white leather interior still proudly showed the ‘042’ entry number from the Grande Giro, another participant that had just returned from Italy after driving 1,200km over the most beautiful roads from Milan to Bologna and Sant’Agata … a once in a lifetime experience that gathered over 350 Lamborghini in one place.

If memory serves me right I think I have seen two black Diablo, two silver Diablo, a yellow one, a dark green metallic Diablo Roadster and a nicely tuned yellow Diablo Roadster in 1999 trim, this latter in fact had a stunning black rear wing installed and innovative LED taillights and the so-called ‘Angle eyes’ in the headlights … a very nice touch to modernize this 14 year old open top flagship.

Towards the end of the production run of the Countach in the late Eighties we saw another Lamborghini model leaving the factory doors … the mammoth LM002, intended for military use this high end off-road ‘monster’ soon caught the attention of wealthy Middle Eastern customers who really appreciate the 455hp V12 engine, four Countach style seats and massive Pirelli Scorpion tires to take a drive in the sand.

According to most sources only 301 units of the Lamborghini LM002 were built, first with the Countach engine but the very last units, like the 1991 model that arrived in Assen, received a fuel injected Diablo sourced engine with a power increase to 490hp, some nice alloy rims from OZ Wheels and small bumpers on the corners … these massive LM’s are a rare sight these days.

Back in 2001 the Lamborghini Diablo was replaced by a new V12 flagship, the Murciélago … the first, new Raging Bull to be released under Audi AG ownership … many feared the Italian soul of the car would be lost under the German guidance, but the Murciélago would become a very successful model in the end, with the stunning LP670-4 Super Veloce limited edition being the swansong before the impressive Aventador took over in 2011.

At the Viva Italia event you could admire a nice dark grey metallic Murciélago 6.2 model and a bright yellow one from the same first series, the latter did have an very good looking two-tone interior combining yellow and black leather … today known as the BiColore Sportivo option, however the most attention went to a pearl white metallic Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 Roadster boasting a simply stunning black leather interior with Q-Citura stitching.

As could be expected the majority of the nearly 40 Lamborghini that took the trip to Assen came from the Gallardo series … with over 13,000 units built to date the chances of seeing a Gallardo is much greater than any other model from Sant’Agata. Several showed up on the Piazza Lamborghini in the paddock area … from the early series a yellow one arrived, at least three black ones (with various shades on the wheels) but also a bright green Spyder version, a silver metallic Spyder and a dark red metallic open top V10.

In the Spyder range I also saw two LP560-4 Spyder models, one finished in the popular white shade over a black leather Q-Citura interior while the second was a blueish silver metallic shade … with a black interior too, a very nice combination in fact.

Early on Sunday morning one of the most impressive, and probably the ultimate Gallardo ever arrived, finished in white combined with red roof pilars this Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera Edizione Tecnica was picked up at the factory last week, participated in the Grande Giro and was driven back the Netherlands just in time to be shown at Viva Italia … were it was driven on the track by the owner.

A second Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera had me looking twice in fact, finished in a beautiful orange metallic it puzzled me a second … but I caught the issue … it had the early Superleggera wheels installed instead of the new Fuchs wheels used on the LP570-4 Superleggera … and I have to admit these ‘older’ wheels still look very nice on the new Superleggera … in fact these wheels are also used on the LP560-2 50th Anniversary Gallardo presented in China a few weeks ago, so I guess Lamborghini likes them too.

I’m sure I might have missed a Lamborghini or two in the overview, but it was so overwhelming to see such a high number of Raging Bulls together on the paddock of the TT Circuit … and even more impressive to see most of them taking a stint on the track during one of the three ‘free driving’ blocks spread over the day, when people could be a passenger in one of these super cars.

Viva Italia 2013 was another great event in the Netherlands, 402 events who organized this Dutch 50th Anniversary celebration together with the Lamborghini Club Nederland did a great job … can’t wait to do it all again next year.

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Despite the rather lousy weather a very impressive collection of exotic cars could be admired, rare models like the classic Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2, an Islero 400 GTS or the Jarama.

Naturally there were also some more recent Lamborghini’s shown, a few very nice Diablo, among them a stunning pearl yellow metallic Diablo VT 6.0, but also a rare Ferrari F40 from Belgium, and a selection of De Tomaso Pantera were showing off between this awesome show of Italian art on wheels.

As usual a large selection of Lamborghini Club Nederland members drove into Assen, most of them with their pride and joy, like a very nice black Diablo, this car was one of the early 2wd models made, nearly ten years old by now and still in a perfect shape.

Just like during the previous years, it was possible to have a drive on the circuit inside one of these exotic cars, an experience I can only advise you to try, but the Lamborghini Club Nederland and VDB Promotions can always be convinced to perform something extra, this year they went to pick up a Greek boy, who unfortunately suffers from an incurable illness, at his hotel in Assen with two Lamborghini’s, a bright yellow Diablo and an awesome black Countach Anniversary, just to offer a choice to this kid.

In the end he selected the intimidating black Countach, while another kid was offered the chance to drive back to the circuit in the yellow Diablo, upon arrival on the circuit they were also taken onto the track for a little spin, everyone who helped to achieve this very special experience for these two kids was very pleased with their reaction.

Every visitor to Viva Italia was offered the chance to drive a few rounds on the circuit inside an Italian super car, for only 15 Euro you could experience the thrill of being a passenger on one of these special cars, a large number of people booked a drive.

Sometimes it was a bit crowded in the waiting queue, but once seated inside the car and thundering down the pit-lane, the wait was soon forgotten.

During this edition of the Viva Italia event several foreign guests were present, a few German Lamborghini owners drove down to Assen with their car, but also two Lamborghini’s from Switzerland were present, and one from Belgium, the latter one was in fact a magnificent yellow Countach LP400 S in perfect shape. Our Swiss friends arrived with two very nice cars, one was a mildly tuned Diablo, with custom Momo parts in the interior and central exhaust pipes. The second car was a rather unique Countach, this actual car was once owned by none other than Patrick Mimran who owned the factory at the time this car was built.

The current owner, who incidentally is also the webmaster for the Swiss Lamborghini Club, stated this is probably the only Lamborghini Countach QV ever made in this color, a very nice dark metallic paint.

If you are a Lamborghini owner and would like to share your car together with other proud Lamborghini owners during the Viva Italia event next year, please don’t hesitate to contact the Lamborghini Club Nederland

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Naturally a lot of Fiat, Alfa and Lancia were present, but more interesting was the large number of Raging Bulls that could be admired that day, ranging from the stunning Miura over some legendary Countach and Diablo right up to the Murciélago, complemented by a few Gallardo, an Espada, an Islero and some amazing looking Jarama.

So just about every model that was once made by Automobili Lamborghini SpA in Sant’Agata was on display on the crowded Lamborghini Club Nederland stand, bathing in sunlight just about all day, so the bright orange metallic cars where just sparkling away …

But Viva Italia isn’t about show only, most of the cars parked on the paddock will take a spin on the track during some of the ‘runs’ on the TT circuit, one of the Lamborghini’s was nearly pulled from the track for being too loud, an UK registered Diablo SV was pumping out 129.2 dB when it was tested … it eventually won the competition for the loudest engine of the day, the Raging Bull rules !

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The Lamborghini Club Nederland area was filled with various models, ranging from the more classic front engine V12 types right up to the Murciélago and even a bright green metallic Gallardo Spyder.

So what could be admired at Assen this year, for starters, no less than three different black Diablo and a fourth, silver finished one, all in great shape, but the by now classic Countach wasn’t overlooked either. Two LP500 S editions, a really nice white one with a black interior and a magnificent dark red one, the latter also featuring a state of the art leather upholstery, the central console on this red Countach was even finished in perforated leather, very nice, combined with an embroidered Raging Bull logo on the headrest, this car drew a lot of attention to say the least, while sitting on slightly darker finished, telephone dial wheels … a stunning car !

A third Countach was finished in a nice burgundy metallic over a tan leather interior, a very nice and rare combination on this 25th Anniversary edition, more recent Bulls were a bright orange metallic Murciélago, driven all the way from Germany, and an awesome green metallic Lamborghini Gallardo, who’s owner only took delivery of his car days earlier … after waiting 12 months for it to arrive, talk about patience.

Naturally there were a few classic Lamborghini present too, one of the most impressive ones a bright yellow Miura S, a flawless example of one of the most beautiful cars ever made at Sant’Agata, personally I think the Miura SV is the nicest one, but this yellow S model surely ranks a close second. Next to this legendary Miura you could also admire two Islero S models, another bright yellow Lamborghini, but this time a Jarama, and a really good looking black Espada … too bad there wasn’t a 350GT present in Assen, or we would have had just about all the most important models ever made on display.

Naturally Viva Italia isn’t about show only, these cars are meant to be driven, so after gathering in the pit lane for a ‘Free ride’ session, most owners took their Bull onto the famous TT Circuit at Assen for some really nice driving, some at the near limits of their car, others just for the sheer fun of it, but both were warmly welcomed by the numerous visitors seated alongside the straight.

Unfortunately after this first session on the track, it started raining in Assen, didn’t last too long, but it made some of the visitors leave way too soon, and some owners took the road home in their Bull to avoid getting stuck in traffic, but still we had a great day, talking with owners and enthusiasts about Lamborghini in general, as usual, Viva Italia is a great event that draws a lot of people to Assen each year, I’m already looking forward to next year to see even more Bulls gathered on and around the TT Circuit …

See you in Assen next year !

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And despite the weather not being too nice (it didn’t rain fortunately) there were a lot of people and cars at Assen, a very impressive Lamborghini Club Nederland stand showed a multitude of great cars, ranging from the classic 400 GT 2+2, Islero, Espada and Jarama right up to the legendary Countach, the Diablo and the recent Murciélago and Gallardo, also two Urraco showed up, a stunning bright Verde Chiaro finished one … which was actually the first time the car went on the road after being restored by it’s owner over a period of four years.

Many people were walking between these super cars, but it weren’t all ‘Raging Bull’ on the stand, there were a very rare Porsche GT and a Bugatti EB110 present too drawing as much attention as the rest of these rarely seen cars.

Viva Italia is an event that will show you the most exotic cars around, cars you don’t encounter on the public road every day, and what’s even better, they are taken onto the famous TT Circuit … with passengers.

So you can have the experience of actually being driven in an exotic Lamborghini on the circuit, something I can only encourage you to do, it’s totally different to driving in any other car.

Naturally not all cars were driven on the circuit, some were kept on the paddock while others were racing on the track, not everybody wants to drive on the circuit in their pride and joy, you never know, and most of these cars are not used to being pushed to the limits a circuit can put them in … so some prefer to show there car while others take great pleasure in going ‘full blast’ on an enclosed circuit, something that can rarely be done on the public roads these days (without a massive speeding ticket I mean).

Taking a walk around the various stands you could enjoy some of the finest sound tuning for your car, specialized companies were present offering the very best high fidelity systems for inside your car, naturally this isn’t used in a Lamborghini … the engine makes the best sound on this planet right ?! But still, if you would like to have some great sounding music in you could find it at Assen.

Right next to the scale car shop, which drew my to it by some unknown force and made me spend way too much money again on the a few Lamborghini models I didn’t own yet … I’ll have to find some more space now to display them.

Again Viva Italia was awesome, there were a lot of Lamborghinis, I’ve met some great fellow enthusiasts and had a good time talking about our mutual passion, listening to stories from actual owners and just having fun in a very relaxed environment … can’t wait until next year when I can return to Assen to do it all over again.

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A lot of cars ‘made in Italy’ made their impression during the 2005 edition of Viva Italia, among them an interesting selection of cars made at the famous Sant’Agata factory, ranging from the classic 400 GT over the Urraco, Jarama, Jalpa, Countach, Diablo, Murciélago and the recent Gallardo … they were all proudly shown to the crowd that gathered around them.

Unfortunately the weather was not at it’s best, the sky was cloudy from the start, and to make things even worse, it started to rain just before the Lamborghini’s were to take on the circuit … but this didn’t stop these owners from driving their proud and joy to Assen, and even take a spin at the world famous TT circuit before heading back home after a great event…

Just like during previous editions of the Viva Italia event, it was possible to be a passenger inside one of these magnificent cars, and the waiting queue was long, several people had a wonderful time sitting inside a car they can only dream about all year … and it gave the owner a great way to show what they could do on an enclosed circuit with a howling V12 (or V8, V10) engine thrusting them forward.

Several Lamborghini came from outside of the Netherlands, but also some very nice Dutch registered cars made their debut at the 2005 edition of Viva Italia, among them a magnificent white Countach that was totally restored by it’s owner, truly an impressive car, and let’s face it … the Countach is still the icon of Lamborghini, the Miura is probably the car that made Lamborghini known, but the Countach was the dream of just about everyone back in the Eighties … and it still is today.

Those that own a Countach these days wouldn’t want to trade it in for a Diablo or a Murciélago, the Countach is the statement from an era, a true exotic in every sense of the word, those upward opening doors are still a trademark for Automobili Lamborghini SpA today … and tuners all over the world are installing Lamborghini style doors on all kinds of cars, even the Gallardo can be fitted with aftermarket ‘Lamborghini’ doors these days.

The legendary Countach started all this nearly three decades ago !!

We still had a great time talking with Lamborghini owners and enthusiasts, despite of the weather. But the cars made it all worth while, it’s not every day that you are able to see such a nice collection of Italian cars all gathered together, make sure to visit Viva Italia 2006 if you’ve missed this one, or just to check out which new cars will be shown by those lucky few that actually own a Lamborghini.

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The weather was great, so a large number of people came to the famous TT circuit in Assen, in the Netherlands, just to get a glimpse of one of their favorite Italian car, take photo’s, and if possible even get a ticket to be able to take a ride in the passenger seat of their ultimate dream car, and dream cars were available, how about a rare Bugatti EB110 in the stunning Bugatti blue, a brand new, pearl metallic orange Murciélago or a Ferrari F40.

Just like last year, an important number of Lamborghini Club Nederland members drove into Assen, most of them bringing along at least one Lamborghini, some even had a friend drive a second Lamborghini. Just about the entire Lamborghini model range was present, two magnificent 400 GT 2+2 models, the Islero, a few Espada, several Countach models, a selection of Diablo and a stunning Murciélago.

One of the highlights of the day was the sprint, this time even a Diablo entered against the typical Lancia, Alfa Romeo’s and other cars entering this event, one of our Swiss friends performed several sprints in his car, a mildly tuned, dark gray metallic Diablo.

One of the more eagerly awaited moments of the day was as usual the showblock, this is when the circuit would be dominated by Italian super cars like Bugatti, Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini to name a few, and also the time when people were taken for a drive on the circuit, as usual it became rather crowded in the pit lane when the cars came in one by one for a change of passenger.

Among the cars thundering along the straight were the stunning Bugatti, most of the Lamborghini’s present, from the early 400 GT up to the latest Murciélago, and several of the Ferrari’s.

Viva Italia is always a great day to meet the people behind the Lamborghini’s too, talking to them about their car, it was also great to actually meet Valentino Balboni, who was present during this event, you would find him looking into the engine bay of an Espada, or just looking around, a very nice man to talk to, who naturally has a lot of very interesting stories to tell.

Again not only Dutch registered Lamborghini’s were present, several cars from Belgium, among them a great looking yellow Countach LP400S, owners from Germany brought along models like the Countach or the Diablo Roadster, while again two friends from Switzerland took a very long drive into Assen, bringing along a stunning dark metallic Countach QuattroValvole and a nicely tuned gray metallic Diablo.

The Lamborghini ‘parking’ in front of the massive US truck used by the Lamborghini Club Nederland was nicely populated with several rare and classic Lamborghini models, drawing a lot of attention and ‘peeking’ looks from the people visiting Viva Italia, every once in a while an engine cover would be opened, pulling a lot of people around that specific car instantly.

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This year a very impressive collection of about 40 Lamborghinis were present, together with a massive series of Ferrari’s, Maserati’s, Alfa’s, Lancia’s, Iso’s and a gathering of other various Italian car and bike marques.

Some extremely rare Lamborghinis were present, the brand new Diablo SE 6-Liter even won the Concours d’Elegance in his category, the car that was shown was in fact the number 1 production car in Oro Elios. This car came directly from the factory in Italy and was accompanied by none other than Valentino Balboni, who was on the Lamborghini Club Nederland stand all day, if he wasn’t driving on the circuit that is.

Another interesting Diablo was a rare Koenig Special finished in red, a complete bodykit and tuned engine gave this car the extra edge on the circuit, although some nice Diablo SE’s and Countach’s could keep up with it on the famous TT track.

Some of the more classic Lamborghini models were also shown, a stunning Islero with a white leather interior, three Jaramas and an Espada, naturally the Jalpa was also shown, a black one with rare Silhouette wheels, a few Countach’s but one car was high above the rest of the Lamborghini’s, a massive LM002 from Germany stood proud between the other models.

Just like last year it was possible to take your Lamborghini out for a spin on the circuit, also visitors were able to experience the thrill of sitting in the passenger seat while the car was racing down the straight at high speed, an awesome feeling …

If you are a Lamborghini owner and would like to share your car together with other proud Lamborghini owners during the Viva Italia event next year, please don’t hesitate to contact the Lamborghini Club Nederland

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Not only Lamborghini’s were present, but also a selection of Iso, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati, Fiat, Ferrari, De Tomaso, Innocenti and Abarth came to participate in this event, about 30 Lamborghini’s were on display during this one-day event, from the early Espada right op to two of the latest Diablo VT 6.0 versions, while a stunning yellow Diablo GT was nearly always crowded by onlookers …

The display wasn’t static either, at regular times, a series of Lamborghini’s were taken to the circuit, it was even possible to be a passenger on these little ‘outings’, all in all a major event with Lamborghini’s from both Germany and The Netherlands …

If you are a Lamborghini owner and would like to attend the next Viva Italia scheduled for June 4th 2001, please don’t hesitate to contact the :

Lamborghini Club Nederland
Dhr. Jent Mollema or Dhr. Ron Willems van Beveren (Secretary)
Sophialaan 5, 3542 AR Utrecht
Phone : (0031)302410205 Fax: (0031)302410069

For more information on this and other events, take a look at : www.vdbpromotions.nl

Several pictures were taken during this event, some of them can be found on the image gallery available on this page, others are included on the galleries for the specific model that was shown during the event.

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