Rumor about a special Lamborghini model to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the late Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916 – 1993) surfaced back in July 2015 already, a very select group of VIP customers were invited to Pebble Beach for an exclusive preview of a new hyper car from Sant’Agata nothing about styling was known at that point and a price of €1,500,000 was mentioned, we all hoped the car would be unveiled at the 2015 IAA Show in Frankfurt but that didn’t happen.
Fast forward to February 2016 when, after the name ‘Centenario LP770-4’ had been trademarked by Automobili Lamborghini SpA, the first look at the design of this new Raging Bull was found online in the trademarking of 3D renders for the styling of the Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4 response was mixed, but keeping in mind these were black and white 3D views we still had to wait to see the car in real life before making final judgment.
We all knew the Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4 just had to be unveiled at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show during the first press day on March 1, and usually VAG has a big VIP event the evening before where they show the new cars from the VAG Group on February 29 the new Bugatti Chiron was shown and the Lamborghini Huracan Avio, a special edition built only 250 times but no Centenario, not even on the official press site what was going on?
It seems Lamborghini really wanted to keep the Centenario a secret until the actual press conference at 10:05 on stand 1044 and they succeeded, we all had to wait until Stephan Winkelmann, CEO and president of Automobili Lamborghini SpA proudly introduced the very special, limited edition model to celebrate Ferruccio the Centenario LP770-4 would be the last Lamborghini Winkelmann would unveil as he was to leave Lamborghini in March 2016 to join Quattro GmbH as a new challenge.
The moment the black satin cover was removed from the Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4 by two lovely hostess the crowd surrounding the Lamborghini stand was impressed by the looks of this exclusive new V12 finished in a stunning clear carbon fiber finish with yellow details this car looked like nothing ever to be built in Sant’Agata this was truly a celebration model.
The Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4 will be built only 40 times 20 as a closed coupé as seen in Geneva and another 20 as a Roadster, with a base price of €1,750,000 before taxes (the Roadster will be slightly more expensive) the new Centenario became an instant collector’s item all units were already sold before we even saw the car in Geneva leave it to Lamborghini to sell a €2 million car from a sketch and a holographic scale model without even showing a real car.
The styling of the Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4 might be totally new compared to the Aventador she is based upon, but if you look closely you will notice several design queues we’ve seen on other Raging Bulls in the past up front we find a wide air intake that clearly reminds us of the legendary Lamborghini Miura from the Sixties while the headlights took inspiration from the Lamborghini Urus
The front hood of the Centenario shows two large air vents that we’ve also seen on the Lamborghini Veneno, while the special shape of the front wheel arch looks a lot like the rear wheel arch of the Lamborghini Countach, the doors and rear view mirrors look like they’ve been borrowed from the Lamborghini Aventador, same with the air vent just in front of the rear wheels, on the other hand the wide and thin LED taillights look similar to the ones used on the Veneno and the Asterion concept.
If you look at the Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4 from the side you will notice the roof line is similar to that of the Aventador, but both the front and the rear has been completely redesigned, the front overhang looks a lot longer than the Aventador while the rear diffuser is on a totally different level altogether, the rear of the Centenario is very open while from the rear the tires are clearly visible, in fact the rear wheel arch doesn’t angle down at the rear it continues horizontally to the end, while a large diffuser with massive vertical fins dominates the rear, complete with a trio of exhaust pipes mounted in the middle.
this and many more photos of lamborghinis are available on www. Lambocars. ComNote that the Centenario comes with an adjustable rear wing, completely integrated into the body as to not disturb the design forming a single line from the front to the rear but when needed the wing will raise 15cm and even angle at 15° to increase downforce no, this rear wing will not form an air brake under hard deceleration.
The engine cover on the Centenario is fixed with quick release fasteners, just like race cars, so it isn’t easy to reveal the V12 engine underneath this carbon fiber and glass unit, the vents and design form an integral part of the aerodynamic design of the Centenario by the way, the V12 lurking under this cover now pumps out 770hp at 8,600rpm, making this the most powerful engine ever built in Sant’Agata acceleration figures of 2.8s to reach 100 km/h from a standstill and 0 to 300 km/h in only 23.5 seconds are a testament of the work put into creating this masterpiece.
Overall weight is only 1,520 kg resulting in a power to weight ratio of 1.97 kg/hp, add to this the brand rear steering that has been installed on the Centenario and you just know this car will be great to drive, the Lamborghini magneto rheological suspension is present together with the Dynamic Steering (modified for the Centenario) and the ISR gearbox makes sure you’ll experience some amazing driving behind the steering wheel of this limited edition car that feels at home on the open road and on the race track.
Naturally the Lamborghini Centenario received a bespoke set of wheels, large 20-inch up front and even larger 21-inch at the rear, Pirelli P Zero tires have been specifically developed for the rear wheel steering setup on this V12 while the five spoke design is made from forged aluminum that includes special ducts that receive carbon fiber fins to draw hot air away from the carbon ceramic disk brakes a hyper car like this comes with a central locking screw obviously.
Being a flagship V12 model, the Centenario offers doors that open upward to unveil a state of the art interior, the dashboard cluster is again a large LCD screen with bespoke Centenario graphics, but the biggest surprise is seen on the central console here a large 10.1 inch touchscreen offers the perfect interaction between driver and car you can even browse the internet on this screen.
The start/stop button is hiding underneath a red cover just as we’ve became accustomed to on the Avendor and Huracan but the central console also houses a button to activate that impressive rear wing manually so you can demonstrate the function without braking the speed limit.
The seats look like the carbon fiber sport seats from the Aventador Superveloce, but inside the Centenario these feature a very special stitching pattern that is also used on the floor mats in fact, contrasting stitching is only one of many options available to boost the base price further, the entire interior of the Centenario shows an abundance of carbon fiber and alcantara the door panels are also a mix of these special materials, and in true race style there are just straps to pull the door down when open.
The Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4 seems to be the perfect car to celebrate the founder of the company, Ferruccio Lamborghini wanted to build an uncompromising GT car back in the Sixties but he became really famous by building icons in automotive art like the Miura the Countach was unlike anything else on the road back in the days now the Centenario continues that legacy a legacy of custom built, limited edition cars that started with the Reventón back in 2007 (20 built) and continued with the Sesto Elemento in 2010 (15 would be built in the end) and the Aventador J in 2012 (only 1 built) while the impressive Veneno from 2013 (3 sold) was the ultimate special edition.
While the Reventón Roadster had a canvas roof to protect the driver in case of rain, the Aventador J and Veneno Roadster came without any kind of protection most likely the Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4 Roadster will follow the tradition set by the latter two models there could be no roof, making the Centenario Roadster a true ‘open top’ hyper car.
