Back in 2007 Automobili Lamborghini SpA unveiled a rather special Gallardo in Geneva, the Superleggera, a race bred version of the well known V10 model that shed some weight and became an instant success. It was only available in a small selection of colors and it was rather sparsely finished on the inside, however the full carbon fiber door panels and Alcantara loops instead of handles to close the doors were highly welcomed … in total the Superleggera lost 100 Kg in the process and gained 10 Bhp.
This resulted in a car that handled totally different compared to the regular Gallardo 5.2 model, and with the purpose build high rear wing it looked as fast as it would go … sadly when the LP560-4 took over the Superleggera production was halted.
However rumors have been going around lately that we might see a successor to this very special Gallardo as soon as March 2010 in Geneva, it has even received a name : the Gallardo LP570-4 Super Veloce … in style with the Murciélago flagship, the LP670-4 Super Veloce we’ve discovered in Geneva early this year.
When I come to think about it, it could very well be true, the Gallardo line isn’t at it’s end yet, I’m sure it will stay in production for at least two more years, hence an extension to the line up with a hard core Super Veloce version would bring new life into the ‘Baby Lamborghini’ production and boost sales back to higher levels after the set back of the economic crisis we are currently slowly recovering from.
Take a look at the renderings on this page, you can clearly recognize the Gallardo style, but with a massive rear wing similar to the Murciélago Super Veloce, a carbon fiber roof, engine cover, lower side sills and exterior rear view mirrors combined with a totally re-styled front spoiler, the new Gallardo SV could again drop some weight and with a small boost of power to 570 Bhp it would mean this next evolution in the Gallardo breed could offer performance close to the Murciélago flagship, perhaps even exceeding it as it is much lighter than it’s big brother from Sant’Agata.
Naturally nothing official has been published about all this, but it would be really nice to be able to welcome yet another evolution of the Gallardo, the LP550-2 Valentino Balboni is a limited edition, and a successor to this rear wheel drive version wouldn’t be a bad idea either … perhaps an LP570-2 Super Veloce ?
We’ll have to wait and see what Automobili Lamborghini SpA will show us in Geneva, but I’m sure that selected VIP’s and dealers will receive a preview of things to come much earlier, perhaps even next January … if they do unveil a Gallardo Super Veloce in Geneva I’m confident that the first customer cars could be on the road as early as May or June 2010.
Update January 31. 2010
A lot has been going on all over the Internet about the name for this new Gallardo model, we’ve listed it as a Super Veloce model, but many sources also state it could be called the Superleggera model … like the one built back in 2007. Some sources even state they have already seen the Gallardo Superleggera in Singapore … all we can tell is that we will have to wait until early March to be certain how Automobili Lamborghini SpA will call their new V10 model … if they unveil it in Geneva, because you never know, perhaps the Sant’Agata builder will surprise us all in a month …
