The long awaited Gallardo Spider will be shown to the public at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, but naturally there has been a lot of talk about this car over the previous months, ever since the Gallardo V10 was introduced, the idea of an open version was alive.
And it is finally starting to take shape, we’ve all seen the Concept S at the March 2005 Geneva Auto Show, and most of us were under the impression that this would be a preview of the Gallardo Spider but it wasn’t. The design of the Concept S was too radical to put into production (there are still rumors that one day a limited production run of a Concept S alike version of the Gallardo will be available) and design continued on a more conventional roadster version of the Gallardo.
There have been presentations of the Gallardo Spider behind closed doors, at the factory for instance, but a few weeks ago a couple of photographs were leaked onto public image galleries in the Internet, the image of the yellow car seen on this page is such a photograph, probably taken with a mobile phone, it’s in a rather low resolution, but it clearly shows the design of the car with the roof down.
As with all new cars, even a Lamborghini prototype or pre-production model will need some real road testing before production and deliveries can start, therefore the bright yellow metallic Gallardo Spider used by the factory to show to their dealers was masked with black tape and went onto the track.
Just like the L147 prototype, this Gallardo Spider was tested on the Nurnburgring, and an avid fan was able to photograph the car up close, and in high resolution his photo’s are those of the black looking car on this page again many thanks for his help to show you this new Lamborghini two months before the public will be able to see it.
The photo’s clearly show the way the canvas top was designed by Automobili Lamborghini SpA, I don’t think they will impose a top speed of 180 Km/h with the top up like on the Murciélago, and it sure looks easier to open and close, if a hardtop will be available isn’t known yet, but it could be later on, after the introduction in September 2005.
Naturally the A-pillars of the windshield were re-enforced, to counteract the fact there isn’t a roof left to protect the passengers of the car during a roll-over, and the Gallardo Spider already has the MY2006 wheels fitted, very nice, multi-piece rims, again in 19 inch size.
What is also visible is the fact that there are grilles inside the air intakes on top of the rear fenders, if these will also be seen on the standard MY2006 Gallardo remains to be seen. Another question would be the engine, will the Spider receive the more powerful engine from the Gallardo SE, or will it remain with the 500 Bhp engine from the current Gallardo what will be certain is the optional e-Gear, that will be available on the entire range of Lamborghini’s at this moment.
Note that the engine cover on the Gallardo Spider is said to open in a similar method to the Murciélago Roadster engine cover, it tilts at the back of the car, according to a well known source, the engine cover even opens slightly when opening or closing the canvas top on the Gallardo Spider should be very impressive on a crowded street.
Anyway, the Lamborghini Gallardo Spider is just about ready, and the first orders are already arriving at dealers all over the world can’t wait for Frankfurt to actually see the car in public.