We all know the Lamborghini Gallardo will be replaced by a successor any time soon now, most likely for the 2013 production run if all goes well, it is however strange we haven’t seen any spy shots yet, so I think Automobili Lamborghini SpA is doing a great job at keeping this one a secret.
At the moment the Gallardo is still selling rather well, but it is starting to age against the Ferrari 458 Italia, and time has come to take on the Prancing Horse once again, so expect the Gallardo replacement to be totally different compared to the current model, sure it will retain a V10 engine, and most likely it will not be receiving those trademark upward opening doors as the Aventador … but the Cabrera will not be a mere evolution of the Gallardo … nope, it will cause a revolution this time.
Over 12,000 V10 cars have left the gates at Sant’Agata already, so replacing such a popular car will not be easy, it is safe to say the Gallardo has been the most successful model in Lamborghini history, so a successor will have some serious shoes to fill … and if we can take the word of Stephan Winkelmann for granted … the new V10 will rock the exotic car world once again.
So we are looking at a V10 engine, most likely offering some additional power … rumor has it we will be seeing 600 hp in the new model that will naturally be a two-seater and most likely offer an evolution of the well-known e-Gear transmission. There is even talk about not offering a normal gearbox anymore, only the automatic version and all-wheel drive … with 600 hp under the pedal I guess that isn’t such a bad idea anyway.
Now this might upset you a bit, but as it looks today the new Cabrera will be sharing his chassis with another Audi model, some even state up to 20% more parts will be shared between the Cabrera and the counterparts from Audi and Porsche compared to the current Gallardo. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing mind you, it is a perfect way to keep costs down and still offer the best possible fit and finish possible.
So when will we be seeing this new model next to the Aventador LP700-4 ? There is no official statement of any kind yet, but I think the Paris motor show later this year might be a bit too soon, I have no idea what Lamborghini would be showing in Paris this year, but somehow I doubt it would be a Gallardo successor that is ready for production.
I would be really amazed if they managed to design, build and test a new V10 mode without anyone shooting a spy pic or leaking any information … but I could be really wrong and we might be seeing a Cabrera in a few months anyway.
Others are talking about the Aventador Roadster again, we all expected it to by unveiled in Geneva earlier this year, but we were all wrong, no Roadster version yet, and it makes sense … production capacity of the Aventador LP700-4 is already maxed out, delivery times are reaching 24 months in some regions, adding a Roadster to this production line would create catastrophic delays.
So a concept at the Paris show with a production ready version of the new V10 in Geneva might not seem too far-fetched after all, also note the Super Trofeo series that uses the ‘old’ Gallardo will continue to run in 2013, so revealing the Gallardo successor in early 2013 might not be a bad idea, deliveries will probably only start towards the summer of 2013 in Europe anyway, with other markets getting the first ‘public’ cars even later … after the Super Trofeo season ended.
This would mean we will not be seeing the Aventador Roadster at the 2013 Geneva show either but a new Lamborghini Cabrera LP600-4 could take center stage in March 2013, perhaps the Aventador Roadster would be unveiled at the 2013 IAA in Frankfurt instead … at that moment the big rush of orders on the normal Aventador might be going back to normal. In that case reduction in demand can be turned around with the Roadster edition, keeping the production line busy for another few years to come … until a third model is added in 2015 and Lamborghini can introduce the Aventador LP800-4 Super Veloce.
