I have long told myself that when I win the lottery (I will one day!) I will buy myself a Lamborghini. Although I’ve grown up towards the end of the full Lamborghini ownership and beginning of Audi ownership, I got a pretty good idea of what a proper Lambo is about.
Compared to their Ferrari counterpart, Lamborghini always seemed to be just more invigorating and daring in its design. The scissor doors for example, completely mad, but gave them a USP and recognisable twist that has stuck with the brand until the current day.
Going back to the 1960’s there was the Miura. That was quite literally perfection for me. It was so individual in its design, the bullhorn doors, and the shape of the body, not to mention that V12! This car’s design was so much more exciting than other cars of the time.
Then came the Countach, my favourite Lamborghini after the Miura. The first time I encountered one of these in person was a few years ago on Caterham high street. I heard it drop a gear, and saw it tear down the road past me. The noise was infectious! It screamed to me everything that was perfect about a supercar. It made me stand there dumfounded and jaw dropped not knowing what to make of what I’d just seen.
Supercars seem rather pointless. A lot of people consider cars to be boxes on wheels that carry people and objects from A to B in a forgettable manor. A supercar defies all of these. They were terribly impractible! There was no storage solution, the windows barely opened (the Countach is for example), the clutch was incredibly heavy, and you couldn’t see out the back. But it didn’t matter, it was a Lamborghini, and supercars can get away with that!
I’ll be honest, I’m rambling on a bit, so I’ll get to my point. I’ve talking about the history of Lamborghini so much because they are my favourite make of car and they mean so much to me. Last year was my 18th birthday, and I finally got my chance to do a ‘proper’ track day after doing a kids one where I drove a Aston Martin DB9. My experience took place at Thruxton and I got my chance to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder. I was hesitant and excited. I had never sat in a Lamborghini before, let alone drive one, so this was a big deal for me, was it going to be a case of ‘don’t meet your childhood heroes?’
Well, the day came. July 15th 2011. I was up early and we set off in my dads Porsche 944 Cabriolet (now sadly written off, but that’s another story), with the roof down, naturally. We made it to Thruxton in good time and as it happened Tiff Needell was there taking people out for high speed rides around the track in a BMW M3, you could hear the rear tyres being tortured the roar of a V8 before you saw him! That made for some entertainment whist waiting for my instructors and briefing.
After briefing and a ride in one of the instructors Mazda’s I got my first drive of the day in a 2.9 litre Porsche Cayman. This as it happened was a lively bugger (excuse the language). It accelerated promptly and it wasn’t very difficult to get the speedometer into triple figures.
After my laps in the Cayman familiarising myself with the track I eventually got my turn in the Gallardo. There she was sitting there waiting for me. No-one had driven it since I’d been there. It just sitting there in the pit lane, gleaming in the boiling July sunlight, beaming off its metallic black paintwork. My instructor introduced himself to me, and he handed me the keys to my dream car.
I opened the door and took my seat inside. What struck me first was how cosy the seats were and the fine finish on the instruments and switchgear inside, but a bit too Audi to me. Nevertheless that wasn’t about to put me off for I had a 5.2 litreV10 and 550bhp under my right foot! My instructor took his place in the passenger seat, and the engine barked into life. Goose bumps shivered down my back. What made me chuckle was the comment ‘Please be gentle, it’s 2 weeks old and we don’t want anything to happen to it’.
I left the pit lane feeling rather smug, How many 18 year olds in the world are there at the moment driving a brand spanking new Lamborghini? Gently accelerating from the pit lane, my instructor encouraged me to speed up, pickup was immediate but there was a ever so slight lag in the gear change, but still very fast. On the fastest part of the track we clocked just over 130mph (very light work, without resorting to thrashing the thing) and overtook everyone, of which there were few, in our path. The brakes were firm, but strong, going down from 130mph to approximately 50mph was a doddle. One comment I must make was the downshifts. The noise was beautiful! There was a little rev (like heel and toe) every time I pulled that left paddle.
The rest of my laps flew by in a blur, but I can report that even at high speed the Gallardo felt solid, the brakes were as mentioned, excellent, the steering wasn’t heavy, but not light, it was pointy and direct, there was no body roll and there was no under steer I could detect even when I chucked it into some tighter corners at fair old pace.
The drawbacks, if any, are very minor things. The gearbox felt a little slow compared to say, a Ferrari 458, but that’s a brand new car, and the Gallardo is a comparatively ‘old’ supercar. The suede cover on the steering wheel looked like an old bath mat, and even though the car was 2 weeks old it was very worn, and felt like sandpaper on my hands. The Audi-esque interior is one I can’t make my mind up on, and the 4 wheel drive too. Yes the interior is a very nice to be in, i.e., comfy seats, high quality finish, fantastic all round visibility, and the stability and security of 4 wheel drive would be nice in day to day driving, but to me a Lamborghini is a thoroughbred, and it doesn’t need an interior from a sensible German car or the security of 4wd to keep it on the road, but hey, its there and it hasn’t put me off.
Is this a Lamborghini? That is the big question. A lot of my points would direct me to say no as there is little comparison between the Gallardo and say an ‘original’ lambo such as the Countach. It was very, very fast, no doubt about that!, but it wasn’t exactly ‘mad’. Styling wise It’s beautiful, but it doesn’t set the world on fire like previous cars., and I’m pretty sure the Countach didn’t have 4WD. Going back to my question, is this a Lamborghini? Yes it is, it made me feel like I was when I was in Caterham seeing my first Countach in person, and that’s enough!
by Philip
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