The Crank: Is Lamborghini losing its mojo?

By John LeBlanc It looks like the Italian super sports car brand that has defined “extreme” and continually won the battle of one-upmanship over archrival Italian Ferrari with, well, more of everything, is caving into the new reality of ever-tightening fuel economy and tailpipe emissions regulations. It’s pure speculation at this point, but a teaser shot (left) Lamborghini sent out this week suggests its Murcielago-replacing Jota range-topping model (due to debut at this month’s Paris shin-dig) will only come with a ten-cylinder engine. So. It looks like the 12-cylinder Lamborghini, a configuration that’s been around since the first production car, the 1963 350GT, is history. And at the same time, Lamborghini has released a new “manifesto,” basically a How to Guide on what the automaker plans on doing to survive the new environmental regs. Get ready for it, but instead of displacement, Lambos will get lighter. According to the release, Lamborghini still stands for “extreme and uncompromising super sports cars of the best Italian tradition.” Okay. And going forward, “design and performance” are the two main reasons to buy a Lambo. Now, how you define performance is a tricky matter. If you own a Prius, it’s all about getting a smug L/100 km rating. But a Lambo? It’s all about going fast, right? Well, er, maybe not so much in the future… “Regarding performance, until a few years ago priorities were, in this order: top speed, acceleration and handling. In recent years this has been changing.” Uh-oh… “Speed is not as important anymore, because all super sports cars are exceeding 300km/h, and this is a speed that you cannot reach even on a racetrack, let alone normal roads. We think it is time to make a shift and talk more about handling and acceleration.” If this sounds like a little bit of rationalization by Lamborghini in the midst of its capitulation to the bureaucrats, the line starts right behind Yours Truly. In my mind, Lamborghinis have always been about political incorrectness, a one-finger salute to arrogant Ferrari buyers, the type of car a contemporary Don Draper would drive. But not going forward. Instead of heading to the gym, Lamborghinis will go on a salad diet. Essentially, in the Power versus Weight equation, Lambo has chosen on the side of weight, or the reduction thereof. According to the Italian automaker, “The magic word for this is ‘carbon fibre’… Every new Lamborghini will make the best use of carbon fibre to reduce weight.” So there you have it. In your eyes, how important is it that the new top line Jota only comes with ten cylinders? Or do you applaud the Italian super sports car makers’ strategy to go light versus might?

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