Had Ferruccio Lamborghini (the father of the Italian supercar marque which bears his name) still been alive today, he’d have been the grand old age of 100. Sadly, this dapper chap is no longer with us but the Italians celebrated his birthday regardless, in the only way they know – by making a £2million, 770bhp hypercar.
Welcome, gentlemen, to the Lamborghini Centenario Roadster. This carbon-clad homage to automotive artistry was reveled at the exclusive Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California and packs a naturally-aspirated 6.5-litre V12 that’ll reach 62mph in 2.9 seconds and 186mph in 23.5seconds – just in case you stumble across a disused airfield with 30 seconds to spare. Is that the top speed, you say rather disappointedly? No, don’t be silly. The Centenario will power on up to 217mph, which is 7mph quicker than the Porsche 918 but 3mph slower than the gentleman with a LaFerrari.
Buried within all the carbon coachwork on the outside are more scoops, vents and diffusers than most aero engineers could dream of. But they ain’t there just to look pretty – each one helps keep the Centenario on the road rather than off it, which is good news if you manage to convince anyone to lend you the keys. In the cabin, there’s a little more carbonfibre in the seats and on the transmission paddles, which sit well next to ‘Terra di California’ (that’s light brown to you and me) and Bianco Polar leather inlays. In the middle, there’s a 10.1inch touchscreen, which Apple CarPlay and the usual track day stats and telemetry.
Should you be in the gifted position of being able to purchase a Centenario Roadster, then you can shoehorn the cash back in your wallet because all 20 of them are sold. Sorry, gents, try again in another 100 years.
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