The Lamborghini Gallardo and its best models

Lamborghini has stopped producing the Gallardo, whose last unit rolled out of the Sant’Agata plant, closing a very fruitful chapter for the Italian company. The small sports car has been the best-selling product of Lamborghini, with no fewer than 35 different variants throughout its history.

As we were saying, over its 10 years of history the Gallardo has had 35 variants. But only some marked a real turning point in the history of the model. Introduced in 2003, the first Gallardo had a 5-litre V10 engine with 513 CV, based on the 4.2-litre V8 engine produced by Cosworth. The original design was handled by Italdesign Giugiaro, based on the Cala concept.

The Gallardo SE debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2005, with an edition limited to 40 units, all of which were sold before the new car even began production. The engine now produced 520 CV, the roof was redesigned, and some details and interior finishes were modified.

It did not take long for the Spyder model to reach the market, followed by the Superleggera in 2007. The latter was a sort of tribute in its name to the 350GT, designed by Carrozzeria Touring. 100 kilos were removed from the car, through the use of carbon fibre in the rear diffuser, the underbody, the mirror mountings, the interior door panels, the central tunnel and the engine compartment. This model already had 530 CV.

In 2008, a new direct-injection engine and 552 CV appeared for the LP560-4. This version gave rise to the obligatory Spyder model, but also to other variants with more power, such as the LP 570-4 Spyder Performante with no fewer than 570 CV.

Other special models did not feature mechanical modifications, but did have new finishes, special colours, or were dedicated to police forces such as the Italian or British ones. Some others were only manufactured for certain countries in markets such as Asia, or only for sale in Europe. It was also widely used in competition, in the Japanese Super GT and the American Le Mans Series. Lamborghini popularised the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo, made up entirely of variants of the Gallardo LP560-4 prepared for competition.

Source: | Auto Express