The Lamborghini Gallardo and its best models

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

As we said, over its 10 years of history the Gallardo has had 35 variants. But only a few marked a real turning point in the history of the model. Presented in 2003, the first Gallardo had a 5-liter V10 engine with 513 CV, based on the 4.2-liter 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, in a limited edition of 40 units that were all sold before the new car even began production. The engine now had 520 CV, the roof was redesigned and some details and interior finishes were modified.

The Spyder model was not long in reaching the market, followed by the Superleggera in 2007. The latter was a kind of homage in its name to the 350GT, designed by Carrozzeria Touring. 100 kilos were removed from the car, through the use of carbon fiber 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 for the LP560-4 appeared. 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 had no mechanical modifications, but did have new finishes, special colors 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 popularized the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo, made up entirely of competition-prepared variants of the Gallardo LP560-4.

Via | Auto Express