Lamborghini’s ‘Grand Tour’, and an outrageous new concept unveiled
Lamborghini wouldn’t be Lamborghini if it didn’t celebrate its 50th anniversary in flamboyant Italian style.
On May 8th, 350 Lamborghinis fired their engines and rolled out of Milan, marking the start of Lamborghini’s ‘Grant Tour’ of Italy.
Passing through some of the country’s most beautiful cities – including Rome, San Giustino Valdarno and Arezzo – the tour stretched over an impressive 1,200km of spectacular Italian countryside, before coming to an end, three days later, at the Lamborghini headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese.
Vintage and modern-day Lamborghinis from over 29 countries took part in the event, including the 350 GT (their first-ever production vehicle from 1964), a 1969 Miura S once owned by Frank Sinatra, and the very latest Aventador and Gallardo models.
And if that wasn’t enough, Lamborghini surprised tour participants and spectators alike by unveiling something a little bit special at the close of the tour.
The Egoista (Italian for ‘selfish’), is Lamborghini’s new razor-sharp, single-seater concept, which really captures the essence of Lamborghini’s iconoclastic sense of style and design.
Design chief Walter De Silva, who oversaw work on the Egoista, wrote ‘I wanted to pay homage to and think up a vehicle to underline the fact that Lamborghinis have always been made with passion, and with the heart more than the head.’
If there was a more fitting way to end a weekend of celebrations, we certainly can’t think of it.
Lamborghini will continue celebrating their half-century of car making throughout the year. So keep your eyes out for a few more surprises.
Chrysler to recall vehicles
American car manufacturer Chrysler are set to recall over 450,000 vehicles worldwide after problems with the gear change have been found in the 2006-2010 model Jeep Commanders and the 2005-2010 Jeep Grand Cherokees.
The problem is with the vehicles’ circuit boards, which are transmitting signals that cause the transmission to come out of gear and shift to neutral. So far, the faulty circuit boards have been responsible for a reported 26 accidents and 2 injuries.
This recall is Chrysler’s biggest since 900,000 Grand Cherokee’s were recalled last November after a fault with the airbags caused them to deploy inadvertently.
Ferrari takes a hard line on electric cars
The future looks very certain for Ferrari: no SUVs and absolutely no electric cars.
Chairman Luca di Montezemolo has declared in no uncertain terms that Ferrari will never stray from its sports and GT car market.
But some have started to speculate that Ferrari’s quest for brand exclusivity might hurt the 84-year-old car manufacturer, leaving them behind in an industry now focussed on the road ahead, and the search for more sustainable methods of fuel technology.
Those expecting exciting inroads being made into electric technology by Ferrari after the launch of their first-ever hybrid model, the ‘LaFerrari’, at this year’s Geneva Motor Show will be disappointed by Montezemolo’s hard-line stance.
So is there any chance of an all-electric Ferrari spin-off in the not-too-distant future?
‘No, no, no’ says Montezemolo.