Lamborghini LP550-2
Special edition 'LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni' goes rear-wheel drive to honour legendary test driver.
If there’s one thing theGallardo LP 550-4 doesn’t need, it’s an injection of insanity! But thathasn’t stopped Lambo’s engineers from developing a wild limited editionin honour of its most renowned test driver.
The clue to themajor modification is in the name – the LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni.The ‘550’ standing for the power output and the ‘2’ indicating thenumber of driven wheels - making this is the only Lamborghini thatsends power to the rear tyres rather than all four corners.
Everyelement of the LP550’s set-up has had to be recalibrated to account forthe two-wheel drive transmission, including revised spring and damperrates, new tyres and modified aerodynamics.
Around 30kg has beencut from the standard car’s kerbweight too, and with power coming froman identical 5.2-litre V10 producing 10bhp less than the standard car, it takes 3.9-seconds to shoot from 0-60mphand on to a tantalising top speed of 199mph.
The special editionis marked out by white and gold stripes running over the bodywork, anda bold interior featuring white leather on the seats and centre console.
Only250 examples will ever be produced, guaranteeing the car’s exclusivity.But you better be quick - its price tag of £137.900 is almost £3,000cheaper than the more commonplace LP 550-4.
