Return of the Raging Bull: Lamborghini’s New V12 flagship is unveiled 

The V12 Lamborghini is arguably the most important car for the cause of the enthusiast at any given time, even more so in an era where it seems at every agency’s interest in the car is something to muffle. The V12 Lambo rises above just the scope of our little automotive world and brings to light to every kid everywhere the emotion a car can bring. Ask anyone under the age of 15 to name a supercar, and the Aventador will be repeated over and over, and you can add 10 years and apply that to the Murcielago, and a further 10 for the Diablo, same for the Countach and the Miura. Everyone on planet earth who has access to a road and an internet connection will know a V12 Lamborghini, and now, there’s a new one.

It’s called the Revuelto and it ISN’T, turbocharged. It seems when Lamborghini said the Aventador was their last mainline N/A V12, what they actually meant was that it was the last standalone N/A V12. The Revuelto is a hybrid, meaning that you still get a singing all dancing screamer of the engine that revs all the way to 9500 rpm, at which it develops 800bhp, 20 more than the outgoing car. However, if that doesn’t sound mad enough, then the other benefit of the hybrid setup comes into play, with two electric motors powering the front axle, and one assisting one at the rear to develop a combined total hp output of just over 1000bhp. That is a mainline supercar breaking the 1000hp barrier, with no forced induction whatsoever.

 All of this is put through a new 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox which can get the car from 0-62 in just 2 1/2 seconds and onto a top speed of over 217mph. In part helping this is the new carbon fibre structure, which uses aircraft building techniques to create a re-inforced passenger compartment and an all-carbon front structure, a first for a production car, which makes the chassis of this lighter than the chassis of the Aventador.

But the most important part of a V12 Lamborghini is styling. It should be outrageous and blur the boundaries between cars and art, and the Revuelto is no exception. The car has a dazzling matrix of lights hooded under a complex bonnet with many lines and angles and sharp edges. The front of the car screams anger, but it breaks away with flowing curves down the sides wrapping around to the rear fenders before getting back to the angular side vents, which look like fault lines running along the height of the car. It shouldn’t work but astonishingly, it does.

The only bit of styling I’m not too keen on is the rear exhausts. After the Aventador and the Murcielago, it seems almost incorrect to not have a massive center exit, and missing it takes away some of the dramaticism of it, almost like splitting the Burg Kalifa in two and putting it next to each other. It’s cool, but not as impressive as it is together. But nevertheless, I concede that it is a very good-looking car.

The interior is also an upgrade over the old car, with digital screens for both the driver’s gauges and also for the passenger’s viewing, presumably so they can tell the officer how by much you were breaking the speed limit when you get pulled over. The center screen looks small by today’s standards, but then again, you won’t have all that much time to look at it if driving it properly.

In an era where so many of the ICE “last hurrahs” are refried versions of cars that have been on sale for a decade. Lamborghini could have easily taken the Aventador and re-styled it, and not many really would have minded, but they didn’t, they went the extra mile and made an all-new; all re-engineered supercar. And, for that alone, the Revuelto is already a landmark in the history of the car.

Thank you for reading.

Published in New and Noteworthy