Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni

To the Lamborghini faithful, the nameValentino Balboni holds a lot of meaning. Valentino was Lamborghini's official test driver and product refinement guru going as far back as 1973, and he's recently retired.  To celebrate Balboni's work at the raging bull, they've come out with a new model commemorating him in the best way possible - a Lamborghini, exactly as he would've wanted it.

Based on the smaller Gallardo, the LP550-2 Valentino Balboni is the only Lamborghini in the lineup that's purely rear-wheel-drive.  The Gallardo, which was designed to be AWD, had to be redesigned in some ways to adapt to rear wheel drive, but Lamborghini promises the LP550-2 delivers a more active, controllable driving experience.

The Audi-derived 5.2L V10 produces a healthy 550 brake horsepower.  Since the 550-2 ditches the front wheel drive, it's approximately 30kg lighter than the "regular" Gallardo, the LP560-4.  Other changes to balance out the distribution of power include a new limited slip differential with a 45% lock rate, completely revised suspension settings (changes to springs, dampers, as well as stabilizer bars), revised aerodynamics, and a recalibrated ESP system which permits a greater "drift angle."  Oh dear - Lamborghini's discussing things like drift angles in their press releases...  Audi influence showing through?

Anyway, the LP550-2 is also treated to a retina-searing orange paint job with (what I think is) a tasteful white and gold stripe running down the center.  There's also a transparent engine cover (yessssssss!), and some sexy dark grey "Scorpius" alloy wheels.  I think it's quite stunning, but you know... it's a Lamborghini.  That's about as shocking as the relative Catholicism of the Pope.

The white stripe continues inside, with the center console upholstered in white leather (also fantastic), and black and white two-tone leather seats.  Otherwise, it's a "regular" Gallardo interior.  I guess the point here is, when you're making a special edition of a car like the Gallardo, it doesn't have to be all that special.

As far as hard numbers go, well...  The 550-2 Valentino Balboni is lighter, but it's got 10 less horsepower than the 560-4 and doesn't have the leech-like AWD grip to rocket off the line.  As a result, it's actually two-tenths of a second slower to sixty miles an hour.  However, that's still a 3.9 second 0-60 time, so who really cares?

The LP550-2 comes standard with goodies like Bluetooth integration, reverse camera (important in a Lamborghini), and satnav.  Options include Lamborghini's controversial e-gear automated manual transmission, and some lovely carbon-ceramic composite brakes, which probably cost the GDP of Morocco.  Now, if you want some of this slightly crazy 2WD Lamborghini, you're going to need a big bag of money.  There are only 250 being made, and the LP550-2 Valentino Balboni rings in at a shocking $219,800 before options.  But it's a Lamborghini.  So none of this is really all that surprising.