'One last' Gallardo

So Road & Track just put out and article about the last Gallardo and it being the last time you'll get a manual transmission in the brand.

 

9:1 prefer the E-gear system.

 

Thoughts?

 

Aritcle Link: http://www.roadandtrack.com/go/future-cars...id=1459_8022369

 

Lamborghini has something special planned for fans of stripped-down, elemental sports cars. To reinforce the brand’s raucous image, Lambo is releasing a limited-run, rear-drive-only Gallardo stripped of extraneous luxury options and outfitted with the special edition’s raison d’etre: a manual transmission.

 

“It will be the least-gilded, back-to-basics stripped version,” promised Lamborghini of America chief operating officer Michael Lock. It was conceived, Lock said, when he realized that 2013 will be the end of the line for the traditional transmission at Lamborghini.

 

“We are in an era when customers demand technology and products that adapt to them,” not the other way around, as is required by Lamborghini’s famously finicky gated H-pattern shifter.

 

While seasoned experts like Valentino Balboni can row through the notchy gates as if they’re driving a Miata, the rest of us have to perfect our technique. How perfectly, anachronistically Italian. But Lamborghini buyers now choose the paddle-shifted transmission by 9:1 over the old do-it-yourselfer. There’s essentially no market for the stick.

 

The admission that this is Lamborghini’s last year of the manual transmission, along with the knowledge that, at nine model years old, the Gallardo is practically an antique compared to its rivals, implies that this is the end of the line for the car.

 

“It is the oldest supercar still standing, like a boxing champion,” crowed Lock. “It is defying the normal supercar product cycle. Can you imagine if Ferrari were still trying to sell the 360 Modena,” the Gallardo’s competitor at its debut?

 

It has been able to do that because of Lamborghini’s mechanistic styling language, Lock asserted. The organic forms preferred by Ferrari and others don’t age as well, while the overtly man-made lines of Lamborghinis since the Countach have in-your-face staying power. “It still has that drawn line,” Lock observed.

 

So what next? “With the replacement for the Gallardo, Lamborghini will be at a crossroads,” Lock explained. “The replacement for that car is pivotal.” That replacement has to preserve Lamborghini’s heritage of outrageous styling, as expressed most recently in the limited-edition Veneno, but in a form that can be manufactured and sold in the volume of the Gallardo, Lamborghini’s best-selling model ever.

 

Until the replacement comes, we can entertain ourselves with Lock’s pet project, the stripped-down, manual-transmission Gallardo send-off edition. It’s a sad good-bye of sorts, but it also means we shouldn’t have to wait too long to meet the Gallardo’s replacement and learn the name of a new fighting bull.

the fact that they started the article with "something special" is quite funny. Although it is cool that they are getting rid of all of their left over manuals and trying sell em as "special"

Oh... one more!

When has the gated shifter in a G ever been known as "finicky," much less famously so? Sounds like whoever wrote that tried to come up with a storyline that might have made sense 15 years ago but not now. The shifter in the G is very good IMO, as far as stock shifters go.

Yes...but say you can aquie one well under $200K...and a 6 speed...could be a fun car to have..AND here will ALWAYS be a market for someone in the future that wants a 6 speed car...

 

I think Lambo is doing well: they know Gallardo is aging so nobody will chose a Gallardo at present except some purist that wants a manual transmission and a "low" price italian supercar. 2wd Gallardo with manual gearbox is not very expensive, it's very fast, quite light and a Lambo. If they have a possibility to sell the final edition of G is just with low price, 2 wd and manual gearbox.

 

ciao

the fact that they started the article with "something special" is quite funny. Although it is cool that they are getting rid of all of their left over manuals and trying sell em as "special"

 

They could also finally get rid of the left over 08 superleggera wheels too.

 

 

I think they'll call this model the" LOL, here's the Balboni that the balboni should have been."

If they have a possibility to sell the final edition of G is just with low price, 2 wd and manual gearbox.

 

This. From a marketing standpoint this makes 100 times more sense than trying to throw an expensive new bell or whistle on the final model and sell it for $250k+ against much more recently designed 458's and McLaren's.

Yes...but say you can aquire one well under $200K...and a 6 speed...could be a fun car to have..AND here will ALWAYS be a market for someone in the future that wants a 6 speed car...

Do you have knowledge of the price or is it an educated guess?

 

If it's well under 200K - I assume that will be very bad for prices on the used market. Why would anyone buy used (let's say '08/09/10) if they can get a new one, full warranty - in the same ball park? Of course they'll have to want a RWD, manual with almost no options...

 

Do you have knowledge of the price or is it an educated guess?

 

If it's well under 200K - I assume that will be very bad for prices on the used market. Why would anyone buy used (let's say '08/09/10) if they can get a new one, full warranty - in the same ball park? Of course they'll have to want a RWD, manual with almost no options...

 

Not necessarily. The lp550-2 is already this and hasn't really affected the used market alot.

Do you have knowledge of the price or is it an educated guess?

 

If it's well under 200K - I assume that will be very bad for prices on the used market. Why would anyone buy used (let's say '08/09/10) if they can get a new one, full warranty - in the same ball park? Of course they'll have to want a RWD, manual with almost no options...

 

It's already happened with the Bicolore. Many of those sold new for well under 200k (though the stickers were right at 200k), and those cars were loaded with "options" as standard equipment (but were 2WD of course).

I like to see that Lamborghini admitted it's old, and needs to be changed. To compare it to the 360 Modena really puts it in perspective.

When has the gated shifter in a G ever been known as "finicky," much less famously so? Sounds like whoever wrote that tried to come up with a storyline that might have made sense 15 years ago but not now. The shifter in the G is very good IMO, as far as stock shifters go.

 

 

 

 

IMO the Gallardo shifter is second only to the NSX and that car didn't have the torque a Gallardo does. Far, far better than any manual from Porsche or BMW.

I like to see that Lamborghini admitted it's old, and needs to be changed. To compare it to the 360 Modena really puts it in perspective.

 

 

We already had a 360CS, 430, 430Scud and now a 458!!!!

 

In that time we have had the G, the GSL, the LP and the LP SL/Blancpain/STS. Advantage Ferrari.

Wonder what else they stripped out of the car?

 

It's good to see a 'throwback' model.

Geeze, I hope this is the final final final final edition of the Gallardo. Special edition Lambos are getting old. What next? A 3 wheeled edition? Time to bring a replacement out.

 

We already had a 360CS, 430, 430Scud and now a 458!!!!

 

In that time we have had the G, the GSL, the LP and the LP SL/Blancpain/STS. Advantage Ferrari.

 

 

You are right, but i think there is a big difference from the first 2004 G and a 2012 STS, like from first 996 and last 997.

 

ciao

I like the formula ,can you get with E-gear ?

 

Please cut the crap Lambo and bring us the mini Veneno.

I bet a RWD Gallardo with a manual will be a very sought after car in a decade's time.

When has the gated shifter in a G ever been known as "finicky," much less famously so? Sounds like whoever wrote that tried to come up with a storyline that might have made sense 15 years ago but not now. The shifter in the G is very good IMO, as far as stock shifters go.

 

 

You are right, but i think there is a big difference from the first 2004 G and a 2012 STS, like from first 996 and last 997.

I don't think that's an accurate comparison. Maybe the 997.1 and the 997.2 would be better, IMO

Yes...but say you can aquie one well under $200K...and a 6 speed...could be a fun car to have..AND here will ALWAYS be a market for someone in the future that wants a 6 speed car...

 

I bet a RWD Gallardo with a manual will be a very sought after car in a decade's time.

 

I think they banking on selling them now

A Volkswagen Group representative has confirmed the Gallardo replacement is due in a "short time".

Volkswagen Group China's sales and marketing chief Weiming Soh has declared before the 2013 Auto Shanghai the Gallardo replacement will be launched "in a short time and be able to further progress with Lamborghini."

We already know a manual gearbox will not be offered for the new bull, while a rear-wheel drive variant is possible later on. Most likely, Lamborghini will stick to a naturally aspirated engine without hybrid tech. A rumor dating back to 2011 hinted at a Cabrera moniker with a V10 5.2-liter mill developing 570 HP (419 kW). The same report indicated a 2013 launch, followed a year later by the Spyder variant. 2017 will allegedly be the year when Lamborghini will introduce the Cabrera Superleggera, before the facelift model arrives in 2018.

 

http://www.worldcarfans.com/113041956759/l...ill-be-launched

http://www.worldcarfans.com/113041956759/l...ill-be-launched

If the replacement is going to make "only" 570 hp, it better be as light as the Sesto or else the MP4-12C is gonna walk all over it. But its definitely not going to be that light and and so I suspect the Gallardo replacement will have 600+ hp and will be as quick, if not quicker than the Aventador. Hence I'm speculating that the Aventador caught testing at the Nring is going to be a midlife facelift with more power in order to make room for the Gallardo replacement.