Reventon

With the release of a new special car from Lambo next week and looking at some of the renders in that thread I thought it would be interesting to see what people have to say about the Reventon 9 years on from the release.

 

I cannot recall if it was Mako or Porter that said that these special editions built upon the V12 foundations provide much needed revenue to help r&d costs for future models and also to keep the felt tip fairies on form.

 

At first I thought it was a bulky bodykit on a heavy car and to be consistent I still do but looking at some pics of it just now my negative comments are softened a bit as it does look quite good. I think the aggressive chin is bad but look at a picture of the car, put your finger over the front bumper and look at the car again.

 

When the Reventon was released I wasn't so sure about the front. I loved the rear tho. And the rims, wow! I also didn't loved the grey color. But I liked it overall

 

When the Roadster was released that's when I felt in love with it, being more silver, the engine cover made me feel like the car was a dream. I loved everything about it and today I think it's one of the most beautiful Lambos in history, without the weird roof of course

 

Having seen on in person I can say that it really didn't have presence. It just seemed like another Lp640

Having seen on in person I can say that it really didn't have presence. It just seemed like another Lp640

 

Something like that I felt with the Reventon Coupe, it didn't have presence

I personally think it is the best looking of all the Murci family.

The prototype aventador front end looks better then your run of the mill 'vent.

I liked the Reventon back when it debuted. I still like to this date even though it was a re-bodied Murcielago with 20 more hp if I`m not mistaken. It was the same with the Sesto Elemento, but not with the Veneno. I disliked Veneno, but it has grown on me a bit, so I`m okay with it.

An idea just came to my mind, I'm not quite sure what I think of it yet myself even, but hear me out...lets look at a Reventon and break it down conceptually (would apply to the Veneno too):

 

20 units x 1.5 M = 30M extra revenue over and above a normal LP640 at the time.

 

Now this revenue has to get split up between operation/development/profit. Operation is covered mostly under the assumption that revenue from an LP640 would go toward keeping the lights on, and since we're looking at marginal revenue beyond a normal LP640, the rest would be divided between development costs and profit. Lets take the very unlikely case that there was no profit to be made, ie all 30M went towards development (frankly the actual numbers don't matter, the concept does).

 

From Lambo's perspective they have two choices: gear the car towards what the Reventon actually became (mostly an aesthetic special edition) VS gear the car towards performance (which the enthusiast/online community always pushes for).

 

The questions becomes, how much could they realistically push the car in each of the respective envelopes given their budget and payoff?

 

We know the outcome of them pushing the car aesthetically (the Reventon was the result), so there's no ambiguity there. Alternatively they could have geared the car toward performance and taken the car from LP640 levels of performance (which was about 1/4 in 11.3 @ 126 mph) and push its performance a significant amount...let's assume the new car they came up with could do the 1/4 in 10.8 at 130 mph.

 

Fast forward 10 years (or even imagine another 10 years from now) and compare how "special" each of the above alternatives would be:

 

The Reventon looks like nothing else and is very unique to itself. Its not a kit car or anything, and was built ground up by lambo in every way. Its fast but not the fastest of course.

 

The performance alternative would likely not be significantly different to a LP640 aesthetically, and though it would look good, it may not be as special as the Reventon that we know. Performance wise, even for the time, 30M would only have been able to do so much for such a dated chassis like the Murcielago. As a result, even for its time it certainly wouldn't have EVER been a world beater. Fast forward 10 years, and 10.8@130 isn't even as quick as the Huracan, 488, or MP4, etc etc.

 

I think lambo did the right thing to gear the car towards aesthetics because it will keep its "special-ness" whereas gearing the car towards performance would have lost its appeal very quickly given how quickly cars are progressing now.

 

Just another perspective from which to view Reventon/Veneno-like special editions.

Have liked always. Only the instruments are bit childish.

I saw the roadster at the Frankfurt motor show, it looked stunning in real life but the best view was from above, I was invited upstairs above the stand where they were holding a white Balboni ( from memory, too many special editions to remember) and I was able to view the Reventon Roadster from the top, it was jaw dropping beautiful, the lines were just perfect, unfortunately for me the batteries in my camera decided to die exactly at that moment I did manage one shot but I can't remember where I stored it.

I remember there was 2 Reventon's in Vancouver at once. There's still one sitting upstairs beside a white ThethetheFerrari at the Ferrari dealership right now.

 

Love the car. For the price there might be other considerations first, but to this day it still looks modern as heck and hold it's own beside Aventador. It's a vehicle that should be seen in person to be appreciated. I'd imagine the same goes for the Veneno.

TG: You talked about the fantasy aspect of Lamborghini, and you’ve become renowned for your special projects. How did those projects start?

 

Winkelmann: At the beginning of 2007 we sat down together and said, ‘we don’t often get the opportunity to improve what we are doing’. So we pushed the designers and engineers to do something different. Also at that time there was a lack of imagination on how strong the brand is. So we started to think about doing something very unique and very specific, done by us – not decided by the customers.

 

The first result was the Reventon. We took it to the U.S in August 2007 and pre-sold all the cars based on a scale model. It helped us recognise the potential of the brand without knowing it at that time. We showed the real car at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007, and then decided to do the roadster [they built 20 coupe then 15 roadsters]. And then so on and so forth.

 

We proved that as Lamborghini, not only on the brand-side, but for the engineers and designers, that in spite of having just two models, we have this opportunity and the capacity.

 

 

 

TG: Of these special projects, which one of them would you most like to take home?

 

Winkelmann: The Reventon, because it was the first one we tested. Usually, to be politically correct, I always say ‘the most recent one’, but in this sense it’s the first one we did, and after that, the Sesto Elemento. That car was really a technological demonstrator, which was to improve the power-to-weight ratio by having a normal engine with a complete body made from carbon fibre.

So it had a power-to-weight ratio almost like a motorbike.

 

 

 

http://www.topgear.com/car-news/big-reads/...oss-reveals-all

I think the Reventon has aged very well. I also think you can draw a line directly from the Reventon to the Aventador and see where they derived a lot of their inspiration from. I agree with Fortis that the view from the top down is the best by far and really blows one away. I also happen to think the jet fighter inspired cockpit is one of the coolest things Lambo did with the car.

I was very fortunate to get up close and personal with one while I was in Vancouver last year purchasing my Gallardo. It is a magnificent car. Like many Lamborghini's, it does tend to get "caught up in the mix" to the common person, but for us enthusiasts, well, it is a truly special car indeed.

When the Reventon was released I wasn't so sure about the front. I loved the rear tho. And the rims, wow! I also didn't loved the grey color. But I liked it overall

 

Im the exact opposite... Liked the front... Hated the rear... Didnt like it overall.

I didnt like the Reventon at first, but then after seeing it in person.. and finally driving one, it was a cool car. Yes, I know it's an LP640, but the styling was extreme and a nice test of what would come design wise with the Aventador.

 

What are values these days? Pretty flat on them?

Im the exact opposite... Liked the front... Hated the rear... Didnt like it overall.

 

 

Seen 2 coupes in the real and sat in one and saw 1 roadster in the real. The paint likely played a role but the roadster seemed to look a lot better than the coupe. The rear, to me anyway, looks cumbersome. The inside is almost identical to the Murci but with an arcade game dash. To be fair, it's nice but no where as nice as it should be when factoring its price in mind.

I wasn't too thrilled with it then, but seeing it now through a retro eye with the Aventador quite mature, I'm liking it more.

 

Is it not closer to an Aventador than a Murcielago visually, or am I missing something? The taillights are almost the same.

^The taillights are actually quite different. Both do have the "sideways Y" motif but the R's are in individual LED's dot matrix whereas the A's are in a single unit light bar. The signal blinkers for the R are a strip of individual amber LED's underneath the red sideways Y (similar to the LP640's) whereas the A's doesn't have any amber LED's at all; only the same red LED light bar blinks.

That looks fantastic!