Car Of The Day: July 10, 2012

Today's car of the day comes from Firehawk73's collection and is Malibu (High Speed)'s 2003 Lamborghini Gallardo.

The Lamborghini Gallardo is a sports car built by Lamborghini and its most-produced model to date, with over 10,000 built in its first seven years of production. The car is named after a famous breed of fighting bull and represented to many the smaller version of the Murcielago, a descendant of Lamborghini's Jalpa from the 1980s.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Lamborghini Gallardo

The Gallardo offers two choices of transmissions, a conventional (H-Box) six-speed manual transmission, and an advanced six-speed electro-hydraulically controlled semi-automatic robotized manual, which Lamborghini abbreviates to "E-gear". The "E-gear" allows the driver to make shifts much faster than a manual transmission would. The driver shifts up and down via paddles behind the steering wheel, but can also change into automatic mode.
For the MY2006 (launched in late 2005) Lamborghini introduced many changes to the car to counter some criticisms garnered from the press and owners. These were derived from the limited edition Gallardo SE. The exhaust system was changed to a more sporty one (including a flap to make it quieter around town), the suspension was revised and a new steering rack was fitted, the engine power was increased by 20 bhp to a maximum of 520 metric horsepower (382 kW; 513 hp), the biggest change was an overall lowering of the gearing especially in 1st to 5th. The result was a much improved car; it handled and turned better, sounded better under full throttle and the extra power and lower gearing turned an already fast car into a much faster one.

Car Of The Day: February 2, 2012

Today's car of the day comes from Firehawk73's collection and is Malibu's (High Speed) Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT.

The Lamborghini Murciélago is a two-door, two-seat sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 2001 and 2010. Successor to the Diablo and flagship of the automaker's lineup, the Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001. The automaker's first new design in eleven years, the car was also the brand's first new model under the ownership of German parent company Audi. It was styled by Peruvian-born Belgian Luc Donckerwolke, Lamborghini's head of design from 1998 to 2005.
A roadster version was introduced in 2004, followed by the updated LP 640 coupé and roadster and limited edition LP 650-4 Roadster. The final variation to wear the Murciélago nameplate was the LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, powered by the largest and final evolution of the historic Lamborghini V12 engine. Production of the Murciélago ended on November 5, 2010, with a total run of 4,099 cars. Its successor, the Aventador, was released at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit:

The Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT is the racing version of the Murciélago, developed jointly with Reiter Engineering and Audi Sport. Unlike the standard car, the R-GT is rear-wheel drive only and only 9 were produced, in order to comply with the FIA, ACO, and JAF rules. The car retains the standard V12 engine, but air restrictors are used to manage power. Acceleration and top speed performance are dependent on gearing, as different ratios are used for different tracks.

In March 2007, the All-Inkl.com Racing Murciélago won the Zhuhai 2 Hours.

In April 2009, beating a Corvette C6-R, and Saleen S7-R, a Murciélago R-GT of the Russian IPB Spartak Racing Team won the GT1 class in the 1000 km de Catalunya, a LMS race. The drivers of the IPB Spartak Racing car were Russian, Roman Rusinov, and Dutch, Peter Kox. The Lamborghini made pole position, but was moved to the end of the grid due to some technical irregularities. They finished 2 laps ahead of the lead Corvette to take the second international win for a Ragin' Bull GT car.

Car Of The Day: October 26, 2011

Today's car of the day is Realtoy's 1985 Lamborghini Countach.

The Lamborghini Countach is a mid-engined supercar that was produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini from 1974 to 1990. Its design both pioneered and popularized the wedge-shaped, sharply angled look popular in many high performance sports cars. The "cabin-forward" design concept, which pushes the passenger compartment forward in order to accommodate a larger engine, was also popularized by the Countach.

In 2004, American car magazine Sports Car International named this car number three on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1970s, and it was listed as number ten on their list of Top Sports Cars of the 1980s.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Lamborghini Countach

One of Realtoy's earlier offerings, this one still looks good.

The Countach was styled by Marcello Gandini of the Bertone design studio, the same designer and studio that designed the Miura. Gandini was then a young, inexperienced designer—not very experienced in the practical, ergonomic aspects of automobile design, but at the same time unhindered by them. He produced a quite striking design. The Countach shape was wide and low (42.1 inches), but not very long (only 163 inches). Its angular and wedge-shaped body was made almost entirely of flat, trapezoidal panels.

The doors, a Countach trademark, were scissor doors: hinged at the front with horizontal hinges, so that the doors lifted up and tilted forwards. The main reason is the car's tubular spaceframe chassis results in very high and wide door sills. It was also partly for style, and partly because the width of the car made conventional doors impossible to use in an even slightly confined space. Care needed to be taken, though, in opening the doors with a low roof overhead. The car's poor rear visibility and wide sills led to drivers adopting a method of reversing the car for parking by opening the door, sitting on the sill, and reversing while looking over the back of the car from outside.

The pure style of the prototype was progressively enhanced or cluttered (depending on one's point of view) by the evolution of the car to improve its performance, handling, tractability, and ability to meet mandated requirements. This began with the first production model, which included several vents which were found to be necessary to cool the engine adequately. These included the iconic NACA duct on the door and rear fender of each side of the car. The car design changes ended with a large engine vent directly behind the driver, reducing the rear view. Later additions, including fender flares, spoilers, carburetor covers, and bumpers, progressively changed the aesthetic values of the car.

The Countach's styling and visual impression caused it to become an icon of great design to almost everyone except automotive engineers. The superior performance characteristics of later Lamborghini models (such as the Diablo, or the Murciélago) appealed to performance car drivers and engineers, but they never had the originality or outrageousness that gave the Countach its distinction. The different impressions left by the various Lamborghini models have generated numerous debates and disagreements over what constitutes 'classic' or 'great' automotive design (elegant looks and style, vs. technical and engineering superiority).