Lamborghini Murcielago

Feast your eyes – Lamborghini has grabbed the bull by the horns and come up with a sensational successor to the Murciélago!

Styled in-house at the firm’s headquarters in Sant’Agata, Italy, it’s the first production model to be penned by design and brand director Manfred Fitzgerald.

It borrows heavily from Lamborghini’s fighter jet-inspired Reventón, and features clean, crisp surfaces, trademark aggressive air intakes and sharply sculpted all-LED lights.

It also gets an active rear wing to improve aerodynamic stability.

But the big news is under the skin. Thanks to Lambo’s latest joint venture the new car will get a carbon fibre chassis, so it tips the scales at less than 1,500kg, down from the outgoing model’s heftier 1,665kg.

Reduced weight and improved aerodynamics are only part of the story, though. A new 7.0-litre V12 engine will produce in excess of 700bhp and 700Nm of torque.

However, fuel economy will also increase to around 23mpg and CO2 will fall from 495g/km to roughly 425g/km, thanks to a clever cylinder deactivation system, which operates under light loads. Top speed will be in the region of 220mph and the 0-62mph time falls from 3.4 to 3.0 seconds, as a result of a new launch control system.

Lamborghini isn’t a fan of the twin-clutch DSG-style gearbox. So, instead, a seven-speed, paddleshift automated manual gearbox will help direct power to the four-wheel-drive system.

Despite the weight savings that could be had by returning to a rear-drive layout, Lamborghini confirms that the car will be all-wheel-drive. However, it will be optimised to reduce friction, and feature parent firm Audi’s torque vectoring system for even better handling.

Inside, the new design means the Murciélago’s offset driving position will be consigned to the history books. Trademark scissor doors will remain, the cabin will be trimmed in carbon and Alcantara, while luxuries will include a hi-tech sat-nav and a jet-style head-up display. The new Lambo will debut at the Paris Motor Show in October and will cost in excess of £300,000.