Lamborghini kinda sorta confirms SUV concept coming in April

Filed under: Performance, SUV, Crossover, Lamborghini, Beijing Motor Show

Lamborghini LM002

Rumors typically have a limited shelf life. Either they come to fruition, or they just die off. But not this one. The automotive press has been anticipating a follow-up to the Lamborghini LM002 (pictured above) for decades now, but with anticipation building, they appear to finally be coming to a head this year.

Although not quite an official confirmation, a spokesperson for Lamborghini’s parent company Audi has indicated that all the speculation regarding the imminent arrival of a new Lamborghini crossover are, essentially, true. The concept version is expected to debut at the Beijing Motor Show in April with a retuned version of the V10 engine in the Gallardo and an eye on the likes of the Maserati Kubang and BMW X6 – only likely higher-end in its market position.

The decision-making process in Sant’Agata Bolognese was reportedly to build either a crossover or a sedan (previewed by the Estoque concept at the 2008 Paris Motor Show) as a third model line, but the current speculation suggests that Lamborghini could build both, with the four-door sedan to follow a couple of years down the line.

Lamborghini kinda sorta confirms SUV concept coming in April originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lamborghini kinda sorta confirms SUV concept coming in April

Filed under: Performance, SUV, Crossover, Lamborghini, Beijing Motor Show

Lamborghini LM002

Rumors typically have a limited shelf life. Either they come to fruition, or they just die off. But not this one. The automotive press has been anticipating a follow-up to the Lamborghini LM002 (pictured above) for decades now, but with anticipation building, they appear to finally be coming to a head this year.

Although not quite an official confirmation, a spokesperson for Lamborghini’s parent company Audi has indicated that all the speculation regarding the imminent arrival of a new Lamborghini crossover are, essentially, true. The concept version is expected to debut at the Beijing Motor Show in April with a retuned version of the V10 engine in the Gallardo and an eye on the likes of the Maserati Kubang and BMW X6 – only likely higher-end in its market position.

The decision-making process in Sant’Agata Bolognese was reportedly to build either a crossover or a sedan (previewed by the Estoque concept at the 2008 Paris Motor Show) as a third model line, but the current speculation suggests that Lamborghini could build both, with the four-door sedan to follow a couple of years down the line.

Lamborghini kinda sorta confirms SUV concept coming in April originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG in America to be auctioned off at Boca concours

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Auctions, Audi, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, Misc. Auto Shows

2013 Mercedes-Benz SL

Of all the car shows around the calendar year, the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance doesn’t typically fall on our radar screen. But maybe it should, because the annual event in Florida – young as it is – has a history of offering firsts. Maybe not the first time a vehicle is seen in North America, mind you, but a first just the same.

Last year the event included the sale of the first examples of the Ferrari FF, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster and Audi R8 GT to be delivered in America. The year before that, it was the Audi R8 5.2 FSI (yeah, that’s the one with the V10) and Ferrari California. And before that, the event’s auctioneers sold off the first Audi R8 Spyder, Ferrari 458 Italia and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

Noticing a pattern here? Organizers have no intention of dropping the ball this year, when they’ll be auctioning off the first U.S. deliveries of the new Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG. Now if you’re thinking that we haven’t even seen the new SL63 AMG yet, you’re absolutely right. The new SL itself has been shown, but not the AMG version, which is expected to pack Affalterbach’s 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 with 571 horsepower on tap. Once the car has been unveiled and deliveries commence, the winner of the auction is guaranteed to be the first to get one in the United States.

As if that’s not enough, there will also be an Audi R8 GT Spyder – one of only 50 slated for production and the only one in red to be made available in the U.S. – as well as a Lamborghini Aventador and a whole mess of special-edition Shelby muscle cars, with proceeds going to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Follow the link for more info, or head down on February 25th to see the bidding frenzy at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.

First Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG in America to be auctioned off at Boca concours originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG in America to be auctioned off at Boca concours

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Auctions, Audi, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, Misc. Auto Shows

2013 Mercedes-Benz SL

Of all the car shows around the calendar year, the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance doesn’t typically fall on our radar screen. But maybe it should, because the annual event in Florida – young as it is – has a history of offering firsts. Maybe not the first time a vehicle is seen in North America, mind you, but a first just the same.

Last year the event included the sale of the first examples of the Ferrari FF, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster and Audi R8 GT to be delivered in America. The year before that, it was the Audi R8 5.2 FSI (yeah, that’s the one with the V10) and Ferrari California. And before that, the event’s auctioneers sold off the first Audi R8 Spyder, Ferrari 458 Italia and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

Noticing a pattern here? Organizers have no intention of dropping the ball this year, when they’ll be auctioning off the first U.S. deliveries of the new Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG. Now if you’re thinking that we haven’t even seen the new SL63 AMG yet, you’re absolutely right. The new SL itself has been shown, but not the AMG version, which is expected to pack Affalterbach’s 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 with 571 horsepower on tap. Once the car has been unveiled and deliveries commence, the winner of the auction is guaranteed to be the first to get one in the United States.

As if that’s not enough, there will also be an Audi R8 GT Spyder – one of only 50 slated for production and the only one in red to be made available in the U.S. – as well as a Lamborghini Aventador and a whole mess of special-edition Shelby muscle cars, with proceeds going to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Follow the link for more info, or head down on February 25th to see the bidding frenzy at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.

First Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG in America to be auctioned off at Boca concours originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Screaming green Lexus LFA likely to split opinions

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Lexus, Design/Style, Luxury

Green Lexus LFA

The fabulously wealthy face all sorts of dilemmas that the rest of us never have to bother with. If you can afford a Lexus LFA, for example, what color do you opt for? Red is clearly for the Ferrari in your stable. Black belongs on your hearse, and… copper? Well, that’s best left for your LX570. What you want is something that makes a statement. A color that kicks puppies and steals candy from kids on Halloween. Green. You want the kind of green that will make Lamborghini Gallardo owners look tasteful by comparison.

That’s exactly what the buyer of LFA number 250 went with. We aren’t entirely sure what the color is called, but our retinas won’t be the same for a week. The hue is almost a more violent version of the Emerald Green found on early ’70s Porsche 911 models. The paint might not look quite as at home as it does on vintage Porsche sheetmetal, but we still love it (something tells tells us there will be plenty of you who fall on the other side of the fence). What do you think? Have your say in Comments.

Screaming green Lexus LFA likely to split opinions originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Screaming green Lexus LFA likely to split opinions

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Lexus, Design/Style, Luxury

Green Lexus LFA

The fabulously wealthy face all sorts of dilemmas that the rest of us never have to bother with. If you can afford a Lexus LFA, for example, what color do you opt for? Red is clearly for the Ferrari in your stable. Black belongs on your hearse, and… copper? Well, that’s best left for your LX570. What you want is something that makes a statement. A color that kicks puppies and steals candy from kids on Halloween. Green. You want the kind of green that will make Lamborghini Gallardo owners look tasteful by comparison.

That’s exactly what the buyer of LFA number 250 went with. We aren’t entirely sure what the color is called, but our retinas won’t be the same for a week. The hue is almost a more violent version of the Emerald Green found on early ’70s Porsche 911 models. The paint might not look quite as at home as it does on vintage Porsche sheetmetal, but we still love it (something tells tells us there will be plenty of you who fall on the other side of the fence). What do you think? Have your say in Comments.

Screaming green Lexus LFA likely to split opinions originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2013 Lexus GS unleashed in Super Bowl ad

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Lexus, Luxury

Lexus Super Bowl commercial

Lexus has a redesigned GS that it truly believes can compete with the likes of the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. So it’s going where the eyeballs are with its marketing, ponying up for the brand’s first-ever Super Bowl ad. Lexus’ commercial is just a 30-second spot, joining the likes of Acura, Audi, Cadillac and other brands buying time during the big game.

Lexus is calling its ad, “The Beast,” which calls to mind both President Obama’s limo and the 2009 documentary by Eric Bana. The actual spot, however, has a rather hackneyed sci-fi theme: A GS350 is locked up in a shipping container sized cage in a lab, and uses its new “Lexus spindle grille” to break free in a destructive orgy of CGI.

Click past the jump to watch the whole ad.

Continue reading 2013 Lexus GS unleashed in Super Bowl ad

2013 Lexus GS unleashed in Super Bowl ad originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lamborghini’s next model to be "LB 736" SUV instead of Estoque?

Filed under: Performance, SUV, Crossover, Lamborghini, Rumormill, Luxury

It was hinted not long ago that Lamborghini would be bringing a couple of brand new baubles to the Geneva Motor Show. Speculation was that one would certainly be the Aventador Roadster, but the other was more difficult to predict – the standard cries being a production version of the Sesto Elemento, a new sedan or a crossover. Well, we still can’t be sure what else is coming to Geneva, but if the magazine scan at the Teamspeed forum can be believed – it comes from Italian mag Quattroroute – a new crossover will be heading our way shortly after the Switzerland expo.

According to the article, Lamborghini will be getting an SUV based on the Audi Q7 platform (just like sister-brand Bentley is expected to do), and it will be revealed at the Beijing Auto Show in April. The ostensible codename is LB 736, and while the official engine spec hasn’t been nailed down just yet, we hear it’ll be a V10 or electrically assisted V8 with somewhere around 700 horsepower.

The body is reportedly standard Lamborghini-issue aluminum and carbon fiber, with aims of a curb weight under 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds), and the completed project will go on sale in 2015. There’s a suggestion that it might also come to Geneva instead of Beijing, but since the image is a Photoshop – and, frankly, most of this is speculation – don’t be suprised if what we see now is not exactly what we ultimately get… whenever it debuts.

Lamborghini’s next model to be “LB 736″ SUV instead of Estoque? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turbocharged Lamborghini? Not this decade, says Winkelmann

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Europe, Lamborghini

Fear not, Lamborghini fans. According to Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of the brand, the company’s vehicles will remain naturally aspirated “for now.” Winkelmann recently spoke with Autocar, and said that the Raging Bull will remain turbo-free for at least the remainder of the decade. That means we won’t see a forced-induction Lamborghini until 2020 at the earliest. That means that it’s crystal-clear that the next-generation Gallardo, set to debut in two years or so, will not show up with a turbocharged engine as its heart.

That’s interesting news for a number of reasons. Whispers kicking around the web have suggested that the next Audi R8 will receive a smaller-displacement, forced-induction powerplant in the near future and that Lamborghini would share that lump. According to Winkelman, that’s not the case. However, with fuel and emissions standards tightening by the moment, Lamborghini may be forced to abandon massive naturally aspirated engines whether it wants to or not.

Turbocharged Lamborghini? Not this decade, says Winkelmann originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turbocharged Lamborghini? Not this decade, says Winkelmann

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Europe, Lamborghini

Fear not, Lamborghini fans. According to Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of the brand, the company’s vehicles will remain naturally aspirated “for now.” Winkelmann recently spoke with Autocar, and said that the Raging Bull will remain turbo-free for at least the remainder of the decade. That means we won’t see a forced-induction Lamborghini until 2020 at the earliest. That means that it’s crystal-clear that the next-generation Gallardo, set to debut in two years or so, will not show up with a turbocharged engine as its heart.

That’s interesting news for a number of reasons. Whispers kicking around the web have suggested that the next Audi R8 will receive a smaller-displacement, forced-induction powerplant in the near future and that Lamborghini would share that lump. According to Winkelman, that’s not the case. However, with fuel and emissions standards tightening by the moment, Lamborghini may be forced to abandon massive naturally aspirated engines whether it wants to or not.

Turbocharged Lamborghini? Not this decade, says Winkelmann originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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