Discussion
It makes a mockery of Stephan Winklemann's insistence that Lamborghini would stay an all wheel drive brand as that was a "key core value". It's also not good news for buyers of the Balboni as the new model is effectively a Balboni without the exterior or interior stripe. Shades of the original Limited Edition SE which turned into the standard 2006 model year car again.
The comparison with the 911 model range isn't valid as that car is produced in far higher numbers than the Gallardo. Ferrari manage fine with coupe, spider and (in last years of series production)CS/Scud variants of their mid engined cars so that's a fairer comparison in terms of sales volumes.
On the other hand it's unsurprising Lamborghini are doing this as it's hard to maintain interest in a two car line up without regularly bringing out some sort of faux new model to convince buyers to upgrade to the latest thing. They were hit hard last year in terms of falling sales due to their narrow line up. Audi are set to follow the same model tweaking pattern with the R8 according to various reports.
The comparison with the 911 model range isn't valid as that car is produced in far higher numbers than the Gallardo. Ferrari manage fine with coupe, spider and (in last years of series production)CS/Scud variants of their mid engined cars so that's a fairer comparison in terms of sales volumes.
On the other hand it's unsurprising Lamborghini are doing this as it's hard to maintain interest in a two car line up without regularly bringing out some sort of faux new model to convince buyers to upgrade to the latest thing. They were hit hard last year in terms of falling sales due to their narrow line up. Audi are set to follow the same model tweaking pattern with the R8 according to various reports.
A guy on Teamspeed sums the situation up perfectly IMHO -
"With all my love to Lambos, they made absolutely wrong things in 2009. It was absolutely no use to launch a limited edition LP550-2 Valentino Balboni and them to switch it to normal production car. Poor Balboni, I cannot imagine how he is feeling when the car was not successful and now there is another coming as the cheapest in range.
To my mind the way better plan was to launch LP550-2 in 2009 as normal production car, cheapest in the range, then to launch LP570-4 SL in 2010. And then as a pinnacle of Gallardo range, in the very end of production run, to launch very exclusive car, something like LP590-2 Valentino Balboni, extreme version without any compromises to please hardcore Lambo purists and to celebrate Balboni's hard work for Lambo. I guess Valentino and customers would much more happy if this scenario would took place."
"With all my love to Lambos, they made absolutely wrong things in 2009. It was absolutely no use to launch a limited edition LP550-2 Valentino Balboni and them to switch it to normal production car. Poor Balboni, I cannot imagine how he is feeling when the car was not successful and now there is another coming as the cheapest in range.
To my mind the way better plan was to launch LP550-2 in 2009 as normal production car, cheapest in the range, then to launch LP570-4 SL in 2010. And then as a pinnacle of Gallardo range, in the very end of production run, to launch very exclusive car, something like LP590-2 Valentino Balboni, extreme version without any compromises to please hardcore Lambo purists and to celebrate Balboni's hard work for Lambo. I guess Valentino and customers would much more happy if this scenario would took place."
andrew. said:
i'm getting a bit cynical about all these subtle variants now
Agree, why the new model has not appeared yet is beyond me. Also be interested in how it will compete with the MP12 and F458. The Baloboni obviously never sold aswell as expected and suprised that Lambo thought people would pay more for less of a car just because it has a stripe and was 2WD. Wanta996Gotta said:
andrew. said:
i'm getting a bit cynical about all these subtle variants now
Agree, why the new model has not appeared yet is beyond me. Also be interested in how it will compete with the MP12 and F458. The Baloboni obviously never sold aswell as expected and suprised that Lambo thought people would pay more for less of a car just because it has a stripe and was 2WD. The Murciélago replacement on the cover of autocar/autoexpress (can't remember which) looks pretty sexy . See the market being pretty slow until then ...
Davey S2 said:
I cant believe that many people will place orders for these over the 458 and new McLaren.
Lambo badly need an all new model.
Lambo badly need an all new model.
SpeedFreakDave said:
Wanta996Gotta said:
andrew. said:
i'm getting a bit cynical about all these subtle variants now
Agree, why the new model has not appeared yet is beyond me. Also be interested in how it will compete with the MP12 and F458. The Baloboni obviously never sold aswell as expected and suprised that Lambo thought people would pay more for less of a car just because it has a stripe and was 2WD. Balboni - http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/equipment/Detail.asp...
LP560 - http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/equipment/Detail.asp...
Edited by Wanta996Gotta on Wednesday 14th April 14:11
Davey S2 said:
I cant believe that many people will place orders for these over the 458 and new McLaren.
Lambo badly need an all new model.
+1 - Totally agree. I think there are 5 Balboni's in the classifieds with a few at the Lambo dealers - the car is overpriced. Also note that the Gallardo was released in 2003 along with the DB9 and Bentley Conti which are also now releasing various varients(Bentley Conti SS Convertible is £165k!)Lambo badly need an all new model.
If i remember right, basic price on the 550-2 is 137k+ VAT and the 560 is 147k+ VAT. But, again I could be wrong, the balboni comes very well specced as standard. The only options you can add are all pretty useless IMHO and not worth the money. Typically the RRP with some spec would be around 170k. I am guessing, again, the new 560 then needs to be more specced and that can add a lot to the price. For example, electric seats at £2500, electric lift is similar, glass engine cover 3500+! I think you will find you get more for your money than it initially seems on the 550-2 balboni. I test drove the Scud. It is very raw and the torque isn't quite there, but the F1 box is exceptional. It was still awesome. I think the new GT3RS looks amazing and I am hearing it has an amazing sound from the exhaust, I quite fancy one for the track but need to get some time in one.
Also if you want a new LP570-4 you'll need about 200k as lambo have increased prices on all their options.
Also if you want a new LP570-4 you'll need about 200k as lambo have increased prices on all their options.
SpeedFreakDave said:
If i remember right, basic price on the 550-2 is 137k+ VAT and the 560 is 147k+ VAT. But, again I could be wrong, the balboni comes very well specced as standard. The only options you can add are all pretty useless IMHO and not worth the money. Typically the RRP with some spec would be around 170k. I am guessing, again, the new 560 then needs to be more specced and that can add a lot to the price. For example, electric seats at £2500, electric lift is similar, glass engine cover 3500+! I think you will find you get more for your money than it initially seems on the 550-2 balboni. I test drove the Scud. It is very raw and the torque isn't quite there, but the F1 box is exceptional. It was still awesome. I think the new GT3RS looks amazing and I am hearing it has an amazing sound from the exhaust, I quite fancy one for the track but need to get some time in one.
Also if you want a new LP570-4 you'll need about 200k as lambo have increased prices on all their options.
Dont get me wrong, i am a big Lambo fan and always have been. Just think there structure is a bit off and the LP570-4 that you mention(Lambo Birmingham/Edinburgh) is totally over priced at £195K. I guess the head to heads with the F458 and MP12 will be interesting.Also if you want a new LP570-4 you'll need about 200k as lambo have increased prices on all their options.
P.S. New Ferrari 599 GTO at £300k+ is also taking the Piss IMO.
Haha! Hey no worries! I am just saying what I have seen. And I am not fighting the balboni corner. I went through the decision process myself, test drove the cars and bought one. I thought about the Mclaren and the 458 but truth is I didnt really want to spec a car that end up at 200k and I wanted it sooner rather than later, also I wanted something a little rarer. Put a stripe on anything, call it limited edition and I'll buy one 
.
I haven't thought about the price since I drove it out of the showroom. It is truly stunning. Everyone has different tastes at the end of the day......
.I haven't thought about the price since I drove it out of the showroom. It is truly stunning. Everyone has different tastes at the end of the day......
SpeedFreakDave said:
Haha! Hey no worries! I am just saying what I have seen. And I am not fighting the balboni corner. I went through the decision process myself, test drove the cars and bought one. I thought about the Mclaren and the 458 but truth is I didnt really want to spec a car that end up at 200k and I wanted it sooner rather than later, also I wanted something a little rarer. Put a stripe on anything, call it limited edition and I'll buy one .
I haven't thought about the price since I drove it out of the showroom. It is truly stunning. Everyone has different tastes at the end of the day......
.I haven't thought about the price since I drove it out of the showroom. It is truly stunning. Everyone has different tastes at the end of the day......
Your living the dream.
Gassing Station | Supercar General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff