Lamborghini Gallardo manual | The Brave Pill
Has any modern supercar aged so well?
It’s the time of year for making lists and checking them twice – and who wouldn’t like to see a bright orange Lamborghini wearing a bow under a very tall Christmas tree? But this week’s Brave Pill is breaking the established rules of December’s seasonal chronology by taking inspiration from the boozier celebration that comes a week after Jesus’s birthday. Because 2023 will mark the Gallardo’s 20th anniversary, one that gives all the excuse necessary to celebrate the cheapest example currently in the classifieds.
The Gallardo might not get the adulation given to the Countach or Diablo, or feature on as many bedroom posters, but it is not hard to make the case it is actually Lamborghini’s most significant car. Cheaper and better to drive than its V12 sisters, it took the company to new heights of sales success and paved the way for its subsequent expansion. A total production run of 14,000 Gallardos across a decade of sales might not sound impressive compared to more recent successes - Lambo delivered 5,000 examples of the Urus SUV alone last year. But the Gallardo more than doubled the company’s volumes when it went on sale and brought in a new generation of buyers, many of who wanted a car for driving and not just posing.
This is probably why history has been kind to the Gallardo, and even as it enters its third decade the gods of depreciation continue to smile benevolently upon it. The only other Gallardo to have been featured as a Pill ran in November 2020. That was a 2007 example – so newer than this week’s 2005 Pill – but also featured the automated single-clutch e-gear transmission which the used market has now turned against in preference to the manual. With similar mileage let’s call the appeal even. The last Pill was up for £59,995 and this one is being offered for £61,990. Inflation has obviously taken place since then, but it does suggest that an early Gallardo is still earning more than a savings account. And, on the cusp of its 18th birthday and having covered 67,000 miles, our Pill still retains more than half its original value.
This is, of course, the sort of man maths that won’t stand forensic scrutiny given the size of the running costs for any Gallardo. These are less scary for those of a V12 Lamborghini - which drop bills large enough to become headlands in West Sussex - but are still likely to leave scars on the wallets of any first-time supercar owners. For an indication of how spendy life with a Gallardo can be consider the casual admission from the dealer selling our Pill that it had a new engine at 25,000 miles. Some early motors were replaced under warranty because of excessive oil consumption, so it may have had one of those – but if it wasn’t paid for by the factory somebody ended up with an invoice that would undoubtedly have bought a lesser sports car brand-new.
Yet even as it has grown older the Gallardo has never struggled to find willing victims, and it is never hard to see the appeal. Lamborghini had wanted to build a smaller and cheaper car for years, and had even put the V8-powered Silhouette and Jalpa into production, although with very limited success. The idea of a junior offering didn’t go away, and in 1995 Lambo commissioned Italdesign to make a concept version of a smaller model, this being shown at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show under the name Calà with both a mid-mounted V10 engine and the very novel innovation of a carbonfibre body. This didn’t make production, but when Volkswagen took control of Lamborghini in 1998 it soon released funding to start the development of something aimed at the same part of the market – the car that became the Gallardo.
In truth, despite having been pencilled by Giorgetto Giugiaro himself, the Calà hadn’t been an especially daring piece of design, but the production Gallardo was truly radical. Styled by Luc Donckerwolke, then a young wunderkind, it debuted a new version of Lamborghini’s linear language with straight edges instead of the more curvy contours of that era’s other supercars. It looked, frankly, spectacular – and although styling evolved steadily through the Gallardo’s decade-long life and a myriad of special editions, none had more visual impact than the original car.
Earlier reviewers were less fulsome in their praise of the Gallardo’s driving experience. It used a 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V10 which made 500hp, and which powered each corner through a standard all-wheel drive system. Performance was predictably sure-footed, but the engine lacked compelling top-end harmonics and tall gearbox ratios meant it wasn’t as quick off the line as it could have been. The Gallardo was hugely fast, but the early iteration wasn’t a car that seemed to manifest huge enjoyment at being pushed to the edge. Within a couple of years it had been given a revised 5.2-litre V10 with more power and a different firing order, shortened gearing and improved suspension.
Despite the best efforts of Enzo the Hamster, we haven’t been able to track down a registration for this week’s Pill – but it is an early car which presumably has the slightly less loved 5.0-litre engine. But, on the other side of the scale, it does feature the very desirable option of a manual gearbox. As with other companies with high-tech robo-boxes in the noughties, Lambo’s sales execs did their best to steer potential customers into picking the paddles. The open-gated manual shifter became increasingly rare throughout the car’s long life, with the last Lambo with a clutch pedal being a 2014 Gallardo. These days the market definitely prefers the analogue appeal of the DIY shifter, so our Pill is definitely winning on that score.
Without an MOT record to pick over we’re left with the pictures and the advert description. The selling dealer promises that the car has 10 stamps in its service book and that it is fresh from a major one, and is also sitting on a brand new set of tyres. Which is all to the good. Interior pictures show more evidence of wear, with a very shiny steering wheel and what seems to be some trim discolouration on the centre console. The Audi switchgear of the centre console, and tiny MMI navigation screen, also act as a reminder of how much of the corporate parts bin was used in these; later Lambos have become much better at hiding their origins.
Our Pill might not be the Gallardo you’d end up with if given free choice and an unlimited budget, but it does look fairly priced for what it is - a usable version of what remains a truly special car. It’s even got all-wheel drive, for anybody looking for a year-round junior supercar suited to winter conditions. The Gallardo might be growing old, but its appeal definitely isn’t fading.
When it came out, it was most certainly a supercar and it still is in my mind. Perhaps it's because modern saloons offer more bhp from a diesel engine?
Re the car, the wheels are a shame. They ruin the look. They had an orange one in one of the Mission impossible movies and it looked stunning with it's silver wheels and metallic orange paint. I gasped when the "blew it up" :-)
Different columnist from the recent R8 I assume? They didn't call this (exact same) e-gearbox option "hateful". Funny that :-0
Still, there are always people out there that want the dream but on a tighter budget.
When it came out, it was most certainly a supercar and it still is in my mind. Perhaps it's because modern saloons offer more bhp from a diesel engine?
Re the car, the wheels are a shame. They ruin the look. They had an orange one in one of the Mission impossible movies and it looked stunning with it's silver wheels and metallic orange paint. I gasped when the "blew it up" :-)
Different columnist from the recent R8 I assume? They didn't call this (exact same) e-gearbox option "hateful". Funny that :-0
To me, they are all just bloody nice, expensive, fast cars. (sports, super, hyper etc makes no difference really and is just an opinion)
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff