The benefit of exotic cars enjoying longer life cycles is the opportunity to refine and finesse the product over a number of years. That’ll come officially, through updates and facelifts to keep the car fresh, but also through honing processes and implementing new ideas over time. It’s not quite practice makes perfect, but you get the idea; when the production numbers are lower and the human input greater, it makes sense for cars to improve with time.
So while two vehicles may share a name and a design philosophy, hailing from the beginning and the end of a production run can create a pair of very different cars. Nowhere is that better exemplified than with Lamborghini. At the beginning of the Huracan and the Aventador’s lives, they were praised for their style and obvious sense of theatre - but the driving experience wasn’t quite up to snuff. By the end, with cars like the V10 Tecnica and V12 Ultimae, they could be counted among the finest supercars ever made. Yet they barely possessed any more horsepower than they began with.
The Gallardo, too, was a tangibly better supercar by the end of its decade on sale. While it launched as a supremely fast, stunningly designed baby Lambo, there was a concern that perhaps a little too much Audi influence had reached the handling. But it didn’t take long for a whole assortment of new models to arrive in response, including the SE, the Superleggera, the LP560, the Balboni and so on.
Then they went a little bit crazy, with special editions including the Gold Edition, the Nero Nemesis, both Bicolore and Tricolore, the Singapore Limited Edition, the Hong Kong 20th Anniversary Edition, the India Serie Speciale Edition and plenty more besides. Lamborghini certainly wasn't alone in spinning plenty of specials off an ageing supercar, but some were clearly more special than others - some were the Superleggera Edizione Tecnica. So the most powerful, lightest four-wheel-drive spec, with ceramic brakes, and a dramatic carbon aerokit to evoke the one-make Super Trofeo race cars. The view of Sant’Agata was emphatic: ‘The best Gallardo ever’ is how it introduced the Tecnica to the world at Paris 2012. And they would know.
This one is extra special. There were only three colour schemes officially offered - black with orange, white with orange, or orange with black - but the first owner of this one was able to pick from the Ad Personam palette, and Blu Cephus looks better than any of the two-tone efforts sounds. A UK-supplied car with 18,000 miles, it’s gotta be one of the best examples of the best Gallardo ever.
Which means it’ll cost its next owner £300,000. But all of the V10 Lamborghinis are enjoying appreciation of late, perhaps thanks to the lukewarm Temerario response (which itself is now from £300,000): the Huracan STO is anything up to half a million, for example. Gallardo coupes are six-figure supercars once more, if you can find one. The sound and sensation of that V10 make them hot property right now. Whether an Edizione will always be worth that remains to be seen, but then it is the best Gallardo ever - who wouldn’t pay handsomely for one of those?
SPECIFICATION | LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP570-4 SUPERLEGGERA
Engine: 5,204cc, V10
Transmission: 6-speed automated manual, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 570@8,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 398@6,500rpm
MPG: 20.9
CO2: 319g/km
First registered: 2013
Recorded mileage: 17,956
Price new: c. £200,000
Yours for: £309,900
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