Lamborghini Estoque canned

[ahpadt]

Lamborghini has shelved plans to produce the dramatic Estoque four-door supercar that was unveiled at last autumn’s Paris motor show.

Maurizio Reggiani, the firm’s head of research and development, said the Estoque has been put on ice for the time being. "The timing and market conditions are just not right for an additional model line," he explained.

The Estoque was a four-door, four-seat concept with a front/mid-engined layout and permanent four-wheel drive.

Lamborghini had only committed limited feasibility funding to the Estoque project. This means the car's development was at an early enough stage for the firm to halt the project without a severe financial penalty.

The move is the first concrete evidence of Lamborghini's serious rethink of its future strategy. At Paris Lamborghini said the Estoque could be powered by a V10, a turbocharged V8, a hybrid V8 or even a high-performance diesel engine.

However, company sources say the Italian car maker's back-to-basics strategy will make dramatic weight saving a priority for future models, as well as possibly dropping turbocharging plans in favour of high-revving normally aspirated powerplants.

Reggiani is resisting pressure from a number of areas to introduce a DSG double-clutch transmission and says manual ’boxes could also be dropped.

He argues that Lambo's current e-gear transmission (which is a conventional six-speed manual gearbox with an electro-mechanical shift mechanism) offers "the best combination of weight saving and mechanical interaction".

Reggiani regards the typical DSG transmission as "too smooth" and lacking in the "sense of occasion and drama" that a Lamborghini owner wants. However, he says the next iteration of e-gear will be "really surprising".

In the short term, though, sources indicate that there will be a Superleggera version of the Gallardo LP560-4.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsAr...ncepts/238871/

WHAT?

[ladora]

NOOOOOOOOO.

[GraemeH]

Better keep the manual boxes, pasta eating pansies. The only thing that makes a phallic Lamborghini more suggestive is grabbing a stiff shifter and ramming the next gear in as the engine screams to a crescendo. At least that's how I drive my Lamborghini's in my dreams - arm-chair Freuds have at it.

[Vltros]

That decision is just plain stupid!

"The timing and market conditions are just not right for an additional model line,"

Market conditions??? And where does the Murcielago SV fit into these "market conditions"??? We don't want any more "Special Special Special limited Editions". We want new cars!

What a disappointment Lamborghini...

[prizrak]

Very very sad, it was the only good looking sedan from the supercars

[Polly]

Fuck the economy

[WillDAQ]

Originally Posted by Polly

Fuck the economy

Someone already has

[MOTORLOON1993]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!.oh well

[bartboy9891]

Originally Posted by Vltros

That decision is just plain stupid!



Market conditions??? And where does the Murcielago SV fit into these "market conditions"??? We don't want any more "Special Special Special limited Editions". We want new cars!

What a disappointment Lamborghini...

It's at least 10x easier to tweak an existing design than to build a completely new car from the ground up. Chances are that there will be hardcore versions of the current LP560-4, but that's about all we'll see from Lamborghini for a while.

[sundayx]

Originally Posted by Polly

Fuck the economy

I lol'd.

[Polly]

Originally Posted by WillDAQ

Someone already has

[leviathan]

edit wrong tab, wrong thread. delete please

[Pedrocas]

NOOOO!!!! This would be the best rival for Porsche Panamera. Now all that's left is the dull AM Rapide.

[JakeRadden]

Way to go Lambo.

[Wizegui]

Thank god. The last thing that Lambo needed was a glorified Audi with an ugly exterior.

[Posmo]

+ YouTube Video

[JohnnyRacer]

I'm gonna go have a good cry now.

[edkwon]

Originally Posted by Polly

Fuck the economy

go fund it with your own money then


*listens to the sound of crickets*

Originally Posted by WillDAQ

Someone already has

Yep, afraid the worlds banks have already beaten you to it.

[Buktu]

That's really ashame, but the part about weight savings and high revving engines are at least nice to hear. The gearbox thing less so.

Would've liked to see the Estoque in production though. It was clearly the better alternative to the Rapide and Panamera..

[starfox07]

However, company sources say the Italian car maker's back-to-basics strategy will make dramatic weight saving a priority for future models, as well as possibly dropping turbocharging plans in favour of high-revving normally aspirated powerplants.

FTW

Lambos with turbochargers would just be wrong to me. I just hope they are Italian, true Lamborghini engines, and not Audi engines.