Enthralling Gallardo successor enthroned

MUNICH, Germany – After recently abdicating its hallowed throne in the 50-year-old kingdom of Automobili Lamborghini, the Gallardo line has now entered the storied past of the Sant’Agata Bolognese supercarmaker.

Doubtless there will be tears shed for Herr Gallardo that, within a relatively short total production arc of 10 years, attained sales figures never before realized by the brand: eight units short of 14,000, in fact. As the Gallardo gallops out of the limelight, the entry point into the rarefied domain of Lamborghini now solely belongs to the Huracán LP 610-4.

Judging from what I see up close at the Audi Gebrauchtwagen Plus (a sprawling facility selling used Audi vehicles), the Huracán’s designers decisively departed from the Gallardo stylebook. Touted as a daily-driver Lambo, the Huracán marries seemingly dichotomous virtues of aggression and softness.

One could argue that the Gallardo’s various iterations seemed to champion this paradigm as well – distinguishing the line from the more angular, fighter-plane ethos of the Aventador.

However, methinks the Huracán, formally launched recently at Geneva, embodies it more clearly.

During its turn at the evening’s exciting slew of presentations from stablemates Audi and Ducati, a yellow (actually a gialo midas with pearl effect) Huracán rumbles front and center, glinting in the spotlight. Lamborghini Centro Stile head Filippo Perini later takes the stage to eagerly and animatedly explain what the new Lambo is about.

The designer uses the words “elegant” and “sensual” while gesticulating vigorously towards the Huracán. Perini says that the team wanted to make the line from the car’s nose to its rear to be unbroken, and that there is a meticulous play on convex and concave surfaces. Even the graceful roof is adorned with an origami-inspired pattern. In a subsequent, exclusive chat with this writer, Perini underscores: “Some corners of the car are very, very, aggressive with some sensuality.”

Meanwhile, there was a fiat to distinguish the Huracán from the mighty Aventador.

“We (tried) to separate the two cars because the Aventador with the V12 is our flagship. It’s a real supercar with all the aggressiveness,” he tells me. “The Huracán is a little bit different. We received a brief to produce a ‘daily-usable’ car. It should communicate that fact.”

Of course, one man’s daily driver is another’s treasured ride that is seldom taken for a spin beyond his exclusive village—much less onto Philippine roads. To be fair, there is much beauty in the Huracán inside and out. One can enjoy this Lamborghini by merely, well, looking.

Once again, Perini points out the aforementioned concave and convex surfaces. “There is a transition from positive to negative,” he says. “When you are able to combine surfaces like these, you can have what they call liquid reflections.”

These, he continues, are best appreciated in a black car and under the sun, but the Lambo progettisti definitely wanted to “combine sensuality with geometrical lines and graphic; this is the trick we are trying to do to attract different kind of people.”

Indeed, it is as clear as a Huracán in your rearview mirror that Lamborghini wants the Gallardo successor to generate the same type—if not better—sales numbers.

“We don’t want to lose the clients we had for the Gallardo, while (attracting) people who are a little bit more—how do you put it—polite. You want (the design) to be a little bit more clean for these people to appreciate,” he concurs.

The Lamborghini Huracán made it to Car and Driver’s recent list of “25 Cars Worth Waiting For,” a definite vote of confidence for what will surely be a vital element in the continued success of the iconic Italian brand that has been under the aegis of Audi AG since July 1998.

Like many of its siblings, the Huracán is named after a famous fighting bull. This particular one made its reputation in 1879, but everything about the Lamborghini namesake, however, is as futuristic as it is robust. Sharing a hybrid aluminum/carbon fiber space frame with the next Audi R8, the Huracán is 200 pounds lighter than the Gallardo. Its body is also forged from aluminum and composite material.

The Huracán runs on a pair of Pirelli 245/30R-20s in front and two 305/30s at the back—plenty of traction for its large, powerful heart. The V10, 5.2-liter, 40-valve engine delivers 610 horses and 560 Nm that enable zero-100 kph in 3.2 seconds, zero-200 kph in 9.9 seconds, and a top speed of 325 km/h. In case you’re curious, Lamborghini claims an average fuel consumption of 12.5 liters per 100 kilometers (eight kilometers per liter).

The marque continues to dream bigger, perhaps encouraged by its recent successes. Its portfolio is now available for the discriminating (and moneyed) in 46 countries including the Philippines, and doesn’t rest its laurels on an obviously stellar past. More than 20 percent of revenues is plowed back into research and development, while Perini, by his own admission, says with a laugh that they have “totally crazy designers.” Crazy-good, for sure.

Conversely, people have remained totally fascinated and crazy about Lambos.

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann reports that 1,000 Huracán units have been reserved in just two months. I ask him about initial market feedback.

“I was personally there for some pre-selling activities,” he intimates. “What they appreciate is the design, and the fact that we have a naturally-aspirated engine.”

Winkelmann says we can expect the Huracán to arrive in the region in the second half of the year.

Back to Perini, he patiently, meticulously explains to me how the team was able to arrive at the arresting, indulging visual of the Huracán. “The design language we are using is very different,” he says. “Remember that a designer is not doing sculpture or sketches but is working with light. We have to understand our light are hitting and are reflected by the surfaces we are creating.”

It’s easy to see from its passionate Italian designer how the Huracán ended up as such a head-turner.