Driving a Lamborghini is not a poor man’s pursuit. In fact there are few ways you can flaunt your wealth more emphatically than driving around in one of Sant’Agata’s finest. But even among Lamborghinis, some are more expensive and exclusive than others. A new Gallardo, for example, will set you back around $200k, give or take, depending on which version you pick. An Aventador runs for nearly twice that at around $400k. But this latest model eclipses them both.
Feast your eyes on the Lamborghini Veneno Roadster. Get a good look? Good. Because this is about as close as you’re likely to get. Lamborghini is making only nine of them, and each is being sold (if they haven’t all been spoken for by now) for a whopping 3.3 million euros — equivalent to approximately $4.5M at today’s exchange rates. That’s about three Gallardos more expensive than the Veneno coupe on which it’s based, and which Lamborghini revealed at the Geneva Motor Show back in March and of which built only four examples — one of which remained in the factory’s collection.
Built on a separate assembly line from the rest of the Lamborghini lineup, the Veneno Roadster is the latest in a series of ultra-exclusive Raging Bulls and follows such extreme predecessors as the Reventon and Sesto Elemento. It’s made almost entirely out of carbon-fiber, with extreme aerodynamics designed to mimmick those found on a Le Mans prototype. Powering the Roadster is a 6.5-liter V12 engine mated to Lamborghini’s proprietary Independent Shift Rod (ISR) transmission — the same powertrain that motivates the Aventador, only retuned to deliver 750 horsepower to all four wheels. That’s enough to propel the Veneno Roadster to 62 mph from a standstill in just 2.9 seconds and on to a top speed in excess of 220 mph.
All that with the wind blowing through your hair, because the Veneno Roadster has no roof whatsoever: not a removable panel, not a retracting mechanism of some sort. Just you and the open air. That is, assuming you have the $4.5M to spare and get to it before nine others do.
