The RWD Lamborghini LP550-2 Valentini Balboni
It’s reported that Lamborghini are considering launching a new entry-level Gallardo – the Lamborghini LP550-2.
It started with the Diablo. Lamborghini decided a good way to tame the beast was to offer a 4WD option. Which was rather popular. So popular, Lamborghini made it the default setting for their road cars. Perhaps they thought it a good idea to keep their customers alive long enough to come back for their next Lamborghini?
But despite the obvious grip and potential safety pluses 4WD brings, the purest will always want RWD. Which is why, when Lamborghini decided to honour their long-standing test-driver Valentini Balboini by naming a limited edition Gallardo after him, it was rear wheel drive – the Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni. A catchy little moniker.
Not only did the LP550-2 Balboni drop the 4WD setup – and lost more than a few pounds in the process – it also lost the less than wonderful e-gear ‘box in favour of a chrome-gated manual. That it also lost 10bhp mattered not a jot – that was more than made up for by the loss of weight and the gain in control.
Now the rumourmill believes that Lamborghini are about to reveal a regular entry-level model in the Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2. Perhaps.
Perhaps there is a market for the LP550-2 – if the price is atrractive enough. Perhaps there will be buyers who want to drive the Gallardo as God decreed – delicately and with lots of right foot steering. But we have our doubts.
A conversation or three with Lambo dealers of our acquaintance tells us that the LP550-2 Balboni was a nightmare to get rid of. They were forced to take their allocation by the factory but – in many cases – ended up flogging them at a big discount.
Which probably puts real-world perspective on the rumours.
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