As you read these words, Autocar snapper Stan Papior and I have the amazing Lamborghini Estoque all to ourselves in a photographic studio.
We’re about half an hour from Lambo’s famous Sant’Agata factory in Italy, and neither of us can take our eyes off the amazing 190mph four-door saloon.
Later we’ll visit the factory itself and hopefully get the inside line on the car from Lambo boss Stefan Winkelmann and design chief Manfred Fitzgerald.
But this is a big day for Lamborghini too: later on the company will shut down its production lines early and the Bolognese factory workers of Italy’s ‘other’ supercar maker will meet the new mega-saloon concept up close for the first time.
With no anxious show staff here to stop us, it’s great to be able to get a good look at the inside of this car, something that just wasn’t possible at Paris.
The fascia is just as bold, angular and imaginative as the car’s exterior body panels, finished in white and pale grey leather. There are no carry-over parts in here from either Murcielago or Gallardo; the switchgear is all-new, and could have been inspired by a trapezoidal-shaped UFO.
The steering wheel and gearchange paddles are brand new too, as are the seats. And the instruments are displayed on two LCD displays, like in Mercedes’ S-class.
In the back there’s enough room for all 6’ 3” of me to sit behind a front seat that I’d adjusted for myself …. just. If I sit properly my head brushes the headlining, but there’s plenty of room for my knees on either side of the seatback in front.
Getting in and out is easy too, thanks to the deep doors that totally cover the sills.I’m looking forward to finding out what the VW board thinks of the car; do they think there’s room for Lamborghini to be building a four-door at the same time as Porsche in these financially restricted times?
The answer to that question should give us the strongest idea yet as to whether production of the Estoque will be green-lit.
It’s clear that Lamborghini’s serious about making it. Winkelmann is on record as saying that the firm will never make a concept car that couldn’t make it to the road.
And surely he wouldn’t be letting the factory knock off early to see it unless he thinks they’ll be building it before too long…
