Currently reading: Geneva motor show 2013: Lamborghini Veneno
Lamborghini has pulled the wraps off its €3.12m Aventador-based Veneno road-going racer

Lamborghini has celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Geneva motor show with the Lamborghini Veneno, a 740bhp, 221mph road-going racer based on the Aventador.

The Veneno is a production reality, but Lamborghini has said that all three units it will make have already sold for €3 million each plus taxes (around £3.12 million). The Geneva model is a Lamborghini prototype that it will continue to test on road and track.

The fundamental design is based on the Aventador, but there are several key changes to create what Lamborghini calls a “street-legal racing car”.

Its body, like the monocoque chassis, is fashioned entirely from carbonfibre-reinforced polymer. The bodywork is optimised for aerodynamic efficiency, creating downforce, reducing drag and cooling the 6.5-litre V12, which has had a 50bhp hike from its 690bhp state of tune in the Aventador.

The front end works as one large aerodynamic wing. The front wings are separated from the body, as on sports prototype racers.

The car’s underbody is smooth and channels air into a large diffuser, which houses four integrated exhaust pipes. Other features include an adjustable rear wing. The flared wheel arches house 20-inch alloy wheels at the front and 21-inch alloys at the rear.

The carbonfibre tub and aluminium subframes from the Aventador are carried over to the Veneno but adapted for its more extreme performance.

The engine benefits from enlarged air intakes, a higher rev limit and an exhaust system with a lower back pressure. The seven-speed automated manual gearbox, all-wheel drive system and pushrod suspension are also adapted from the Aventador.

Mark Tisshaw

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Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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Bialbero 7 March 2013

Gobsmacked!

Fabulous - it's a sci-fi extravaganza. A pedestrian meat processing plant - that rear ejects filly filleted flesh in processed 5 kilo cubes.

Guaranteed to stop traffic dead in its tracks!

Herald 7 March 2013

Transformers ....

.... robots in disguise. Not boring, is it?

TBC 7 March 2013

Production

I think that at 3 examples, it hardly meets the definition of a production car. I might guess that three loyal Lamborghini customers asked the company for something special, which it appears they have delivered, and at these numbers, I doubt they will care what others think of their new toys.

In twenty years time I wonder what one will fetch at auction?

One can only hope that the 9 million euros they earn will be spent on the Aventador replacement.

What are the chances that that engine appears in the Aventador SV next year..............