It"s hard to believe, but the Murciélago has been around since 2001. Few, if any, will disagree with us when we say that Lamborghini"s supercar still looks as fresh and is alluring as the first day it was introduced. But unfortunately, as good as it may be, all things come to an end. For the Raging Bull brand"s most prominent member, the end came in May 2010 with the production of the last example, an LP 670-4 Superveloce in "Arancio Atlas" paintwork with the production number 4,099, which was sold to a Swiss customer.
Being that time goes by in a different way for a "boutique" automaker like Lamborghini, it doesn"t surprise us that the Italian firm celebrated the end of production several months later. The festivities took place in the company"s factory in Sant"Agata Bolognese on November 5, 2010, with a special exhibition of the most iconic V12 cars of Lamborghini"s history, followed by a parade on the road.
An array of historic Raging Bull supersportcars like the 350 GT, the Miura, the Countach and the Diablo escorted a Murciélago SV of the Lamborghini Museum during a symbolic "last ride" out of the gate of the Lamborghini factory.
"For almost a decade, the Murciélago was the icon of the Lamborghini brand, and it was enormously successful in the process," says Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.
"The Murciélago embodies the pure, unadulterated values of our brand. It is truly extreme, uncompromising and unmistakably Italian. This already makes it one of the legends of the sports car world. But the Lamborghini story continues. In 2011, we will take a huge step into the future with the successor to the Murciélago – with the most innovative technology and, once again, truly stunning design," Winkelmann added.
The Lamborghini Murciélago was introduced onto the market in 2001. In its first generation, it was motivated by a 6.2-liter V12 with 580 hp, mounted longitudinally in front of the rear axle. In the second generation, the Murciélago LP 640, displacement of the V12 powerhouse rose to 6.5-liters and output to 640 hp.
The supercar was further refined with the presentation of the LP 670-4 Superveloce boasting more power (670 hp) and reduced weight (-100 kg or 220 lbs), for a 0-100km/h (62mph) sprint time of 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 342km/h (213 mph).
All in all, the Italian company built 4,099 examples of the Murciélago between 2001 and 2010, making it not only the most-produced Lamborghini V12 model of all time, but also one of the world"s most successful super sports cars.
The Murciélago"s successor is already on the way, with the world premiere rumored to take place at next year"s Geneva Salon. You can check out spy pictures and videos of Sant"Agata"s new V12 supercar in our scoop post here.
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