Written by Richard Kelley
Few automakers exhibit both the pride and panache of Lamborghini. For 60 years, Lamborghini has blended outrageously seductive lines, mind-numbing speed and a bold presence to create the cars of our dreams.
For 2023, Lamborghini celebrates with their Huracán 60th Anniversary Edition, three limited-run specials numbering 60 examples, each with custom color combinations and badging.
Dicing matters further, each limited edition comes in two color configurations, making six across the range, all embellished with "1 of 60" plaques in carbon fiber and the "60th" on the bodywork and seats.
The Lamborghini Huracán 60th Anniversary Special Edition. Image Courtesy: Lamborghini Media Center
The three trims, Super Trofeo Omologata (STO), Tecnica, and EVO Spyder, each come in two fashion-influenced colorways, and each will come in a run of 60 units for a total of 180 produced. The STO takes inspiration from sportswear and the athletic team kit. The first version comes in shades of blue over black, the second in gray over black.
The Huracán Tecnica looks to motorsports liveries and the Italian flag, one variant in gray over black and red, the other in white with green stripes over black. The droptop EVO Spyder is a remix of the other two, available in either blue and white over black or green with white strips over black.
The carbon fibre plaque on the seat of the Lamborghini Huracán 60th Anniversary Special Edition. Image Courtesy: Lamborghini Media Center
In the early 60s, the company’s founder, Ferruccio Lamborghini, may have gained a fortune making farm equipment; his heart was firmly set on creating breathtaking supercars.
The story goes that Signore Lamborghini complained to Enzo Ferrari about a worn-out clutch disc, and, allegedly, Ferrari told Lamborghini to his face he was just a tractor driver and a farmer and he shouldn’t presume to criticize. Lamborghini responded by vowing to build a better sports car than Ferrari.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Ferruccio Lamborghini, the founder of the Lamborghini company. Image Courtesy: Lamborghini Media Center
Lamborghini produced its first automobile within a few years of the Ferrari incident, the exceptionally beautiful and elegant 350GT of 1964. This car used Superleggera (ultra-lightweight) aluminum bodywork, a lightweight tube-steel space frame, and a Bizzarini overhead cam 3.5-litre V12 engine. It also featured a 4-wheel independent suspension with coil-over dampers.
Endowed with superb handling and a top speed of 158 MPH, the sleek Lamborghini 350GT was instantly one of the best-loved Italian sports coupes of the mid-1960s. Just 118 examples of the Lamborghini 350GT were produced, with another 23 units of the similar 400GT with a 4.0-litre V12 added through 1968.
First factory layout of the Automobili Lamborghini. Image Courtesy: Lamborghini Media Center
Lamborghini’s next effort was the sleek mid-engined Miura, which arrived in 1966. The Miura was a trailblazer of mid-engine supercar design. Designed around a V12 mounted transversely just behind the driver and passenger, the Miura came a year before Ferrari joined the mid-engine revolution with the Dino 206 GT.
The Miura began the Lamborghini tradition of naming cars after Spanish bullfighting breeds, followed in the 1970s with the Espada, Islero, Jarama, and finally, the groundbreaking angular 1973 Urraco.
The Miura next to the beast that inspired its name. Image Courtesy: Lamborghini Media Center
In 1974, Lamborghini shocked the world with the Countach, a design that no one expected but has influenced every Lamborghini model since that time. The rakish Countach bodywork was all angles and sharp corners and carried its V12 engine longitudinally behind the driver, leaving Ferrari to again catch up with the 348 in 1989.
The Countach’s innovations were outrageous in the day, with the clutch and flywheel on the forward end of the engine with the transmission between the driver and passenger seats. The driveshaft then went back to the rear wheels, passing through the engine's oil pan.
After the Countach ceased production in 1990, Lamborghini moved on to the Diablo. With the Countach benefiting from progressively more powerful engines over its production life, the Diablo continued the trend with a 5.7-litre and a 6.0-litre V12. But it was still using rear-wheel drive.
The Countach among other legendary Lamborghini models. Image Courtesy: Lamborghini Media Center
The 1993 launch of the Diablo VT was the first Lamborghini sports car to offer all-wheel drive with a viscous center differential capable of routing up to 25% of torque to the front wheels. While Lamborghini continued to make the rear-drive version of the Diablo through 2000, there was no looking back after that.
This was especially true after Lamborghini was acquired by Audi in 1998, and the new parent company brought all-wheel-drive expertise (and German ergonomics) to the merger. With backing and engineering support from Audi, the Lamborghini produced the Murciélago and then the Aventador.
The assembly line of the Gallardo and Murcielago models. Image Courtesy: Lamborghini Media Center
When Lamborghini unveiled the Urus SUV in 2018, it was the second SUV the automaker produced. The original LM002 was produced from 1986 to 1993 and featured a reasonably radical body kit. The LM002 had a 5.2-litre V12 worth 444 horsepower and 368 pound-feet of torque, paired to a 5-speed manual ZF gearbox with a full-time 4-wheel-drive transfer case.
Lamborghini’s current commanding Urus SUV is the stunning Urus Performante that orbits the skidpad to the tune of 1.04 g’s, eats up tight mountain roads, and sports a 3.0-second 60-mph time. And the model tasked with making Lamborghini into an everyday SUV brand is the Urus S.
The original LM002 SUV in front of the Urus. Image Courtesy: Lamborghini Media Center
For 2023, the Huracán (STO, Sterrato, Tecnica, and Evo Spyder) anchors the lineup with its V10 engine mounted behind the passenger compartment. The remaining V12-powered Aventadors (Ultimae and Ultimae Roadster) is the lineup’s flagship until the irrepressible new super Countach reappears, along with the all-new Revuelto.
