Lamborghini Veneno Roadster specs, price and pictures

Lamborghini has launched the Veneno Roadster on the Italian naval aircraft carrier Nave Cavour at a special event in Abu Dhabi. The extreme road car now comes without a roof for the first time, and the model concludes the company’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Lamborghini has priced the Veneno Roadster at a cool €3.3m plus local taxes: that equates to about £2.8m before tax, roughly £300k more than the coupe. Like the three-off Veneno coupe, production of the Roadster is limited – although to a slightly less exclusive nine units.

It’s powered by the same engine as the Aventador LP700-4, albeit with a dose of extra power and resulting tweaks to the pushrod suspension, permanent all-wheel drive and seven-speed ISR paddleshift gearbox.

Performance figures remain identical to the fixed-head coupe, with a 0-60 time well below 3.0sec and a top speed of 221mph - 4mph more than the Aventador. Weighing in at a dry 1490kg, it’s 40kg up on the Veneno coupe due to the necessary strengthening. It foregoes any kind of roof, so it’s definitely not a car for rainy days.

The wheels have been designed to improve brake cooling, with the carbonfibre ring around the edge channelling cool air to the carbon ceramic discs. Carbonfibre is a bit of a theme with the Veneno Roadster, and is used almost exclusively in the car’s construction, with the monocoque and all outer panels crafted from the lightweight material.

The ‘Rosso Veneno' paint job is unique to the Roadster, although given the humongous price tag, you can naturally spec it in any colour you like. The nine examples will be built in 2014.