Along came a Spyder
Lamborghini chose Frankfurt to debut the Gallardo Spyder. The launch of the drophead coincides with a 20bhp power upgrade for all Gallardos, raising the peak power of the 5-litre V10 to 513bhp.
This added horsepower helps shove the Spyder along to a claimed top speed of 191mph roof-down and 195mph with it up; claimed 0-62mph is 4.3sec.
Lamborghini design chief Luc Donkerwolke was there at the unveiling and explained to us the thinking behind the stunning design.
'I insisted on using a glass rear screen (rather than a plastic one) as they look so much better, but this can present packaging problems. To get around this I decided to make it separate from the folding fabric roof mechanism from the outset, creating a vertical rear window which can then double as a draft excluder with the roof down.
'This then allowed the fabric roof to be packaged very tightly above the engine as there was no window to fold, so the engine cover ended up barely any higher than on the coupe. The only slight problem was how to disguise the seatbelt pick-up points behind the seats, hence the slightly different shape to the rear cover around the side vents.'
Donkerwolke dislikes the prominent roll-over hoops you sometimes see peeking over the seats in convertibles so on the Gallardo he managed to disguise them within the glossy black strip between the hood cover and passenger compartment. In an accident they deploy automatically.
A feature of the Spyder that is both convenient and enormously flash is the hood mechanism. Donkerwolke explains: 'Although the hood cover is a large piece of carbonfibre, hinging from the rear just like a Mercedes SL, the engineers have managed to make it stiff enough to allow you to open and close the roof at speeds up to 19mph. And it takes just 20sec to go from fully enclosed to fully exposed.'
Also revealed at Frankfurt was the news that all '06 Gallardos, including the Spyder, gain the lower gear ratios announced on the Gallardo SE last month. Sharing the stand was an '06 Murci
