One of the most impressive indulgences of automotive individuality launched yesterday at the Frankfurt Motor Show was seen on the Lamborghini stand. After the already radical Murciélago LP640, which debuted at last year’s Geneva show, Lamborghini have now lifted the wraps off the Reventón, an extreme 20-example supercar of extreme specification and style.

Named after the bull that killed toreador Felix Guzman in 1943, the Reventón’s interior and exterior styling was inspired by the US military’s F-22 Raptor fighter jet, the latest generation of developed fighter aircraft to utlilise stealth technology. The car’s sharp angular lines create a love-it-or-loathe it appearance. Mechanically this 340 km/h street-legal fighter certainly shows a different route from the generally more environmentally and technical-oriented launches from the Raging Bull’s Italian and German counterparts. Despite this, the Lamborghini Reventón has limited competition, as its price tag of $1.000.000 excluding taxes places it in the extreme leagues of exclusivity. What is more, all 20 of this limited edition beast have been sold, with less than half consigned to orders in the States.

Beneath its edgy carbon fibre composite bodywork, the Reventón packs the unmodified mechanicals of the Lamborghini LP640. The engine is therefore the tried and tested twelve-cylinder with 6.5 litre displacement. At 8000 rpm, the power reaches an astounding 640 hp (471 kW). The huge torque, equal to maximum 660 Nm, ensures a powerful switch from any number of revolutions: even the slightest pressure on the accelerator is spontaneously transformed into thrust. The robotized e-gear changes gear faster than even the most expert driver. In addition, the permanent Viscous Traction four-wheel drive system ensures that every force is constantly translated into movement. As in the original Murciélago LP640, the Reventón accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.4 seconds, with a maximum speed of over 340 km/h.

The Reventón was styled at the modern, 2900 m2 Lamborghini Style Centre in Sant’Agata Bolognese, with the designers concentrating on strengthening the DNA of the brand to create an unforgettable road monster. The styling was developed in close collaboration with the Lamborghini Technical Department and Development Division to ensure that the extreme design is suitable for everyday use. Each body panel of the Reventón is entirely new, however the car retains the same windscreen and doorframe structure as the Murciélago LP640. The CFC body panels are glued and riveted to the body frame, which itself is made from CFC and steel. As a result the Reventón has very similar exterior dimensions and proportions to the Murciélago, the car on which it was based.

At the front the shark nose styling is characterised by bulging air-intakes, themselves looking like cubist impressions of the nostrils which typify the Raging Bull – the symbol which heralds the Lamborghini brand. These intakes cool the carbon ceramic disc brakes and their six-cylinder calipers. In traditional Lamborghini style the Reventón’s doors open upwards in scissor fashion, in this case to reveal an interior inspired directly by the cockpit of the F22 Raptor stealth fighter.
 

Despite the obvious military inspiration, this super luxury vehicle is trimmed in swathes of Alcantara and leather, with endless carbon fibre detailing to match. As in modern airplanes the instruments are displayed over three TFT liquid crystal displays with innovative display modes. The only missing element is a heads-up display, which Lamborghini arguably should have fitted regardless. The LCD displays are housed in a structure milled from a solid block of aluminium, protected by a carbon fibre housing. These instruments also include a G-Force-Meter, displaying dynamic drive forces, longitudinal acceleration during acceleration and braking, as well as transversal acceleration around bends. However, if this wizardry is too much for the driver, a classical quasi-analogical display can also be selected at the flick of a button, showing the classical circular instruments familiar to the Murciélago range.

The visual technical aspect continues on the outside, in particular at the rear, the with the engine hood made of glass laminate with open ventilation slits offering an uncompromised view of the 6.5-litre V12 engine.

A high-performance car of this pedigree also requires a high-performance lighting system. At the front, in uniquely-design units, the most advanced light-emitting diodes are placed alongside Bi-Xenon headlights. Seven LEDs ensure continuous daylight, whereas there are a further nine diodes for the indicator and hazard lights. The LED lighting technology is also applied to the rear, where the units flank the fire-spitting exhaust and the air cooling outlet. Despite excellent insulation this area can reach up to 120 degrees Celsius, which is too hot for common diodes. As a result the rear LEDs, which are arrayed in a triple-arrow effect, are of an especially resistant heatproof variety.

Placing this extreme machine on the road at speeds of up to 340 km/h are bespoke wheels with carbon fibre detailing. This not only provides a visual feast, but also ensures optimum cooling for the carbon ceramic brakes.

It took just less than a year for Lamborghini to develop the Reventón, ranging from the first ideas to the finished car. For the first time in Lamborghini’s history, the complete design process was developed in-house, ranging from the first sketches on paper, to three-dimensional computer models, with 1:10 or 1:4 scale, and later 1:1 prototypes being developed by efficient work groups. As with the first prototype on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the following examples of the Reventón will be hand built completely at the Lamborghini factory at Sant’Agata Bolognese by their team of artisans and craftsmen, ensuring the highest standards of quality and performance.