Lambo planning 100th birthday surprise

Next year will be the 100th anniversary of Ferruccio Lamborghini’s birth and the car company he founded doesn’t plan to let it go without a bang.

Twelve bangs, actually. Twelve bangs, repeated 8500 times a minute.

Lamborghini’s research and development director, Maurizio Reggiani, has promised it will deliver something special to mark the anniversary, but won’t say what it will be.

However, from a brand that has turned delivering low-volume, mega-priced reworks of its existing cars into something of an art form, expect a wilder version of the Aventador.

Sources inside Lamborghini suggest it might be based on a long-wheelbase version of the Aventador’s carbon-fibre chassis tub, using a stretched rear subframe and clad in a wilder body.

There is more power to come from the 6.5-litre V12 than even the 552kW/690Nm offered in the Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce, as it adopts direct fuel-injection to go with the existing multi-point injection system.

Turbochargers are not on the drawing board, though hybrid electric boosting has been spoken of to deliver a heftier punch at low rpm without sacrificing instant throttle response.

Lamborghini began this limited-run business model with the Murcielago-based Reventon, then followed it up with the Sesto Elemento and the Aventador J, with each model usually snapped up by collectors before they’re even publicly announced.

“It’s clear there will be a celebration and something will happen. We will surprise,” Reggiani explained.