SPY PICS: Lamborghini Cabrera

The replacement for Lamborghini’s long-serving Gallardo – likely to be dubbed Cabrera – has been spied by the Automedia lenses ahead of the car’s public debut at the Geneva motor show next March.

Although the prototype revealed in these images is swathed in funky camouflage, it’s clear the new entry-level Lambo (known by the internal codename LP724) shares more than a few visual cues with the V12-powered Aventador.

That said, it’s reportedly built around a lightweight new carbon-fibre and aluminium space frame structure that will also be used by the next-gen Audi R8 due in 2015.

It’s believed the Cabrera, for which Lamborghini has just started an official teaser campaign will likely sport an updated version of the 5.2-litre V10 engine found in the current model, with output increased to about 600 horsepower (441kW), indicating a likely tag of LP 600-4 appended to its name.

The V10 will be hooked up to a brand-new seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, replacing the slow and clunky E-gear transmission that the Gallardo was lumbered with throughout its 10-year lifespan.

The Cabrera will be offered as standard with all-wheel drive, but it’s possible there may also be one or more rear-drive variants following in the wheel tracks of the Gallardo LP550-2 and derivatives.

According to European reports, the newcomer will be slightly longer than its predecessor, spanning just under 4500mm from bumper to bumper (yielding a slightly stretched wheelbase for added cabin space), although the Gallardo’s 1900mm width and 1165mm height is likely to carry over largely unchanged.

Revealing more than the spy pics and video we’ve published previously, these new images indicate the Cabrera has a more aggressive profile than the Gallardo, and it clearly embodies a few styling elements pioneered on the lightweight Sesto Elemento.

According to UK’s Autocar magazine, the Cabrera’s new space frame structure weighs just 195kg, and it’s cloaked in panels fabricated from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic and aluminium.

The publication suggests these measures will enable the new car to undercut the circa-1500kg kerb weight of the all-wheel drive Gallardo. With outputs of around 440kW and 540Nm to draw upon, expect discernibly sharper performance than that served up by the outgoing V10 supercar.

As for the rumoured Cabrera nameplate, it adheres to Lamborghini traditions by referencing a line of Spanish bulls whose lineage can be traced to other famous breeds such as the Miura, Gallardo and Navarra.

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