lamborghini reventon

Outrageous. That's what Lamborghini is all about. It's the car for when a

Reventon is the ultimate Lamborghini; loud, brash and very, very exclusive. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

Ferrari doesn't turn enough heads and when a Porsche is just too mundane. But what happens when a Murciélago or a Gallardo, even in retina-charring shades of orange and green won't do? Believe us, as unlikely as this sounds it's becoming a commonplace. The ultra-rich who used to be content with factory-fresh automobiles aren't satisfied anymore.

It seems that all high-end automakers have received a significant boost in sales recently. And while this is pleasing for the papers, it means that those who buy are more likely to run into a vehicle just like theirs on the open road. It is for this reason that the tuner market has begun to boom for prestige vehicles like Aston Martins, Bentleys and Ferraris. For those who like to go the extra step, there's always the option of the coachworks route such as that one of a kind Ferrari Enzo that was turned into a modern-day P 4/5 race car, or Zagato, which meticulously re-bodied a Ferrari 575 for an exceedingly wealthy Japanese Ferrari collector.

Or, every now and then, a unique opportunity comes along when a manufacturer introduces a full-fledged production model that's very rare. This in itself is an unusual phenomenon, but has just occurred for Lamborghini at this year's Frankfurt auto show. The car is called the Reventon, and Lamborghini won't be building very many of them. In fact, the total production count won't be in the hundreds; they're

Only 20 of these unique machines will be made; all are pre-sold. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

making just 20 units.

The big shtick about the Reventon is that it's supposed to be a road-going jet fighter. Indeed, Lamborghini modeled their latest after the Lockheed-Martin F22, in case you weren't able to tell by the intricate, flat-surfaced panels on the hood and on the fenders, and the forward-pointing shape of the nose. The rear end of the car uses some pretty unusual geometrical shapes to create the tail pipe, the taillights and the surround to the diffuser. Even the detailing in the taillights is military-inspired; three sets of LED lights create an arrowhead pattern for the brakes and turn signals. What's more is that the bodywork is completely unique from the LP460, with the exception of the door mirrors, and all of it is crafted from carbon fiber, with the exception of the doors that are made from aluminum. It's all topped off with a set of unique wheels, and an interesting green-gray shade of paint that has a matte finish. Whomever did the details certainly had plenty of creative

Check out this taillight. LEDs allow stylists to be as creative as they wish. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

juices flowing.

Jet fighters are ultra-complicated and ultra-advanced pieces of machinery, so it was only fitting that Lamborghini added a little something to the Reventon's interior to reflect this fact. While the interior is mostly the same, but for a lot of unique Alcantara, leather and carbon fiber, the whole instrument cluster is new. In place of the usual round gauges and needles, there's a TFT display that conveys this information digitally. It's literally the same sort of setup that you might find in an F22, featuring lines and bars instead of dials, and contains all the vital information including a g-force meter, which unlike most cars, is positioned at the front and center of the instrument package. Because this sort of thing isn't for everyone, drivers can change the instrumentation to something more common looking (e.g. regular round gauges). The dash was conceived, and fully planned out by Lamborghini; only production required outside help.

There isn't much extra power, but then again, the LP640 on which it is based isn't what we'd call slow. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

There are some traditional elements of the Reventon, such as its name. Like Gallardo or Murciélago, it's been named after a bull; this particular one happened to massacre a poor toreador in a bullfight during the '40s. What's different about the car is the way it was conceived and built. Using a brand new computer aided design process, Lamborghini was able to skip the usual idea-to-reality procedure of building clay mock-ups and full-size vehicles. Instead, what the Centro Stile (Lamborghini's design studio) did was go directly from sketch to CAD. The first assembled vehicle was actually the first production car. The only intermediary step was a 1:4 scale model made to ensure that the aerodynamics were sound. This process allowed Lamborghini to speed up the Reventon project. From start to finish, it took less than a year to create the car.

For all of the effort that Lamborghini put into giving the Reventon a fancy body and a unique interior, the engine itself hasn't been changed from the LP640. It's still

The Reventon's wheels are completely different from anything we've seen before. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

a big, bad V12, but through the process of blueprinting, Lamborghini was able to find an extra 10 horsepower. Essentially, what this process entails is Lamborghini checking out the 6.5-liter V12 engine, putting each on a dyno, and then selecting the best performing of the bunch for these lucky vehicles. That means 650 horsepower and 487 lb-ft of torque. The kind of brutish power that this engine delivers is quite frankly unreal; 0-60 mph takes place in just 3.3 seconds, and in theory it'll keep accelerating to 211 mph. Fuel consumption numbers are laughable: 7.3 mpg in the city and 16 mpg on the highway, and it emits about one and three quarter ounces of carbon dioxide per mile traveled. So it won't be popular with the environmentalists, then.

The Reventon is pretty ridiculous. The power, the acceleration, the consumption and most definitely the styling all qualify it as outlandish, but the most shocking thing about it is how much Lamborghini is asking. Each car will cost one million euros ($1.4 m USD). A million! You could easily buy three regular LP640s for the price of a Reventon. You could also secure a brand new Bugatti Veyron for that price too. But alas, if uniqueness and exclusivity is what you're out to get, the Reventon has the advantage unless you happen to be one of the lucky five to score a Veyron Pur Sang... a special edition Bugatti introduced alongside the Reventon at the same pre-show event.

Apparently all twenty units were sold before the car even made its debut at Frankfurt. It just goes to show that there's a lot of money floating around these days ... not to mention a healthy interest in Lamborghini.