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In 1879 a matador chose to spare the life of a bull during one of the fights at the arena of Cordoba in Southern Spain. The bull had fought with such passion and spirit (surviving 23 sword strokes) that the matador chose to spare its life, a rare honor. The bulls name was Murcielago and Lamborghini is determined to build a car with the same soul.

The Lamborghini Mercielago shares the same passion and spirit as that very bull but in a much sexier package. Vehicle Voice and AutoPacific staff found one pinned inside the gates at AutoPacific yesterday. The snarling, grunting, 2007 Lamborghini Mercielago LP640 screamed into our courtyard sending reverberations up the back walls of the building. As it sat idling with flared nostrils you could hear the heavy breathing. With air intakes expanded behind the C-Pillars and twin electric fans on heavy rotation you could tell the engine wanted a mouthful of cold air. So, naturally I recommended that we take it around the block to run some fresh air over the twelve cylinders.

Throw away your tickets to “Cirque Du Soleil”
Getting into the belly of this beast is not as easy as it looks; some advice from your local contortionist is recommended. After some quick acrobatics I found myself cupped by racing inspired seats, surrounded by just more than the bare necessities. I did feel a little rushed, expecting a countdown to begin as we got ready for launch. The seatbelts are deployed from the center of the vehicle and buckled near the door jam (reverse of typical vehicles) and the cockpit is plush with diamond hand stitched leather seats, headliner and dash. With paddle shifters (e-gear) waiting to be pulled, as vibrations can be seen running through the steering wheel, we put this raging bull into drive and headed out the gates.

Pulling out onto the roadway immediately you feel as though your holding back a wild animal that wants to roam free. It is almost as if you are doing the vehicle a disservice by holding back… or maybe that was just me. On the throttle the Mercielago feels as though you’ve simply thrown a toggle switch as the car jolts forward and you get shoved back into your seat. The V12 comes alive as you listen to the sucking of air, meshing of gears, and rush of gasoline behind your cockpit working harder and harder as you watch the tachometer climb. After the first few blocks we turned hard right in 2nd gear (at an undisclosed speed) and the car stuck like really tacky flypaper. You could definitely feel the weight of the car and cornering may not be its strongest suit but I loved it!

Back on the throttle, which is the Mercielago’s strong suit, I kept wondering why they had installed a Kenwood CD/DVD/Stereo in the center stack. I kept thinking to myself, “It would be sacrilegious for anyone to turn on a radio when they could be listening to the sounds coming from this mid-engine marvel”, especially when we had it in surround sound!

I could tell you more but it’s classified. I will tell you that during the average lifetime a human will spend about six years dreaming. The scientists must still be calculating the data on auto enthusiasts, as the statistics are not available and we know the number is much greater than six. I will probably spend a few more years dreaming about the ride I took in the LP640.
For some quick stats:
The Mercielago will go 0-60mph in 3.4 seconds, complete a quarter mile in 11.1 seconds and is capable of 213 miles per hour. How you ask? With a 6.5 liter V12 putting out 640 bhp and 487 ft lbs of torque. Which means it has 60 horsepower over the last Mercielago. It also has improved airflow as the front and rear bumpers have been reshaped to channel air more efficiently while the new exhaust has been mandrel bent into a centered diffuser to minimize aerodynamic lift. The air intake on the driver’s side has been enlarged to accept the feeding of the oil cooler (Which leads to a fun fact: the sides of the car are not symmetrical). It also has an all-wheel-drive system that distributes 70% of the power to the rear wheels but will transfer that power to the wheels with traction if slippage is detected. Of course the car still retains the hallmark scissor opening doors and can be yours for a meager $350K USD.