Lamborghini - A Race Car Pedigree Par Excellence

A Lamborghini is synonymous with speed, style and elegance and is very expensive to purchase. It is therefore most important that a vehicle such as this is protected from the elements and there is no better way, irrespective of whether the car is kept inside or outside, than purchasing a car cover. The Lamborghini Automobili company was founded in 1963 by Ferrucio Lamborghini and he used his birth sign, Taurus the bull as the cars symbol.

1963 saw the launch of Ferrucio's dream - the 350 GTV and which was first presented to the world at the Turin Auto Show. Shortly afterwords, in 1966 the Lamborghini Miura was launched and quickly followed up in 1968 by the Espada 400 GT (GT stands for Gran Turismo or Grand Tourer and was a designation given to cars which would tour around the European continent - an aristocratic holiday). Lamborghini's quickly established themselves as the cars of the wealthy jet set and they littered airport car parks around the world.

During the 1970's, a massive shock to the global economy was experienced which impacted car makers such as the Lamborghini Company. Unfortunately, Lamborghini hit financial rocks and ended up being disposed of in a pre-bankruptcy sale to two men - George Rosetti and Rene Leimer. Financial difficulties dogged Lamborghini throughout the decade and eventually the company went bust again and suffered the indignity of being sold off by bankruptcy court, this time to the Mimran brothers. It was obvious that there was a market for Lamborghini and for the technology and advances they were making on the race circuits, however what the company desperately needed was the financial backing of a stable parent company.

In 1987, American car giant, Chrysler came to the rescue and bought the company but was unable to turn the ailing car maker around, not least as Chrysler had problems of its own (Lee Iacocca was then the chairman and earlier had to deal with Chrysler repaying government bail-out monies - a precursor to the current bail-out of the US car industry). A consortium known as MegaTech bought the company in 1994, though still the company was not properly supported or funded.

Finally, in 1998, the German car giant Audi bought the company and development of Lamborghini's began with sustainable pace and resources. Though Lamborghini has finally been taken over by a stable parent, this does not mean that the benefits only flow from Audi to Lamborghini - the reverse of also true with the Lamborghini design team playing a pivotal role in the development of several Audi models and the engine technology being incorporated in the range.

The USAF F-22 Raptor inspired the design of the Lamborghini Reventon which is itself based upon the Murcielago supercar. It features an open top design with a dashboard and driver's position which is based upon a fighter pilots cockpit and has an aggreesive-looking, wedge shaped profile. Powered by a V12 engine which delivers a top speed of 205 mph and acceleration results of 0 to 62 in only 3.4 seconds, but there is only one color you can buy it in - Reventon (a color specially designed for the car itself) and resembles the steel grey of the F-22 Raptor.