Contac, the oldest country in existence, is more beautiful and has a sense of rebirth than in the past many years. This Lamborghini V 12 with chassis number 00 1 was found in a Swiss barn in 2000 and returned to Santagata. In the next 20 years, it lived quietly in the official museum in front of Lamborghini factory, which made this modern building have a harmonious and natural connection with the company's initial stage in the 1960s.
Because the museum has just been renovated, the look and feel is much better, and so is this car. It was painted red when it made its first public appearance at the Geneva Motor Show in 1973, and changed to green at the Paris Motor Show that autumn. This time, it was painted with a new layer of green paint after returning home. But the biggest change is in those scissors doors. At present, the beige European flocking fabric and two rows of light brown seats on the dashboard, like Cadbury milk chocolate softened by heat, look a little weird, but this is what the exhibition car looks like. When it was sold, it was changed into ordinary mass-produced parts. This renovation refers to the photos in a magazine at that time, as old as ever.
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It used to be 3 million, but now it has reached 24 million. "
-Stefano Domenicali
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This effect has a strong visual impact, but the driving posture and comfort are as bad as I remember-14 years ago, I once got into this stationary Countach and roared with my mouth for its V 12 engine: woo … wow … ah … ang …
Stefano Domenicali, the current CEO of Lamborghini, faces many pressing problems, one of which is how the company can avoid letting future customers make similar voices themselves. After all, Lamborghini's proud brand image is inseparable from the majestic engine roar. Then, in the process of entering the electrification era, can we stick to their essence in sound effect, modeling and performance?
Always smiling—
Domenicali has been growing healthily since he took office.
Domenicali, who always smiles, seems to have no anxiety. After all, when we visit here, 2020 is expected to be Lamborghini's most brilliant year in more than half a century. But I'm afraid my hopes will be dashed. At the time of writing this article, that is, a few weeks after the visit, Lamborghini's factory in Santagata was silent-the novel coronavirus epidemic that ravaged northern Italy forced the factory to stop working, forcing the production line that was fully started to realize the blowout year to temporarily stop.
With the help of the newly released SUV Urus, Lamborghini's sales in 20 19 have achieved explosive growth, and the performance of 8205 vehicles has increased by 43% over the previous year. This is the ninth consecutive year that they have achieved global sales growth and set a new record in every market. Although Urus has contributed nearly 5,000 vehicles, the super-running performance with V 10 and V 12 is also very gratifying. This generation of "Mavericks", namely Huracan, has only a history of more than five years in 20 19, but it has become the best-selling model in Lamborghini history with the cumulative sales of14,000 vehicles-its predecessor Gallardo took twice as long to obtain the same data.
The factory of Saint Agatha (1963) occupied about 1000 square meters when it was just built, and has now been expanded to 16000 square meters. The number of employees has also increased significantly: 20 1 1, less than 1000, and now there are about 1800, of which 700 people have been recruited in the past two years, and most of them are on the production line of Urus.
At the beginning of Urus production, the car body was delivered after being painted in Audi's factory in Kassoum, but now there is a special SUV painting workshop in Santagata. This makes it easier to perform advanced personalization in the production process. About 70% of Aventador's orders and nearly half of Huracan's orders are customized to varying degrees, and more and more Urus customers want their cars to have a unique appearance.
Countach #00 1: Double Unique
This Countach 1973 was made by a team of 10 people, and the chassis number was 00 1. It is the oldest existing Countach- the first prototype of pre-production engineering, which was killed in a collision test in the early 1970s.
Despite its special historical position, it was sold once because the company was short of funds. When it was used as an exhibition car, it was replaced with a strange inner room, but the recent restoration made it as old as ever.
Both of them are "big cows" of V 12, but Countach is very different from its predecessor, Mihura. The engine is twisted 90 degrees to become vertical, and the chassis is changed from semi-single structure to space frame design.
Valentino Balboni, a retired legendary Lamborghini test engineer, admitted: "The early model did have many problems. The chassis is too complicated, consisting of too many pieces of metal of different sizes, and there are welds everywhere. The structural strength is not high enough. " Balboni prefers the later Countach S.
But the antique car market disagrees with him. The highest transaction price of an early model similar to this one reached 6,543,800+0,000 at auction, which doubled its value. How's this? Priceless, not for sale.
However, while catering to consumers' personal tastes, Lamborghini dealers-from 1 10 to near160-have to get used to the unheard-of existing car sales.
Domenicali told us: "With the expansion of the market, we need to change the sales model to adapt to this change. Customers in some regions may be willing to wait for a while, especially those who want to customize, but in some markets, if the car cannot be delivered immediately, the business may turn yellow and they will turn to less cool brands. "
Like the company, this Countach has just been repaired.
It has reappeared in the past, and it is better than before.
"The average age of global supercar owners is between 30 and 45 years old." Domenicali continued: "But in Asia, almost all of them are between the ages of 27 and 32."
Urus has an old customer base, but many of them are buying this brand for the first time. 70% of the buyers of this SUV have never owned Lamborghini before, but domenicali said that the dealers are very competent, and they all try their best to persuade customers to add a mid-engine partner to the SUV in the garage.
Electric concept car Terzo Millennio:
Everything is high-profile, except the real tone.
Lamborghini is developing a high-performance version of Urus, which is equivalent to its own super-running SVJ or Performante version, and a hybrid version is also planned. However, as the sales momentum of standard models is still strong, domenicali is in no hurry to bring them to market. Since Urus has achieved unprecedented success, isn't it wise to launch another SUV?
"No," domenicali replied firmly, "we won't develop a car like that. It may cause infighting. We are not a luxury brand, we are a super-running brand. We need to stay on the spire. "
Domenicali makes people feel that he is as tough as a bull;
The company logo makes people feel like domenicali.
But this tower seems to have many minarets. Domenicali said: "I believe we have a chance to expand our army-if funds permit, we will join the fourth car." But it should be a 2+2-seat GT sports car with a front engine. We haven't entered this market segment yet, but several of our competitors are already there. I think this is the only meaningful market segment. "
Since there are four seats, will it have four doors? After all, Lamborghini released a four-door car concept car Estoque in 2008, but because of the global financial crisis, they later entered the four-door car market through Urus.
"Haven't decided yet. But because it wants to highlight sportiness, it is likely to be a two-door car, and the four-door structure is still left to the SUV. "
Espada is still very wide today. Will it be reborn in the 2 1 century?
At the same time, downstairs, two engineers from Polo Storico, Lamborghini's antique car maintenance department, are making a final inspection of a car that has been completed and will be delivered soon. This is a 2+2 seat GT sports car, which was made by Lamborghini in his early years-about 50 years ago. The production cycle of Espada ranges from 1968 to 1978. It's really family-oriented, but it's the same as Mihura (1966 turn 1973) or Contac (1974 turn 1990) in the dealer exhibition hall. At that time and now, the length, width and height of this four-seater coupe are extraordinary, because the legendary engine designed by Giotto Bizzarrini is located in the front of the car body, with a flat front door and a pair of ferocious air intakes. Covering the practical trunk is the same flat large-area glass tailgate.
It is easy to imagine that Hyundai Lamborghini will succeed again with the follow-up products of such a car. However, when this 2+2-seater new car is mass-produced, its power source will no longer be the V 12 engine, but the hybrid V8 machine.
"The V 12 engine is an important tradition for Lamborghini. We will continue to manufacture and use this machine as long as the regulations allow. " Domenicali said, "But the 10 cylinder engine is not so critical. I think we can do this as long as we are ready to switch from V 10 to hybrid V8. It allows us to improve performance and use electricity only in urban areas. "
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"The V 12 engine is a Lamborghini.
Tradition is of great significance. As long as laws and regulations allow, we
Will continue to produce and use this machine. "
Stefano Domenicali
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However, Lamborghini's first hybrid supercar is neither a follow-up product of Aventador nor an alternative model of Huracan-this honor belongs to Sian. It's time for us to take a look at it, and the gentleman who is responsible for developing its innovative semi-electric power plant. He is Maurizio Reggiani, R&D director of Lamborghini-the low-key Urus (silver painted, 22-inch wheels, black interior) parked outside the design center (Italy's official name is Centro Stile) shows that he has been waiting for us inside.
Walking into the gate of the heavily guarded design center, we saw huge posters of Lamborghini products in different periods hanging everywhere on the wall. The floor is covered with black tiles, and various car models are placed on the exhibition seats.
At one end of the hall, there is a small second floor, which is the designer's office area, and the side facing us is a glass wall. I really want to go upstairs, not only overlooking the hall, but also peeking at the next generation of Huracan, Aventador and other cars that are still top secret and blocked by the office area.
But the two cars on this side of the partition let us explore the future development direction of Lamborghini to some extent. One of them is the concept car Terzo Millennio, which was unveiled in 20 17. It adopts semi-automatic driving technology and hub motor. The other is the real goal of our trip. For the first time, we witnessed the actual product Sian that put Terzo Millenio's technology into practice.
Reggiani, the boss in charge of technology, is introducing the supercapacitors used by Sian.
Lamborghini originally planned to deliver the first batch of Xi 'an from this spring. Before each car is produced, the owner will be invited to the design center, accompanied by Mitja Borkert, the design director, who will spend two or three hours choosing the body color and interior materials. As can be seen from the structure of the car, Sian was developed based on Aventador, but the greatly changed carbon fiber body gave it a completely different image. You will never mistake it for a nine-year-old mass production V 12 supercar.
But what really sets Sian apart is the technology it uses. Like almost all carmakers, Lamborghini knows that hybrid power is the key to the medium-term future because it has advantages in reducing carbon emissions.
It's not fair! Any car parked next to Mihura will look bland.
"The biggest problem we have to solve has always been how to integrate this technology without adding hundreds of kilograms of unnecessary weight." Reggiani said. This veteran who has worked in Santagata for 22 years has a proud resume, one of which is the Bugatti EB 1 10 in the 1990s.
Sian's solution is to equip Aventador's V 12 engine with supercapacitors. This is a very advanced battery technology with amazing charging and discharging speed, which was previewed on Terzo Millennio. The capacitor is a 30 mm deep rectangular box on the rear bulkhead of the cab, which drives the 7-speed transmission. Its output power is not big, only 34 horsepower, but because it doesn't need a cooling system, it won't bring any weight trouble. Capacitors and motors only increased the weight by 34kg, but Lamborghini engineers reduced the weight by "slimming" the chassis and body14kg.
Reggiani said: "The output power of supercapacitors is twice that of lithium-ion batteries with the same weight, and it will never decay!" (The number of charge and discharge cycles of supercapacitors is much higher than that of ordinary batteries. )
In Corsa mode, the capacitor provides extra power for acceleration, which can be maintained to 132km/h, and then the motor will be disconnected to prevent overspeed. However, in Strada (street) mode, when the vehicle is driving on the city road, the electric power will fill the torque gap of the traditional single clutch paddle shift automatic transmission.
"When driving and stopping at a low speed, all actions are controlled by electricity," Reggiani said excitedly. "There will be no setbacks, it is very smooth, comfortable and easy to control."
But Xi 'an will not be quiet for a moment. The engine needs to run all the time, otherwise the hydraulic power steering system will lose power. Similarly, Sian has no pure electric mode. In the case of other manufacturers switching to electricity, more delicate and direct hydraulic power feedback has become a highlight of Lamborghini models, and it will accompany us at least in the next five or six years, that is, before the whole line of products is replaced.
Sean's comprehensive output of oil and electricity is 8 19 horsepower, so it has become the most powerful model of Lamborghini highway. The acceleration performance is also the strongest, with 0 to 100 km/h less than 2.8 seconds required by Aventador SVJ, and 70 to 120 km/h is faster than SVJ by 1.2 seconds.
However, in the absence of a test drive, is Sean (unlisted in China and priced at about 26.4 million RMB overseas) with a price/performance ratio of more than 3 million euros not high enough? After all, the price of Ferrari SF90, which is also a hybrid model, is only about one sixth of that (3.988 million yuan in China), and the comprehensive maximum power reaches 65,438+0,000 horsepower. Domenicali said that its cost performance is very high, because it will maintain a high value-it is unlikely to depreciate, and it may even help car owners make money, which is of course the key factor to measure the cost performance.
The reason for maintaining high value is that Sian is a limited-edition car, which will only produce 63 cars-commemorating Lamborghini's founding in1963-and SF90 is a series of production cars. Scarcity alone is enough to get rich people to take out checkbooks.
In addition, a few selected car owners can buy more special and personalized models at relatively little extra cost.
Domenicali said, "We have another project. We produce two cars for very special customers every year, and the price is about 4 million to 5 million dollars (28.6 million to 35.7 million RMB). Their prototype is Aventador, but the shape is completely different. They don't use hybrid power-this project focuses more on styling than technology. Customers will come to us with their own ideas, and we will help them become a reality. We plan to start delivery from 202 1. These two cars are completely different in appearance, but you can tell at a glance that they are Lamborghini. This is very important. "
I think these projects are more cost-effective and certainly more valuable to Lamborghini. This special edition model is good for financial statements, which can revitalize the old model and provide funds for the development of new models and new technologies for manufacturing new models.
"We are not a high-tech company." Domenicali said frankly: "We are a car company, and a Lamborghini must emphasize emotional factors. But we also face many technical challenges. Network technology is very important to us, because we have younger customers, and the network is what they value. In addition, we need to know how to integrate some technologies with our cars. Urus has applied L2+ autopilot system, but those things are not suitable for super-running. In super-running, we will use similar technology to provide advanced head-up display to help drivers understand the track. But there will be no driver assistance system. "
The bigger challenge comes from the further future. "We are studying what sound the Lamborghini model should have in 10 or 20 years. It must be a real voice, not a synthetic falsetto. " Domenicali not only said this sentence firmly, but also shook his finger.
After the visit, the taxi we called hasn't come yet, so I went into the museum to have a last look. This time I didn't stop in front of the green Countach, but walked directly to a bare chassis behind it. It's a complex set of metal pipes, which reminds me of the scene when I visited the production line of V 12 in 15. At that time, there were different versions of Murcielago, but the difference between them was definitely not as great as today.
LM002: Lamborghini and Hummer bid for American military vehicles,
Life span is very short.
But what really impressed me was the richness of Lamborghini lineup in history. If you look back briefly, you may easily come to the conclusion that Lamborghini has been focusing on super-running, just because the ugly LM002 took a detour in the 1990s. But take a closer look, they have front-engine models, GT sports cars, younger V8 models, and 2+2-seat cars with mid-engines ... Not every car has achieved great success, but they undoubtedly remind me that Lamborghini does not lack the desire to set foot in new fields.
Looking at these different shapes and even strange machines, I asked domenicali if Lamborghini thought it was easier for him to seize the opportunity than his arch-enemy Ferrari when it came, and then immediately plunged into a new journey. (Almost the opponent across the road, has been talking about SUVs for many years, but it has not been implemented. )
Domenicali's body is always full of the Force.
"It should be." He agreed: "This is because of the nature of our brand. We have always been very independent, not taking the usual path and walking at the forefront of the industry. We are not conservative. We will cooperate with young people who are willing to accept bolder products. If you plagiarize today, you will only plagiarize forever, and there is a risk of being backward and not good enough. We need to have our own connotation and be able to tell stories that are different from others. "
An epidemic that brought disaster to the whole world took you a long time to read domenicali's words. Novel coronavirus may lead domenicali to rewrite the extremely optimistic 2020 script, but I never believe that he will have any hesitation about the goals he has set for the company, and I don't believe that the process of achieving the goals will not be smooth enough.
The next five years
What's on the drawing board of Saint Agatha?
forthcoming
Next generation Aventador
In 2022
Volkswagen executives want a turbocharged V8. Lamborghini insisted on using V 12 and won the debate. With a compact hybrid module, the maximum power will exceed 850 horsepower.
Huracan Supertrofeo
In 2022
Super "calf", aerodynamic design comes from racing car, and chassis adjustment has taken a tough line.
Hot/mashup Urus
In 2023
Anyone can think that Urus will have a high-performance version, but there will also be a plug-in hybrid version-it will help reduce the average carbon emissions of enterprises. But the company is in no hurry to get it listed.
Evo Performante II
In 2023
The successor of Huracan Performante, which appeared on 20 17, has improved all aspects of performance through smarter computers on Huracan Evo.
Next generation Huracan
In 2025
Adopt a new generation Aventador carbon fiber chassis. The engine is V8 without two cylinders, which may be assisted by a hybrid system.
Might come.
Huracan mixed version
Originally planned to be released in 2022, it is still possible, but the hybrid version of Huracan is on thin ice.
2+2 V8 GT sports car
Lamborghini has been absent from the GT sports car market with engine front for a long time, but several of its competitors have gained a firm foothold. They need to see the growth of market capacity.
Electric top sports car
On the drawing board, the goal is 2030. It adopts solid-state battery and is jointly developed with Porsche. It is estimated that the maximum power is close to 1360 HP and the maximum torque can reach 1500 N? rice. Must be mass-produced.
Huracan Sterrato
We like Lancia stratos-style supercar, but Lamborghini is not very confident about its sales.
Has been cut down.
Compact electric sports car
Lamborghini once considered releasing the twin model of Porsche's next-generation Cayman and named it Uracco, but now this is impossible.
Text/Chris chilton Figure/Alex tapply