The road straightened out on the idyllic national park on Tenerife and I pulled out to pas the bus. Just at that second the sun shone through the clouds, the engine hit the magic 4000rpm watershed where everything goes nuts and the car launched at the horizon like a wailing banshee. It was a perfect moment, the emotional experience that will define each and every day for the lucky owners of the Lamborghini LP560-4 Spyder.

Just one moment made the $200,000 asking price seem like a snip, well that and the attention lavished upon me every time we came close to stopping. It was like spending your whole life sitting comfortably around the 6-6.5 mark, and suddenly waking up as a perfect 10. Whichever way you want to interpret that, it kind of works…

This LP560-4 may be a subtle revision of the Gallardo that was launched all the way back in 2004, but it still has the visual impact to stop traffic and if they ever found their way there it would blow Ferrari’s 430 off the catwalk. And the same goes for its sibling rival, the R8 V10. They might be more realistic competitors in the long-run, but for the pure theatrical experience you just can’t beat the Lamborghini.

This is the second model to emerge from the new Lamborghini that was taken over by Audi in 1997. Since then the near bankrupt Italian firm has gone to become a global superpower with the neat marriage of Italian flair and passion combined with German precision and build quality. This ‘baby’ Lamborghini embodies that ethos like no other.

The Gallardo is an orgy of geomtetric perfection, with razor sharp creases running along its length. This version comes with a sharper front end inspired by the million pound special edition Reventon, muscular, unashamedly masculine lines and a rear that somehow seems lower and wider than the outgoing Gallardo thanks to a redesign of the rear lights that now use LED clusters.

It was a revelation when it was launched: tighter, more compact and conservative than the overtly muscular and range-topping Murcielago yet all the better for it. Now, with a flash of front end fang, it looks truly ripped without losing the subtle appeal that has made it a sales sensation largely responsible for the renaissance of the brand.

That hasn’t stopped Lamborghini losing sales, even they are not immune to the global economic downturn. But just a decade ago this crisis would have finished the Italian marque forever, now they talk bullishly about increasing market share and taking the fight to their rivals in tough times with the complete Italian supercar.

Inside, it’s even better. The Kinder Egg build quality of Italian supercars used to get written off as character, charming quirks that came with the package. Today’s buyer is much less forgiving and Audi has raised its game with Audi’s help to create a comfortable, well-equipped interior that could handle every day use for years to come. The chromed switchgear is a little much, perhaps, but then this is a Lamborghini and we have to forgive the Italians a little posturing. It is, after all, what they do best.

And it’s even sexier with the roof stowed at the touch of a button beneath that vented, aggressive rear deck. Then the whole World can watch in wonder at the laughing maniac behind the wheel of arguably the finest car in its class, just for a second at least.

Because the best thing about the foldaway soft top is that it puts that dirty, guttural V10 engine even closer to your ear, encouraging wanton acts of pure speed that in this fair nation would surely mean a court appearance and some time on the bus sooner rather than later.

That 5.2-litre V10 comes with 552bhp, or 560PS to make sense of the name, and takes just four seconds to blast through the 60mph mark. And with a top speed of 201mph, it’s safe to say the Gallardo is fast enough. But then it’s the character of the car that marks it apart, there are plenty of others that are just as fast yet the Lamborghini makes you do it each and every time.

All the driver can do is drink in the noise and grab the rather cheap looking paddle-shift e-Gear system that is still a little jerky for some tastes yet walks an admirable line between usability and outright speed. There are smoother alternatives, such as Porsches double clutch system, but Lamborghini’s ever affable Research and Development Director Maurizio Reggiani insists that the feel of a real gearchange is essential to the driving experience and he does have a point. Every moment with the Gallardo is a visceral joy, especially the way it takes bends.

Throw the Gallardo into a bend late and hard and it still sticks like week-old pasta to the apex of the bend thanks to a complex four-wheel drive system that can feed 70 percent of the power to the front wheels if the back end steps out of line and traction control to back that up. That will save many an expensive incident as the few bankers left that can afford to splash out run out of skills half way through a bend.

Of course the cabriolet shouldn’t be as good as the hard-top in corners, because cutting off the roof inevitably removes some of the structural stiffness. But then Lamborghini worked long and hard to stiffen the chassis without adding excess weight and it’s now as close to the hard-top as makes no difference. Plus the added thrills of wind in the hair motoring and the louder noise more than compensate for the fractions lost at the apex.

Carbon ceramic brakes haul the car down from preposterous speeds and after some criticism in the earlier cars Lamborghini has softened the response to create a near-perfect system that works more effectively than a brick wall on a hard charge but is also soft and sympathetic around town.

Because although the LP560-4 Spyder would monster most race tracks, it isn’t that kind of car. This is possibly the finest boulevard cruiser in the whole world, a stylish alternative to the Ferraris that have become a little bit naff thanks to their oversupply and a car that will give a magic moment each and every time you turn the key.

Price: $200,000
Engine: 5.2-litre
Power: 552bhp
Torque: 398lb/ft
0-60mph: 4s
Top speed: 201mph

Blog Gallery by Picturesurf

More from This Site

• Ford Focus RS
• Veritas RSIII
• TEST DRIVE - Aston Martin V12 Vantage | Wildest Cars

Popularity: 56%