It is the end of an era. The Lamborghini Murcielago has been around for almost a decade but it’s time has come, with the last of the legendary supercars, number 4 099 to be exact, rolling off the production line at the automaker’s factory in Sant’Agata, Italy last Friday.
The very last car, headed to a Swiss customer, was the LP 670-4 Superveloce model, finished in Arancio Atlas paint. With 4 099 Murcielagos and all its variants built in total, the model is by far the most-produced Lamborghini twelve-cylinder of all time and possibly one of the world’s most successful supercars.
The Murcielago, first launched in 2001, represents Lamborghini’s transition into becoming a modern automaker, offering new technology and high levels quality not seen from the brand prior. With the construction of the Murcielago, for example, Lamborghini demonstrated its expertise in lightweight engineering and in working with carbon fibre composite materials. From the very start, the structure of this supercar has been a mix of extremely stiff carbon fibre components attached to a steel frame. The center tunnel and floorpan are made from carbon fibre, as are the majority of the exterior panels and many interior components.
The latest Superveloce now represents the pinnacle of the Murcielago line, shedding some 100 kilograms from the curb weight of the regular model and delivering up to 493 kW from its 6.5-litre V12 engine. That’s enough to deliver 0-100 km/h times of 3.2 seconds and top speeds in excess of 340 km/h.
Though we’re sure many readers out there will be mourning the passing of the Murcielago, Lamborghini is ready to start the next all-new chapter in the story of the supercar in 2011 with its successor – the ‘Jota’ LP 700-4.
