The Art Of Lunacy: Lamborghini Centenario Roadster Unveiled!

In these days where most cars look as interesting as a striped shirt, the good fellows at Lamborghini remind us that it is alright for a car to look absolutely bonkers. The Centenario was lauded for its, umm, politically incorrect styling. The boffins at Lambo held nothing back. I can almost imagine the brief -

- Can it have ridiculously large wheels?

- What about a massive spoiler? You know? For giggles?

- Can we plonk in the V12 from the Aventador?

-- I see, no reason not to. DO IT!

And that, folks, is how the Centenario was born. A car built to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ferruccio Lamborghini, which looks straight out of Star Wars. Well, someone at Lamborghini thought it'd look even better with the roof hacked off. And guess what, THEY DID IT! Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to the Centenario Roadster. It is the same loony Lambo, with a million miles of the sky as the headliner.

Like the coupe, the entire body is made from carbon fibre. The designers even developed a special colour they like to call "Argento Centenario" for the roadster. Of course, owners can choose whatever colour they fancy by calling upon Lamborghini's 'Ad Personam' customization division. The best bit is that the outrageous design has purpose. For instance, the headlights have a small duct to channel air; the wheels look like a turbine to help cool the ceramic brakes faster; and the rear wing can extend by 150mm and rotate by 15 degrees to make the Roadster's derriere squat at speeds. This, folks, is a physics lesson mashed up with an art class. Pay attention!

The insides get plenty of Alcantara, leather and other expensive materials. Like the exterior, the interiors too can be customised to suit the tastes of the owners. There's an iPad-like 10.1-inch touchscreen unit planted in the centre console that not only takes care of the usual calls, audio and navigation, but also lets you browse your social media channels. Yes, it does get the flip-up tab that houses the starter button and plenty of knurled switches to make you feel like a jet pilot. And, if you ask Lamborghini, they will equip the interior with a couple of cameras that record you (and your co-passenger) as you go about ripping up the tarmac. How cool is that!

At the heart of the Centenario Roadster is the same V12 engine from the Lamborghini Aventador. However, in this case, it has been tuned to produce 770PS of power! Couple that with the 1.5-tonne weight, and what you get is a ballistic missile that does 0-100kmph in a mere 2.9 seconds, and goes on to a staggering 350kmph! Power is put to the road through 255/30 R20 wheels at the front and 355/25 R21 wheels at the rear, via an all-wheel-drive system.

Just like the coupe, the Centenario Roadster will be limited to just 20 units. The sticker price? 2 million Euros, plus tax. That is approximately Rs 15.2 crores, before you account for the taxes, duties and registration, that is. And guess what? All 20 copies are SOLD!

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