Gallardo: The long goodbye

One Lamborghini, a decade of faces

The end is nigh for the Lamborghini Gallardo. The bestial, all-wheel-drive, 10-cylinder machine that helped create the archetype of the livable, everyday supercar, will soon be replaced after a decade-long run. The “entry-level” Lamborghini, which launched as a coupe and was accompanied by a Spyder counterpart, was known by many guises, whether as a totem of success in rap videos or as a police squad car. At the Frankfurt motor show, the Gallardo’s successor – rumoured to be called Cabrera – is expected to bow, signalling a new chapter for the macchinisti of Sant’Agata, Italy.

To maintain interest a fundamentally unchanged car over its 10-year lifespan, Lamborghini kept the faithful on their toes by offering special editions, which expanded the car’s portfolios of power, performance and visual presence (not to mention giving Lamborghini license to extract a few extra thousand euros from aficionados).

Here, then, on the eve of the Gallardo’s demise, is a visual history of the limited-edition bulls that have come to occupy valuable garage space over the past 10 years.