Thinking Too Deeply About Cars: Lambos and Longroofs

"Tom McParland" (tommcparland) 01/25/2014 at 14:16 • Filed to: TTDAC, wagons, lambo, articles

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So Lamborghini is due to release the next "Gallardo" aka the Huracan, sometime soon. It will be fast, it will be loud, and it will be somewhat bonkers in typical Lambo fashion. And you know what?....I don't care.

It's not that I dislike modern Lamborghinis, just the thought of them doesn't excite me (classic ones are another story). For some odd reason when I saw the first renders of the Huracan I was like, "Eh...that's cool." !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

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To most people this is very strange. They would say "You would take a Volvo over a Lamborghini? What's wrong with you?" To which I would respond, "Oh I will still take the Lambo...but I'll just trade it for an E63 Wagon." Then this hypothetical person would shake their head in disgust, and quickly walk away.

I have tried to come up with a psychological explanation for this seemingly "mental malfunction." Why do I have a desire for an RS6 over a 458?

I tried Freud, but my mother didn't drive a wagon. I tried looking to Jung...could it be my natural inclination to be introverted doesn't like vehicles that draw too much attention? Nope, because I would so rock a Jag F-type.

So what could it be? Some say it's "forbidden fruit" syndrome as in we don't get many fast wagons here so I want what I can't have. Or perhaps I'm some weird auto-enthusiast-hipster that wants to be different...just because. Maybe I'm just very practical want a car that can do it all. But that is boring.

It is also possible that there is no good "reason" or "explanation" at all...and that is why I come here...because you all understand.

Read at Right Foot Down

( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is a column where I over analyze my thoughts about cars and possibly get a little too sentimental. I encourage you to do the same or call me a total nut-job in the comments. You may also call me a total nut job on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ).

All images via Jalopnik because I am lazy.

dogisbadob > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:21

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Why buy a Gallardo/Huracan when you can get an R8 for less money? :p

Bandit > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:24

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I'd rather have the volvo. I don't find any of the current lambos all that interesting. They have lost their grace.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:24

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I think the new Lambo looks kind of funky.

For Sweden > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:24

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I'd take the Lambo.

ksmay71 > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:25

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"Nope, because I would so rock a Jag F-type."

That's because the F-Type is probably the most arrestingly gorgeous vehicle on sale right now.

Brian Silvestro > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:27

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You're not the only one...

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > dogisbadob 01/25/2014 at 14:28

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To be fair, the Huracan will make an R8 look like a pedal bike

Tim (Fractal Footwork) > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:28

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Are they too unreachable in real life? So maybe you have discounted the possibility of getting one, and have instead chosen to focus your time dreaming about something you can afford.

Take me; I would probably have an RS200 (if I could even find one) over anything else. Could I even import one? The strange thing is, it's more unattainable than a Lamborghini, yet these are the things I start dreaming about. It sure looks more attainable than a Lamborghini.

mmmmhhh...

dogisbadob > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment 01/25/2014 at 14:29

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Why? They're the same car, except the R8 has sideburns :)

Tom McParland > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 01/25/2014 at 14:32

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Maybe but the RS6 is pretty unreachable...but I still want one.

tapzz > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:34

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I'm with you.

In all the hullabaloo about the McLaren F(or is it P?)1, the Porsche 9something and the LalaFerrari, I can see that they're fantastically capable, but I find them terminally boring.

Cars are about sweet spots- finding a 'just so' compromise between a host of factors, not least of which is cost. If you effectively remove cost and practicality as a constraint in order to go faster than is either legally or physically advisable in a road car, you end up with something that's frankly a little wanky and sad.

Making a car that does what real people need cars to do, at a price point that they can afford, and make them fun to drive as well, is way harder and the results commensurately more exciting.

Biostar01 > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:36

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Yes, internet bro! Volvo is awesome. I really hope they bring the XC Coupe to production.

GhostZ > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:36

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I'm the complete opposite. I would rather drive a slower, less reliable, and more expensive car that had 2 seats and no utility factor than one that was otherwise equivalent, but a wagon.

Tim (Fractal Footwork) > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:38

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True That.

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > dogisbadob 01/25/2014 at 14:39

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The Huracan is all-new, nothing shared with the old platform that the R8 and Gallardo are on. Lighter, stiffer, newer gearbox and AWD, way more power, bigger better brakes, better suspension, all new interior, it's ground-up all new.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:40

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Best love is the unexplaianble one.

And oh, I once see a V60, and even without the polestar trim it's badass.

RW53104 > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:43

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I have similar sentiments, and part of the reason is cost. Yeah, Lambos are great, but it's easier to get excited and aroused by something that could actually be a possibility in your life. Not that I don't dream big!

dogisbadob > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment 01/25/2014 at 14:43

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You know what else will be brand new? The R8! They are making a second-gen R8, which will probably be a rebadged Huracan, just like the outgoing model is a Gallardo.

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:50

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"You would take a Volvo over a Lamborghini? What's wrong with you?" To which I would respond, "Oh I will still take the Lambo...but I'll just trade it for an E63 Wagon."

I posted it once before, but it seems to fit here...

Think about it. how many people that buy a new Lambo actually drive it the way it was engineered to driven? I think I would be very generous if I were to say 3% Think about it, the people that buy these cars anymore are the ones that want other people to talk about them when they show up at a night club. Not a track day. 95% of these cars are only status symbols for people with more money than sense to show off how much more money than sense they have. It's like going around and looking at a bunch of sport bikes in a lot. What percentage of them are actually going to have treadwear showing off of more than about 10 degrees off of straight up? Most Ducatis, Aprillias, MV's you see on the street will have their tires flat spotted right through the center of the tread. It's the same story. Monday 9:52pm

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SLR999 > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:57

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To each their own.

I for one know that based on Gallardo figures, a used '15 Huracan will probably not exceed $95k in 8-9 years time, which is not a totally unattainable long-term goal.

PS9 > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 14:59

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"Oh I will still take the Lambo...but I'll just trade it for an E63 Wagon."

That's not really odd at all. High revving V10s and mid engine handling as ideas are permanently awesome, but the realities of non-existent practicality and insane maintenance requirements would dull the edge real quick. Remember that one guy who traded his Veyron in for a ZR1?

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Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > Tom McParland 01/25/2014 at 15:02

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I think part of the problem is also that the limits of the performance envelope have been pushed so much higher, that even an average "sporty" car can rival the supercars of 20 years ago that to have any fun at all, you need to be kicking the grim reaper in the nuts and daring him to hit back. It is so much more fun to ride that same ragged edge, fighting the beast for control, trying to bend that raging Yugo, doing all of 23.5 miles an hour into a tight hairpin. You know that if you muff up the entry, all your exit speed is gone, and if you loose that, you might as well hang it up, because that dude on the moped will have totally smoked your ass to the top of the merge. The "fun" has gone out of cars, now that the limits are so astronomically high. When everyone is super, no one is?

signintokinjalol > dogisbadob 01/25/2014 at 15:52

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Suspension is a lot different then the two of them, it makes leaps of a difference.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > signintokinjalol 01/25/2014 at 16:37

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The suspension is different, and the R8 is the better road car for it.

Lambos are for bragging rights, and needlessly-famous people to rent while high...

R8 is for actually driving around, and even long distances.

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > dogisbadob 01/25/2014 at 23:14

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Well, actually the R8 is a bit more than a rebadge job but I get your point. However, we still don't know what the second-gen R8 will be like at all...so for now, the Huracan definitely seems to be the go-to car in this segment.

dogisbadob > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment 01/25/2014 at 23:49

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It'll look like this :p

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > dogisbadob 01/26/2014 at 01:19

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Haha dear god I hope not...I do want it to have laser headlights...because laser.

Rosco > Tom McParland 01/30/2014 at 00:51

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Mate I completely agree with you. In fact I just had this discussion on a Jalopnik thread about the P1 ( (this thread)

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I look at them and they are impressive and engineering marvels but meh...really meh. They are so far detached from reality who gives a damm.

Here was my response to being given a supercar and what collection I would trade it in for:

"I just did the maths with cars available today for sale in Australia, taking middle of the pack prices and some options on the cars:

F458 - $579,000 Aventador $870,000 P1 - predicted at $2,000,000 plus

Rs6 Avant -$269,000

Hilux sr5 dual cab $55,499

Q5 2.0tfsi auto with options - $76,176

Caterham R300 $96,440

Mini - approx $50k for car, K20 motor and subframes and minimal labour

Total $547,115

so with the $32,000 left over (from the cheap ferrari) I could insure and run the cars for a few years or buy a state championship winning Formula Vee ...

with the leftovers from the lambo I could pay about half of a house I'd want to live in.

With leftovers from the P1 I could rule the world!

NOT WORTH IT!"