Aventador

Segment
Coupe

Lamborghini has been making us so angry recently. The company has been on a roll creating concept cars that are absolutely drool-worthy, then going on to build tacky, one-off hypercars that no one can afford. When you boil it down, Lamborghini only makes two models, the Huracan and the Aventador. Even Italian rival Ferrari has four distinct models, the California T, 488 GTB, GTC4 Lusso, and F12. Yet Lamborghini seems more concerned with creating a Touareg-based SUV to steal sales from other VW brands than competing with its greatest rival.

We know that SUV sales are sky-high right now, but that doesn't mean Lamborghini needs to compete in this space. The VW group already has the Touareg, Cayenne, and Bentayga to cater to SUV buyers. Lamborghini should be concerned with building sports cars. You might be yourself, or know someone who's a "fair weather" car enthusiast. This is the type of person who knows that Lamborghini builds cars like the Aventador, but may not know some of the company's more obscure cars. Everyone remembers the V12 flagships, but Lamborghini also built cars like the Espada, Islero, Jarama and Urraco. All of these cars are 2+2 grand tourers.

The last four-seat Lamborghini that you could buy was the LM002, which was an extremely limited edition truck. Aside from this strange, Italian military vehicle, the last Lamborghini GT car was the Urraco way back in 1979. You may recall the Urraco on Top Gear when James May piloted one on a cheap supercar road trip. The Urraco was pretty unique because it was mid-engined, but still had room in the cabin for rear seats. We think it's time for Lamborghini to dive into its history of stunning GT cars to get back into the segment. Thanks to its VW ownership, the company has a wide array of platforms on which to base this new car, like the new Panamera's Modular Standard Drivetrain (MSD) platform.

We have already seen that Lamborghini knowns exactly what we're looking for in the style department. Back in 2008, the company showed off the Estoque Concept, which is still one of our favorite four-door cars of all time. The car was meant to be the company's first sedan, and packed the 5.2-liter engine from the Gallardo up front. Right now, we don't think that a sedan really makes sense for Lamborghini, but we would love to see something that looks like the Estoque with two doors. Luckily, in 2014, Lamborghini wowed us with another concept called the Asterion. We were almost positive that this one would enter production.

The Asterion gave us everything that we wanted from Lamborghini. Naturally-aspirated V10 engine, check. Front-engine, grand touring design, check. 910-hp hybrid drivetrain, check. Scheduled for production... damn, we were so close. We think that the Asterion would have been a perfect competitor to the Ferrari F12 as well as a perfect flagship for Lamborghini. We understand that an SUV will cater to more buyers, but doesn't that defeat the point of the Lamborghini brand? Part of what makes Bugatti cars special is that almost no one can afford them. If Bugatti suddenly came out with a $25,000 hatchback, it would dilute the brand. Porsche has already mastered the SUV, so let Lamborghini keep its dignity.

Since the Asterion was also cancelled, we will take the opportunity to come up with our dream Lamborghini GT car. We would love to see the company bring back one of its historic names like Espada, Islero, or Jarama. We think that a two-door, four-seat grand tourer is just what Lamborghini needs. Unlike an SUV, this model wouldn't really cannibalize other Volkswagen brands. The only other two-door GT car is the Bentley Continental GT, but our Lamborghini would be tuned more for sportiness and be based on a lighter platform. Our dream engine would be the Aventador's 6.5-liter V12 with around 750 hp, but we would easily settle for the Huracan's 5.2-liter V10 with around 650 hp.

Our car would be a direct competitor to the Ferrari GTC4 Lusso with a rear liftback design, although the Lambo would be more coupe-like, not a shooting brake. There could also be a lower model with the Panamera's new 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. This car could even come as a convertible to rival the California T. Please Lamborghini, once you are done working on the Urus, put your efforts towards building something like this. Go back to your roots, and stop teasing us with gorgeous GT cars that you never end up building.