LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR ULTIMAE

Sant'Agata bids farewell to pure V12 power in the most spectacular way possible

- RICHARD LANE

TESTED 22.3.22, MODENA, ITALY ON SALE NOW

This is it, then – albeit not really. The new Aventador LP780-4 Ultimae is the last Lamborghini ever to use 12-cylinder power alone, but it won’t be the last time we see an almighty V12 in the bowels of something hand-made in Sant’Agata. The Aventador’s imminent successor will also be V12-fired, with electric aid but crucially still no turbos. So this is an end but also a beginning.

Instead of dwelling on the demise of the purely V12 Lambo, whose time, you could reasonably argue, has well and truly come, let’s focus on exactly how a car as momentous as the Aventador is bowing out.

Momentous because it was such an epic statement of intent when it arrived in 690bhp LP700-4 form in 2011, when Lambo’s boss described it as not simply one generation on from the Murciélago but effectively two. Dramatically improved ergonomics, a super-stiff carbon-fiber monocoque to replace the steel lattice frame and an all-new, lower-slung (being dry sumped) 6.5-litre V12 all saw to that.

And momentous even now because the Ultimae is no cynical run-out special, as it could have been. Mixing the best bits of the recent line-up, this is the most compelling Aventador of all and one of the great V12 Lambos.