Lamborghini Murciélago

289,000 miles in and a major catastrophe befalls the Fast Fleet Murciélago. With a six-figure bill to repair it, has it finally reached the end of the road?

- Simon George

THE DEAFENING Lamborghini SHRIEK OF A V12 destroying itself isn't something I wish to ever hear again. After the gut-wrenching realisation that this would be gigantic money to fix, it also began to dawn on me that, given my Murciélago's colourful history, it might just be time to close the curtain on it for good and strip it down for parts.

Long-standing evo aficionados may remember the big Lambo regularly appearing in these pages from 2005 to 2018. Back in 2004 it was the first Murciélago to be delivered by Lamborghini Manchester and one of the few with a manual 'box. Within weeks of it poking its short snout out of the showroom, it was earning its keep on track as a driving experience supercar, clocking up a huge mileage over the next seven years.

The 8000-odd paying drivers over that period enabled me to hang on to the car despite the eye-watering running costs, which included forking out for nine clutches, three engine rebuilds and a nut and-bolt restoration after a devastating high-speed crash in 2013. That two-year rebuild meant there was actually little left of the Murciélago that made its way down the production line at Sant'Agata, so its nickname of Trigger's Broom became more apt than ever.

Since retiring from circuits, SG54 LAM has led a more sedate life, albeit one that has still seen it traverse Scandinavia in the winter and enjoy summertime trips to every country in Europe and a few more beyond. Its last major outing was a 3000-mile tour of Scandinavia in 2018, since when its owner has been busy building Britain's Biggest Model Railway, meaning its fat Pirellis have spent more time resting on a barn floor than they have exploring unfamiliar asphalt.