It's the ultimate compliment to Lamborghini's test driver: his own model. NICK HALLtakes it for a test
MOST RETIREMENT parties include a gold watch, inedible food and a few embarrassing tales of how the person got locked in the toilet on their first day.
Valentino Balboni, though, isn't like you and me. He is an icon, a national treasure in Italy. So he was given a car, and not just any car, it is perhaps the finest Lamborghini ever to wear the badge.
That is the undeniable conclusion as we hit the coast road linking Monaco to Marseilles: exactly where a few of them should head on their regular Sunday blasts. And with the engine roaring, the steering alive in my hands and the car threatening to skip off the road, it became a simple matter of record that this is the most fun there is in its class.
The Lamborghini LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, to use its full name, is the car we have all been crying out for: the rear-drive Lamborghini Gallardo. Named after the test driver who has become synonymous with the brand following 41 years of service, it is a special edition and the official word is that there will be just 250. Balboni was quizzed by engineers for a year in their bid to define his perfect sportscar.
My bright green fruit of his labours waited outside the headquarters in Sant'Agata Bolognese, the home of Lamborghini. Ahead of us lies 800km of driving down to Paul Ricard in the South of France, to the final rounds of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo gentleman race series. That is 800km of pure winding Italian roads, the French coastal assault and finally a run up the mountains into Ricard. Not a bad way to spend a weekend.
Our test car sports a long white and gold stripe down its length: it is anything but subtle. It sounds angrier, even at idle, thanks to a free-flowing exhaust, one of many modifications to the base Gallardo. Stiffer suspension and a totally new set-up was required to deal with the lack of front-wheel-drive support when the rear starts to slip. And in this colour it looks ready to bite. It is.
As we pull out the factory gates it takes all of one minute to plant the throttle on a long, dusty, typically Italian road that heads out of Sant'Agata. Immediately the car feels tight, stiff and just a little bit nervous. It crashes over bumps and ripples in the road; the back end moves under real power. It might look like the Gallardo and, bar a couple of small badges and the white stripe, it is a carbon copy, the perfectly laid Audi-inspired interior all looks the same, but under duress this is a whole different animal.
It hits 100km/h in 3.9s, the same as the LP560, and hammers all the way to its top end speed of 320kph without pausing for breath. It does come with 550PS (542bhp), 10 less than the LP560-4, but there's no loss to the drivetrain and the power feels ferocious now. I keep my foot in past 7,000rpm as that aggressive 5.2-litre V10 hits a near intimidating volume, then there's a jolt as the next gear slots home and fires the car down the road. This is the safe and secure Gallardo fed a diet of raw meat and horror movies. And it's fun, lots of fun.
On the sweeping Autopista bends that separate us from the sea, we push 200kph often enough to know it handles the bends, but unlike the slightly damped response of the LP560-4 it is sudden, immediate, the wheel takes a fingertip grip as all that weight, all that force, is removed from the front end. The diff linking the wheels weighs just 30kg, but with the front wheels' role reduced to steering only, the car feels crisp and turns in as well as anything. Understeer is a consequence of the four-wheel-drive system, but now it's gone, the Balboni turns in like a razor and can be balanced on the throttle.
The Pirelli P Zeros offer immense grip, but there's more than enough power to push the rear out of line. As the car tightens at the apex it skips over every jolt in the road, reacting perhaps a touch too much for comfort as we turn off the Autopista on to the French coast roads after a brief stop with the Italian Guardia to explain that it wasn't my car, but I was driving it for a friend.
With the waves of the Med crashing against the rocks on one side, a cliff face on the other and a perfect ribbon of Tarmac winding into the distance, the car comes alive.
That finger light steering is still perfect, throwing the nose at the apex with a nudge at the helm. The rear wheels tell the tale, how much power they can take, how early the gas pedal can take the full bore assault. It is a tapestry of information now, whereas before the four-wheel drive meant I could hammer the pedal mid corner and let the car do the work.
Now it will swing round at the back and powerslide through every bend, or not, depending on how skilled the driver is. This is a real mid-engined supercar now, not the cossetting Gallardo of old, and it tugs and nags at the wheel through the bend, with every microcosm of information kicking back through the leather. It's an involving drive from the second you turn the key, at any speed, and it's a thing of beauty.
It is aimed at the hardcore few that can handle it, and though our car came with the paddle shift e-gear system the kind of guy that buys a Balboni will want to stick shift through a metal gateand stick with the more feelsome steel brakes. The ceramics are much better now, but still don't offer the pedal travel and feel of the cheaper steel alternatives.
At 1,380kg, it doesn't have the sheer bulk to need the ceramics except on track, and this isn't a track car, it's about a journey, not apex speed. As for the looks, there's a new Ferrari and yet the Gallardo's orgy of straight edges still draws crowds of kids with camera phones at every filling station.
"How fast is it? How much does it cost? How loud? How much fuel?" The questions flow fast and the wide-eyed amazement shows that the Gallardo has lost nothing in its six years. This is still a very cool car, and now they have unhooked the drive from the front wheels for the first time since the Diablo SV, 15 years ago, Lamborghini has truly unleashed a monster.
This the best Lamborghini ever, with the driving experience to match its outlandish looks and parent company Audi's safety-first approach ignored for the first time.
The only caveat is that 250 will never be enough. Let's hope this isn't just a grand gesture, a retirement gift for Balboni, who stifled a tear at the car's big reveal. The affable test driver's retirement was forced on the company by Italian law, but he has a renewable two-year deal as an ambassador. So he isn't going anywhere just yet
And nor, we hope, is the rear-drive Lamborghini. Hopefully this limited edition is the first step because they must, must, must, make more . . .
"Pros? An unforgettable driving experience Cons? Takes skill to drive fast, and they have to make more
Base price:€162,000 + taxes
Type of vehicle:RWD mid-engined sportscar
Engine:5.2-litre V10, 40 valve
Power/torque:542bhp/398lb/ft-
Transmission:a six speed sequential manual (E-gear)
0-100km/h:3.9 seconds
Top speed:320km/h
Fuel economy:14l/100km Competition: Ferrari 458 Italia, Aston Martin DBS
