By Dave Abrahams
Monterey, California - what better stage to premiere a topless Lamborghini than Monterey Car Week, home to the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.
This one, however, is special even by Sant'Agata standards - it's the first production Lamborghini roadster to rate the performance suffix 'Superveloce' - which signifies “the purest, most sports-oriented and fastest series production Lamborghini ever”, according to company boss Stephan Winkelmann.
OK, in the real world that means the Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce Roadster's naturally aspirated, 6.5-litre V12 is rated for 552kW (37kW more than the standard LP 700-4) at 8400 revs, and it weighs 50kg less at 1575kg dry.
THE LIGHT STUFF
That gives it a power-to-weight ratio of 350kW per ton, and the ability to accelerate from 0-100 in 2.9 seconds - and keep going to a flat-out 350km/h.
The topless Superveloce has the same all-carbon-fibre monocoque tub and two-piece carbon-fibre roof sections as the LP 700-4 Roadster, which fit neatly into the luggage compartment.
Running gear comes from the LP 750-4 Superveloce Coupé, with a seven-speed paddle-shift transmission driving all four wheels through a fourth-generation Haldex system, with variable-ratio steering and adaptive pushrod damping all round.
Deliveries of the Aventador LP 750-4 SV Roadster are planned to start early in 2015 with pricing starting from €357 000 (R5.1 million) in Europe, excluding VAT.