Lamborghini Gallardo replacement to debut in September

Although official details have been very limited, it has been known for some time that the replacement for the Lamborghini Gallardo is waiting in the wings and with the launch of the Frankfurt Motor Show in mid-September – the world could get the first look at the car planned to serve as the “entry level” Lambo.

While Lamborghini has acknowledged that a replacement for their Gallardo supercar will arrive soon, the Italian automaker hasn’t had much else to say about the new car. Luckily, the folks at Autocar has gathered some intel on the car that many people expect to be called the Lamborghini Cabrera. While much of the information floating around the internet is speculation and rumors, Autocar has reported that the new Lambo will debut at least in concept form at the upcoming 2014 Frankfurt Motor Show. The project is said to be referred to internally as the LP724 but it has been expected for quite some time now that the Gallardo successor will be named the Cabrera. Whatever it is called – we are sure that it will be freakin’ awesome.

It had originally been believed that the Lamborghini Cabrera would feature a carbon fiber monocoque design similar to that of the higher performance Lamborghini Aventador but Autocar reports that the Gallardo replacement will ride on the same aluminum space frame design as the next generation Audi R8. While the two supercars will share a handful of components, they will not simply be rebadged or rebodied versions of each other with the Audi R8 featuring a slightly longer wheelbase and more interior space while the Cabrera will have a shorter wheelbase and with it, a lower curb weight. Rumors suggest that the Gallardo replacement will have a base weight under 3,300 pounds. Overall, the next Lamborghini will be lighter and longer than the current Gallardo while the height and width of the new vehicle will be about the same as the current “base” Lamborghini. The lightweight treatment will be aided by an ultra light exterior shell that will be comprised of carbon fiber reinforced plastic
Powering the Lamborghini Cabrera will be a revised version of the 5.2L V10 gasoline engine that powers the current Gallardo but the power output will be around 600 horsepower and 400lb-ft of torque so regardless of the actual model name, it will likely come with the additional LP600-4 moniker for all wheel drive models and LP600-2 for rear drive coupes. There should be two transmissions in the Cabrera, a standard 6-speed manual transmission for those who like to row their own gears and a 7-speed dual clutch automatic for the Paris Hilton types who aren’t coordinated enough to use all three pedals. The current Gallardo comes with a standard 6-speed automated manual transmission that is lightning quick and super efficient but there is just no replacement for the driving excitement and control of a true manual transmission so it is fitting that the next base Lambo will arrive with a proper manual transmission.

The Frankfurt Motor Show runs from September 12th to the 22nd so we have a couple months until the Lamborghini Gallardo replacement will meet the world. When the big German show opens, reports indicate that the new Lambo on display will be a concept car and not an actual production model so the Frankfurt debut could introduce a vehicle that is not exactly what the company has planned for production but this concept should give us our first good look at what to expect from the Gallardo replacement expected to hit dealerships in 2014.

Source: Autocar