Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera | Spotted

It’s now less than two weeks till Lamborghini unveils its hotly anticipated Huracan replacement to the world in California. We know the engine (a 10,000rpm, twin-turbo V8 hybrid), we think we know the name (Temerario is the hot favourite) and, though we don’t know the final design just yet, it’s probably reasonable to be very excited. The Huracan was a stunner, so was the Aventador, and the Revuelto perfectly balances OTT and OMG – the new one’s gonna be good. It has to be. 

What’s also virtually guaranteed for the Temerario are special editions with a greater focus on circuit driving, despite almost 900hp from the factory. Clearly, the demand is out there, and it can be easy to forget sometimes just how good recent super Lambos have been: the old STO and SVJ really deserve their place in the pantheon of recent supercar greats. So of course Lamborghini will continue. The SV badge goes all the way back to the Miura, and if you didn’t lust after a Diablo SV as a youngling then that’s only because the Murcielago SV was your pinup instead. 

The modern chapter probably begins with the original Gallardo Superleggera, and with the V10 no more – and a Ferrari in the feature box – it seemed like an opportune moment to celebrate it. This isn’t one of the very first, instead being the later SL launched in 2010, though it employed similar methods for a recognisable (if not quite as extreme) result: less weight, more power, a Gallardo at its very, very best. 

Because there were so many special editions, sometimes we all need reminding just how well received this car was. ‘When you want to draw a crowd, – or get the adrenaline flowing – the LP 570-4 has few peers’, was the PH verdict. ‘That you have to make so few sacrifices to do so is simply icing on the cake’. If the first Superleggera was a bit too hardcore, the second laid the foundations for the modern Lamborghini road racer, damn near as usable and tangibly more exciting. 

As such, they’ve held onto their value well. The argument made back in 2010 was that the flagship didn’t seem £25k better than the standard Gallardo, which was fair, but then they have kept that gap. Back in 2020, a 16,000-mile car cost £120k; now a 2010, 36,000-mile example is £115,000. Even 50th Edition Coupes from 2013 or one of the very final Spyders from 2014 will be £100,000 or under. 

A special car, then, the Superleggera, and this looks like a fab example. Finished in that Lambo green (technically Verde Ithaca), it boasts a full service history including a recent checkup and what seems to be exceptional condition. Every bit of carbon (and there’s plenty of it) looks almost factory-fresh. And what a great set of wheels. They’ll have been a fun 35,000 miles, that’s for sure. The interior and the gearbox may date the Lamborghini a tad, but they’re surely obstacles that can be overcome. With this engine configuration gone and the next ‘baby’ Lambo set to be more advanced than ever, so the glorious old stagers like the Superleggera seem even more special.

Engine: 5,204cc, V10
Transmission: 6-speed automated manual, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 570@8,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 398@6,500rpm
MPG: 20.9
CO2: 319g/km
First registered: 2010
Recorded mileage: 35,764
Price new: £174,840
Yours for: £115,000