2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder

In less than three years, the Gallardo has become among the best-selling Lambos ever. The company showed a dazzling Spyder concept at Geneva last year, and the production version made its first world appearance at Frankfurt last September. Los Angeles represents its North American debut. Modified so significantly that it's considered an all-new model by Lamborghini, the Gallardo Spyder has several key structural differences from the coupe, including A-pillar and side sill reinforcement, in order to shore up torsional rigidity and stand up to rollovers. The Spyder is further guarded by an automatic rollover safety system, with protective pop-up bars that are integrated with the airbag system. The top mechanism can tuck the roof away in 20 seconds. The top folds up, essentially, on top of the engine and is covered by a carbon-fiber hood. The process automatically raises/lowers the rear glass as the cloth top goes through its motions. The mid-mounted V-10 has been enhanced to produce 512 horsepower in US trim, and the six-speed autoclutch manual gearbox carries revised gear-ratio spacing for even better acceleration (as if that was an issue...). It'll be on sale shortly, and cost around $200,000.

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