After 10 years and 14,022 cars, the last Lamborghini Gallardo has rolled off the production line.
Introduced in 2003 as part of Lamborghini's 40th anniversary celebrations, the Lamborghini Gallardo heralded a major change for theexotic?Italian car maker. On the back of the larger Murcielago, which arrived in 2001, the Gallardo helped lift Lamborghini production from around 250 cars per year to 2000.
Indeed, since Lamborghini's birth in 1963, almost half of the 30,000 cars it has sold have been Gallardo variants.
Development of the Gallardo first began under Chrysler ownership, when Lamborghini produced just one model line, the Diablo. After Lamborghini passed into Indonesian ownership, plans for the junior supercar were shelved, however, they were resurrected following the sale of the brand to Audi in 1998.
When it arrived on the market in 2003, the all-wheel-drive Lamborghini Gallardo came with a 5.0-litre V10, based on Audi's own 4.2-litre V8. That first car produced 373kW, however, the car was updated in 2005, with power rising to 387kW. The Spyder version arrived in 2006.
By 2008, and with the arrival of the second-generation Gallardo LP560-4, the Gallardo's engine had been bored out to 5.2-litres, producing 412kW. The Gallardo also spawned two generations of 'Superleggera' cars, with a reduced weight and increase power output, and, from 2011, a base model in the form of the LP550-2, which offered Lamborghini buyers the choice of a rear-wheel-drive car.
The last Gallardo (pictured top), sold to an unnamed private buyer, was one of the many special editions of the Gallardo range, a Gallardo LP570-4 Spyder Performante painted in Rosso Mars (red).
The end of the Gallardo's production comes just one day after its replacement, the Lamborghini Cabrera, was photographed without cladding for the first time. The Cabrera is set to debut early next year.
