Lamborghini Centenario Roadster: How much is too much for a convertible?

IMAGINE you had a $320,000 budget to buy a car. What would you go for?

If you were after a big sexy two-door then the good people at Mercedes-Benz will put an S-Class Coupe on your driveway, or if you wanted something a bit breezier then BMW will take the top off its M6 for you and hand back some change.

Alternatively you could have a different Ford Mustang EcoBoost for each day of the week or, to put into perspective just how much cash $320,000 really is, you could be the proud owner of 26 Mitsubishi Mirages.

Here’s one more option though: How about a Lamborghini Centenario Roadster? There is a catch.

Lamborghini’s hyper-exclusive Centenario Roadster costs a two bedroom apartment more than its coupe stablemate.

Before you get excited and reach for the cheque book let us explain one critical thing. $320,000 is not how much Lamborghini’s latest convertible costs, it is how much extra you have to stump up for the Roadster over the Centenario Coupe!

That’s right. If you were one of the lucky few to grab a Centenario Roadster before they sold out, the Italian car-maker would have fleeced you for a staggering €2 million ($A2.96m). Wow.

Like the coupe, the Centenario Roadster has complicated aerodynamics to maintain stability at extraordinary speeds.

Just 20 of the incredible cars will be produced and all had been spoken for by well-heeled Lambo fans before the first example had even rolled out of the Sant’Agata factory. Lamborghini has not said whether any of the cars will be coming to an owner Down Under.

At nearly $3m the highly exclusive drop-top makes the company’s most expensive model in the Australian range look cheap at a third of the price, with Lamborghini offering local customers the Aventador Superveloce Roadster for a very reasonable $925,300 before on-road costs.

That paint scheme is not just silver. Lamborghini developed a special process that dissolves the metallic flakes into finer particles for a more pearlescent effect.

The Aventador lends its mechanicals as the basis for the Centenario including its 6.5-litre V12, four-wheel-drive transmission, race-car-like inboard suspension and automated manual gearbox, although power is boosted to 566kW for the Centenario pair.

Its dissected roof is the most differentiating feature compared with the Centenario Coupe, with significant changes to the area immediately behind the two seats and engine cover.

Customers lucky enough to get on the Coupe list saved themselves a massive $320,000 compared with the cost of the Roadster.

A pair of carbon-fibre hoops are integrated into each headrest and extend into the engine cover and house the AeroCatch fasteners in arrowhead-shaped vents. The additional hoops also extend down each side of the car behind the window, replacing the rear quarter-light pane of the coupe.

The windscreen is also reshaped to provide a more serene cabin environment for occupants, while the first car is dressed up in a unique Argento matte silver, which is produced using a new metal dissolving technology.

Lamborghini announced that it would produce 20 coupes and 20 roadsters at the Geneva motor show in March this year but all 40 were sold before being officially announced.

Lamborghini does not detail how the roof mechanism operates or if the Roadster has a roof panel at all, and the only images released so far depict the Centenario alfresco.

The body has been designed to maximise aerodynamic flow, not just over the panels but through them. Large air scoops at the front take in air and direct it out through the bonnet to contribute downforce, while air can also flow through the headlight casings and side skirts.

566kW comes courtesy of the mighty high-revving 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 – enough to blast the Roadster to 100km/h from standstill in just 2.9 seconds.

Top speed is unchanged over the Coupe at 350km/h but the zero to 100km/h takes a tenth longer at 2.9 seconds, most likely due to an extra 50kg of stiffening structure which takes the total dry weight to 1570kg.

It certainly is a lot of car even if it is a significant investment but if you think the Centenario Roadster is a touch pricey then don’t even ask about the Veneno.

Lamborghini’s manic Veneno was a pure racecar for the road and even more exclusive than the Centenario pair.

When Lamborghini unveiled the hyperbolic mega-car in 2013 it confirmed that it would be accompanied by a pricetag as astonishing, but despite the €3 million ($A3.8m) cost, the car-maker sold all three before it had even officially announced the street-legal racecars.

The Centenario Roadster was unveiled at Monterey Car Week last month, but despite the Californian auto bonanza being frequented by some serious hardware, the Lambo somewhat stole the show.

The Roadster’s colour scheme is more understated than its coupe sibling, with a tan leather interior and Argento special silver in place of naked carbon-fibre and yellow flashes.

It is not unlike car-makers to ask more for the convertible version of a tin-top model. For example Holden will take the tin snips to the Astra and sell you a Cascada for an extra $15,000, while Ford asks $6500 for the convertible equivalent of the Mustang coupe.

It may be one of the most striking and exclusive Lamborghini’s to date, but is $320,000 a ridiculous premium to charge for the convertible version of the Centenario?

Daniel Gardner GoAuto.com.au

Protect your Lamborghini. Call Shannons Insurance on 13 46 46 to get a quote today.