Lamborghini Aventador – A vent, a door, and now a (fixed) wing

Back in 2011, Lamborghini went a bit sane. I was a car-crazed high-schooler who had become a Lambo fanboy since the company started beating Ferrari in the supercar game to my childish mind. McLaren
Automotive was still waiting in the wings to burst its way onto the scene, and Ferrari was losing some of the madness that made their F1 cars and unrestricted race cars so freaking awesome in the 2000s. With the Murcielago SVJ, Lamborghini unknowingly released a swansong for the last unrefined supercar. Think about it – it was large, heavy, and loud. It handled well, but more so despite its weight rather than because of how well the aero and chassis worked well together. I didn’t care. I loved it! It was fast, pretty, and sonorous. Then, the Lamborghini Aventador hit the scene, and I fell madly in love.

The only “downside”? This Lamborghini Aventador didn’t want to kill you; it wanted to work with you, synthesize your madness with the one it possessed thanks to its German sensibilities and Italian passion. So-called “purists” would have you believe that a well-engineered Lamborghini was heresy. And I gave them a look of pity and incomprehension.

The Aventador ushered in a new era for Lamborghini and, in my mind, is the purest manifestation of the company’s ethos, one that I did not think could ever be matched. And yet, they found ways to make the Aventador increasingly nuts, first with the S and then the SV. And now, they have reached the apex, the undisputed king/queen of the supercar world: enter the SVJ. It is simply a work of art. And it has a little bit of something for everyone.

For those stat nerds out there, the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ blitzed the Nordschleife and set a record time that dethroned the mighty 911 GT2 RS’s already seemingly untouchable time. And it was not close either. No, the SVJ undercut the GT2 RS by over two seconds for a shocking 6:44.97. Powerplant? A roaring naturally-aspirated 6.5L V12 pumping out 770 metric horsepower (that’s 759 bhp for those of us in the civilized world). 0-60 times have been irrelevant for a long time now as they do not tell much of a story once they crack the 3.0-second mark. Instead, ponder this: the Bugatti Veyron ran the quarter-mile in 10.1 seconds; the SVJ did it in 10.3. Combine all of these together, and you have one hell of a machine
that can dominate anything, anywhere.

And what about those who don’t care about pure numbers, those who want more than just something that goes fast but leaves them needing a masseuse after just a few minutes? Lamborghinis are never going to provide the level of comfort and visibility their obsessive wartime enemies in Woking conjure up. And yet, the SVJ does not compromise on offering its driver a sophisticated experience every time it is woken from its slumber. The doors do the Lambo thing; the engine would have allowed the Sirens to lure in Odysseus, and it checks off the box for the old adage, “It looks like it’s going 200+ just sitting there.” And you can do all of this while comfortably warming your bottom and using CarPlay to efficiently navigate you to the day’s Cars and Coffee jamming out to your favorite music (iPhone sold separately).

I have always been a proponent of hanging those who buy cars and lock them away in some warehouse. Cars like this are creatures with souls whose lives are enriched by taking them on a straightforward drive. Never has my conviction been any stronger than with the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ. Just look at it. Flip the top on the starter button, push it, and get going. That’s all it asks.

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