Given the fact that this incredible new Lamborghini has been developed, crafted and sold already to its very propitious owner, for the rest of us Lamborghiniphiles, it is a sad case of ‘now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t’. The single spotlight of fame in which this supercar appeared was the recently-opened Geneva Motor Show. With the doors of that salon now closed and the Aventador J probably safely ensconced in the luxury garage of its collector-owner, we may never get a chance to see the beautiful car in its beautiful flesh again.
Luckily for us, we were able to get up close and personal the Geneva Motor show, as you can see picture here with Director Dee Bhatia. This chance to look under the covers before it speeds off forever into the sunset was particularly enlightening. We were able to view closely the intense styling of the Aventador J. Without the windscreen and roof, the highest points of this particular roadster are the individual roll bars of each seat, and the rear view mirror that sits on top of a pole protruding from the dashboard. The upward-opening doors remain, but include only a slip of glass instead of the full breeze-deflecting windows of the Aventador Coupe. To emphasise the position of the Aventador J as a Formula-lookalike, and because the only thing between occupants and elements are two tiny wind deflectors, Lamborghini announced that the driver and passenger must wear appropriate gear, both for comfort and for safety. Since there is no radio, navigation system, or climate control system to distract, the use of a full-face helmet will not get in the way of any in-car entertainment. The point of this car is definitely in the driving.
To the rear, you can see the echoes of racing as the Aventador J features a race-inspired carbon-fibre wing supported by two curved mounts to further improve performance. To add aerodynamic downforce, the Aventador J’s front and rear bumpers get special carbon-fibre filaments. The fusion of performance-enabling elements and beautiful styling is further seen in the black mesh at the rear which also helps cool the massive engine. It is also seen in the carbon-fibre rear diffuser featuring four stunning hexagonal exhaust tips.
From an engineering perspective it was possible to see the new aluminium centre-lock wheels which are 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the back, featuring unique fan-shaped carbon-fibre inserts designed to help cool the brakes.
Of course we also saw how in reality, the Aventador J is the same under the skin as its Aventador coupe sibling. This means that we glimpsed the 6.5-litre V12 engine, with 700 hp and 509 lb-ft of torque, protected by the unique X-shaped carbon-fibre cover that exhibits much of the amazing engineering. Called ‘a truly stunning sight’ by Lamborghini, we were able to agree. We could only imagine though that the legendary Lamborghini sound will be even more spectacular with the audio phonics of the roofless car.
Whilst the lucky owner is now enjoying the Aventador J, we can only hope that Lamborghini will apply its philosophy of following its models with open-top models and look forward to next year’s Geneva Motor Show for a production Aventador Roadster. In the meantime, self-drive car hire of the Lamborghini Aventador puts us in the realm of this supercar later this year when our model arrives.