October
1
Lamborghini’s slow striptease of the four-door it’s bringing to the Paris Motor Show continues with another close-up of the Estoque, but a leaked concept drawing provides the full monty of a car that continues Sant’Agata’s tradition of drawing inspiration from bull fighting when naming its most lust-inducing hardware.
An estoque is the sword used to kill the bull, and it is closely related to espada, which is both a sword and the two-door, four-seater Lamborghini built between 1968 and 1978. After decades spent building mid-engined two-seaters like the Countach and Murcielago, Lamborghini is building a four-door coupe to compete against the Porsche Panamera, Aston Martin Rapide and Audi A7.
The word from Europe is the Estoque will be a sharp weapon indeed, and the leaked sketches shown below reveal a car inspired by the angular lines of the Reventon.
Lamborghini’s been tight-lipped, offering nothing more than four detail shots accompanied by quips like “It’s not just a new Lamborghini. It’s a whole new world.” But the Estoque will have the engine mounted just behind the front axle and it will drive all four wheels, just like the Gallardo and Murcielago. Automotive News Europe cites unnamed sources (free subscription required) saying the engine may be a bit smaller than the 5.0-liter V10 in the Gallardo, which would allow the Estoque to be relatively short, and it could have direct injection and twin turbos.
What’s more, the Estoque may be an all-aluminum vehicle based on the Audi A7 platform. The car we’ll see in Paris is a “near-production” concept, and Lamborghini plans to produce about 3,000 of them each year — the same volume planned for the Rapide but far fewer than the 20,000 Panameras and 30,000 A7s slated by Porsche and Audi.
Here’s the concept drawings showing what appears to be the Estoque:
And here are the pictures Lamborghini’s provided so far:
Photos by Lamborghini.
