The endless declinations of a supercar

Car trivia - the endless declinations of a supercar

Unless you're reading this article by mistake, I'm pretty sure you like cars, especially supercars. Every time you're lucky enough to spot one of these beautiful machines, let it be at an auto show or even better, in the wild, I know your heart beats faster than usual. Sometimes, you see a car that looks very familiar and say "hey, a Gallardo!". But it turns out it's not just a Lamborghini Gallardo, but a Lamborghini Gallardo Nera. This is what this article is about: the endless declinations of a supercar.

By "endless declinations of a supercar", I'm talking about different cars based on the same original model. Many of them have been the primary source for other existing models. For instance, the Lamborghini Gallardo is known for having inspired many many offsprings all over the globee. Here's a few: Gallardo SE, Gallardo Superleggera, Gallardo LP560-4, Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera, Gallardo Nera, Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, Gallardo Bicolore, Gallardo Performante..... and I'm not even mentioning the spyder versions of those cars, so I'm probably forgetting a lot of them. But Lamborghini aren't the only ones. There's also Bugatti Veyron and its countless limited editions (Pur Sang, Sang Noir, GrandSport, Centenaire, SuperSport... etc) or its famous one-offs (such as the Sang Bleu, FbG by Hermès, Bleu Centenaire, Pegaso Edition... although talking about one-off isn't that exact considering all of the Bugatti are supposed to be made especially for the client, therefore it is by definition a "one off" supercar). So you see, it is very common nowadays to see a supercar being turned into countless other models, and I don't really blame the automotive world.

After all, this proves the success of a particular model: the brands wouldn't build them if there wasn't a high demand for them: people might criticize Aston Martin's newest model, the Virage, as it's not revolutionary in design but rather sticks to the spirit of the older generations. But the fact is Aston Martin is selling cars, and that's what matters. So these models are very popular, which is a good thing for the automotive industry (it keeps living and flourishing) and for us. Its health is doing good, which means more supercars for us to spot and enjoy! 

But the thing is, it's getting quite difficult to accurately differentiate all the models out there among the endless declinations. Seriously. And I'm not even talking about the Porsche or Bentley phenomena, where there are just so many similar cars differentiated by very few and tiny details (mostly the design of front lights, side-view mirrors...). Nowadays, I think that only a true specialist can exactly tell what kind of Porsche it is (once you're out of the 10 notorious models)! I seriously stopped trying. But I'm talking about Lamborghini, Bugatti and even Ferrari (with the 430 and 599), although the effect isn't the same.

CONCLUSION:

I like seeing many different cars based on a primary model. I'm not against the endless declinations of a supercar. More supercars for me, more exclusivity. And let's face it, it's always nice to spot limited editions cars (it always brings a sense of satisfaction within). Although this might be seen as a lack of creativity from the big names of the industry, and that point of view is quite understandable, I always try to reject that theory. After all, although it would be pretty neat, you simply CANNOT create a high-luxury supercar every year. It is a lot of work, research as well as investment. We have to look at it as a long-term relationship. It is essential to let the already-existing models live long enough so they can prosper (for instance, the Ferrari Enzo is a 2002 model, and its successor is rumored to arrive in 2012, 10 years later).