The Lamborghini Aventador has sat at the top of the Italian automakers range for more than 10 years. It roared onto the scene in 2011 with an all-new V12 engine, striking looks and a heap of firsts for Lamborghini. But now, its end is near as the company has finally built the last Aventador.
If this all sounds familiar, that’s because Lamborghini thought it had built the last Aventador once before. But then, a fire on-board the Felicity Ace cargo ship forced it to restart production after more than 500 Aventadors were lost to the blaze.
Now, it really is the end for the Aventador. Lamborghini is tying up production of the flagship to make space for a new model, which is yet to be announced.
But the Aventador had a good run, selling more than every other V12-powered Lamborghini combined. In total, Lamborghini shipped 11,465 Aventadors across eight different model derivatives over the past 10 years. On top of this, the company has shipped more than 10 one-off and limited edition variants, such as the bonkers SC20.
The final Aventador to roll off the production line in Italy was an Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae Roadster, which was finished in a special light blue Ad Personam color. The car is destined for Switzerland.
It’s a big moment, though, as this is not just the last Aventador, it’s also the last naturally-aspirated V12 car Lamborghini plans to make. This brings to close an era that began way back in 1964 with the Lamborghini 350 GT and spawned the likes of the Miura, Countach, and Diablo.
The shocking statistic here is that for most of that V12-powered lineage, Lamborghini was using derivatives of the same engine it put in its first car way back in the 60s. It wasn’t until the Aventador came along that the company finally developed a brand-new engine.
And now, after just one car and 10 years of production, it’s being ushered out the back door.
Now, this doesn’t mean Lamborghini is switching out its flagship for something powered by batteries. The automaker has consistently said it won’t be giving up on combustion engines anytime soon, and it’s even starting to investigate synthetic fuels that could power future models.
And, importantly, the firm simply says this is the last “naturally-aspirated V12,” so only a fool would bet against its replacement having some form of hybrid tech similar to the Sián.
Additionally, Lamborghini recently announced a $1.8 billion investment in the hybridization of its lineup. This was followed by the news that its first all-electric model won’t hit the streets until 2030.
So it sounds like the combustion engine will be safe at Lamborghini for at least a few more years.