Case Study: Lamborghini

Lamborghini has always been at the top of the list for most exotic and elegant sports cars in the world. Even through the company's rough patches over the years, they have been able to relentlessly manifest iconic works of art in the form of vehicle designs. However, Lamborghini was bought out in 1998 by Audi, who was determined to increase the profits for the sport car brand and begin to place it up with Ferrari worldwide. To clarify, Ferrari has been known as THE exotic sports car, with a great emphasis on SPORT. Meaning, Ferrari as a company and brand is highly involved in multiple levels of racing and designs their cars with a focus on the driving enthusiast, aiming to develop a fluent connection between driver and machine. Lamborghini, on the other hand, has placed most of their focus on the design, creating works of art with their very much geometric-based design foundation. In 2007, Lamborghini was actually able to outshine Ferrari, posting better sales worldwide (just a few years after Lambo introducted the Gallardo or "economical Lambo"). Following up the much anticipated and impressive Murcielago with an affordable (in the "ask the butler to pull the car around" sense), version such as the Gallardo was a great business move in my book. However, the Gallardo has been on the road for almost 8 years, the enthusiasts and tuning shops have been there and done that and honestly, the Lamborghini fans have been growing impatient for a new fantasy we can drool over through posters, computer wallpapers and drive invincibly in video games.

After months of teaser pictures scattered across the internet like some kind of crude

scavenger hunt, the 2010 Paris auto show gave the loyal Lambo fans what they deserve, the Sesto Elemento concept (Italian for the Sixth Element, which we all know on the periodic table is Carbon, you knew that though, right?). The name says it all, oozing with carbon fiber in multiple forms this vehicle has a overall curb weight of a shoe (only 2,202 lbs) and when given a 570 horsepower V10, can get the Sesto Elemento from 0-62 mph in 2.5 seconds. The car is based around a carbon fiber monocoque (making more components actually functional structural components of the vehicle), which is created as a Forged Composite. Traditional carbon fiber is layered in woven sheets to a desired form, Forged Composites, however, are created by injecting a epoxy/fiber paste into a mold. This process makes the fibers become randomly oriented, offering strength in many more directions than the traditional layered sheet carbon. Forged Composites allows for complex geometries to be created, ultimately consolidating parts and lowering weight. The Sesto Elemento exhibits these type of components along with traditional woven sheet carbon fiber and braided carbon fiber, which can all be seen in high resolution here. Crossing industry boarders, this type of material development has also

gained the attention of Callaway Golf, which will be using the Forged Composite technology to create new golf clubs.

Even though I personally believe that this new concept looks a typical Lamborghini concept, I do have to applaud them on material development and the minimalistic design direction, they not only thought out of the box, they smashed the box with a sledge hammer and wove a lighter one. It is vehicles like this that help the industry progress and embracing the progress is the key to moving forward.