At the 2013 Geneva Motor Show Lamborghini unveiled something truly special, some say they intended to draw away attention from Ferrari with the LaFerrari, and personally, I can surely agree with that statement, but first, some background information before we come to the 2013 revelation. At the 2011 GIMS Lamborghini finally introduced the long-awaited successor to the Murciélago, the Aventador, a stunning V12 flagship in true Lamborghini form, a dream car that would become the most popular V12 model in history with a total production of 11,465 units before being replaced by the Revuelto in 2024, so for the 2012 edition of the Motor Show in Geneva Lamborghini upped the ante with a one-off, the Aventador J, a completely topless version of the Aventador, ahead of the Aventador Roadster production … and what way to go one step further than by introducing the Lamborghini Veneno in 2013.
Things got really interesting when it came to the Lamborghini Veneno … only three units would be built for the world. They came with a special name for each of them, the Veneno Rosso, Veneno Verde, and Veneno Bianca. Despite what you might think, this wasn’t the actual color of the car itself, no, all three Lamborghini Veneno were finished in Metalluro, a custom shade of metallic grey, over a black Alcantara interior. The Rosso, Verde, and Bianca names came from the livery of each car, ie the small line of color on the bottom of the front splitter, the side sills, the rear diffuser fins, the brake calipers, the center locking screw on the wheels, and some piping on the interior … that’s it.
Rumor had it the Lamborghini Veneno was offered to a handful of very special, existing Lamborghini customers, but here’s the catch, they had to sign the order form without even having seen the car, and with an MSRP of $4,000,000 before taxes, a downpayment of 10% was required within days of signing the order contract, they would only be able to see the car in person at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, where Lamborghini would reveal the prototype of the Lamborghini Veneno in the Rosso livery, which was what we call the Car Zero version, a kind of production prototype that wouldn’t be sold … so in the end there are a total of 4 Lamborghini Veneno in the world, one that has been kept by the factory, and three that have been delivered to customers in 2014.
The Lamborghini Veneno Verde was acquired by an avid car collector from Miami in the United States, and at the time of writing, ten years later, he still owns it as far as we know, and he actually drives it on the road, the Veneno Bianca was sold to an undisclosed client, who was rumored to have refused taking delivery of it, which forfeit his down payment by the way, and the Bianca has been seen being offered for sale several times over the years, the current whereabouts are unclear, but rumor has it she’s currently somewhere in the Far East, which leaves us with the Lamborghini Veneno Rosso, the one closest to the actual factory press/presentation car because of the red livery, this car, chassis ZHWUA3ZD9ELA02223 was also bought by a client in the United States, where it was on display inside his exotic car showroom for most of its life.
At one point that same client managed to obtain one of only nine Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, this one finished in white, and shown next to the Veneno Rosso for a while, before the latter was sold for an undisclosed amount of money, and it is that exact car that is currently being listed for sale by John Scotti Automotive LTEE on duPont Registry … with an asking price of $13,900,000, making it the most expensive Lamborghini currently listed for sale on that site, far ahead of the second most expensive Lamborghini, a Sian Roadster for ‘just’ $5,499,998, with a Sian following at $3,699,900 … some serious money for some of the rarest Raging Bull models ever made.
But back to this 2014 Lamborghini Veneno Rosso currently available for sale, one of only three in the world, and chances are you’ll never be able to buy the Verde, and the Bianca most likely being off-market too, so your only chance to become an owner of a Veneno is paying the asking price for this Rosso one with just 127 Miles since new, this means the engine isn’t even properly broken in yet, this car has been a garage queen for her entire life it seems, which is a pity as the Lamborghini Veneno might just look like an Aventador with a body kit to many, but there are a plethora of custom options and a bespoke engine/transmission tuning compared to the standard Aventador LP700-4 back in 2014.
For starters the Lamborghini Veneno is a complete redesign based on the Aventador chassis that is lurking beneath, the Veneno is as close as it gets to a LeMans endurance race car that is street-legal and can actually be a daily driver as these customer cars come with the Aventador comfort seats, despite the prototype shown at the Geneva Motor Show came with carbon fiber sport seats, which Lamborghini couldn’t get legalized before delivering the cars to their owners, do note that the Veneno Verde was retrofitted with the carbon fiber seats by her owner after he took delivery, but that’s a story for another time. If you look really close you’ll also note the exterior rearview mirrors were different on the customer cars, more like the Aventador units.
The Lamborghini Veneno had 50 more horsepower drawn from the 6.5 liter V12 engine, at 750hp this would be the same number as the later Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce, but another very important reason why the Veneno had a completely different driving experience compared to the Aventador LP700-4 is the weight reduction, according to official numbers the Lamborghini Veneno puts just 3,197 lbs (1,450 kg) on the scale while the Aventador is a lot heavier at 3,472 lbs (1,575 kg), and that additional 125 kg makes a lot of difference on a car like this.
The Lamborghini Veneno is considered one of the most important ‘few-off’ models ever to be built in Sant’Agata, a trend that was started with the Lamborghini Reventón and Reventón Roadster, and continued with models like the Lamborghini Centenario, Centenario Roadster, Sián, Sián Roadster, and finally the Lamborghini Countach LPI800-4, but none of those became as valuable as the Veneno, with just three units out in the entire world, it is the rarest of them all, with the Veneno Roadster having a production of nine units being the second-rarest … apart from the one-off models like the Aventador J or SC20 of course.
Maintenance on a Lamborghini Veneno isn’t too much different from the Aventador, being based on the latter, but it does come with a few additional challenges being a very limited production model that came with a few ‘special’ touches, like the engine cover, which is a ‘lift-off’ version … there are no hinges on the Veneno’s engine cover, you’ll need two people to lift this lightweight carbon fiber unit upward to reveal the famous V12 engine underneath, which is actually similar to the front cover, it also lifts up as one piece, but don’t expect to find luggage space underneath it, it’s all air ducting under the front cover, just like a real race car would have.
I think the Lamborghini Veneno is a stunningly beautiful car, a feeling I know isn’t shared by everyone, some really don’t like the styling, but I think this is what a Lamborghini is all about, being different, extraordinary, and unlike anything else on the open road, a Raging Bull that demands respect wherever you encounter it, on the street driving, and let’s face it, even standing still, a Lamborghini Veneno looks like it’s doing 100 mph … easily, and just take a look at the central console inside a Veneno, there are a trio of switches covered by flip-up protections in the Italian colors, how cool is that … and rumor has it one of these switches is a ‘pitlane speed limiter’ … did I mention race car already?
