What would you say to owning a real supercar made in Italy … on a budget? I guess that sounds very interesting, and it becomes even better, what if I tell you that a Lamborghini Gallardo has become a surprisingly cheap supercar to buy, which could be because there are so many of them out there, and they’ve aged very well over time.
Back in the Seventies, Automobili Lamborghini SpA ventured into the ‘affordable supercar’ arena with the V8-powered Urraco as a more affordable option next to the ultimate supercar, the Lamborghini Countach, the MSRP on an Urraco P250 was just $22,500 in 1975, powered by a 2.5-Liter V8 engine, but you could also opt for the more powerful P300 version, with a 3-Liter engine for only $24,500 in the late Seventies, with a power output of 250 hp, which might not seem much in today’s standards, but it was still a nice car to drive, production was halted in 1979 on the Urraco model.
But Lamborghini had something really interesting towards the end of that production span, in the late Seventies you could order the Lamborghini Silhouette, an open-top version of the Urraco, complete with a front air dam, wide wheel arches, and stunning ‘telephone dial’ Bravo style wheels, a model that was specifically created for customers in warmer climates like the United States, sadly production didn’t really meet the levels Lamborghini needed, and in the end, only 52 units of the beautifully aggressive Lamborghini Silhouette were made.
In the early Eighties Lamborghini tried their hand at the entry-level supercar market again, trying to compete with the Porsche 911 Targa and the Ferrari 308/328 GTS, Lamborghini released the Jalpa, still based on the Urraco, taking the Silhouette idea further, the Lamborghini Jalpa was a 3.5-Liter V8 powered coupe with a removable roof panel, hence creating a kind of ‘Targa’ style convertible, the roof panel was, in fact, to be stored behind the two seats in the interior, power was 255 hp and this ‘baby Lamborghini’ had a top speed of 234 Km/h or 145 Mph, it would become rather popular next to the Lamborghini Countach S, and a total of 410 units of the Jalpa were built between 1981 and 1988.
But it would take a very long time before Automobili Lamborghini SpA returned to the ‘affordable supercar’ arena again, for years the main focus was the V12 flagship when the Diablo replaced the legendary Lamborghini Countach, there was no Baby Lamborghini alongside, and even when the Murciélago was introduced in 2001, the only engine being used in Sant’Agata was the magnificent V12, but all that changed in 2003 with the introduction of the Lamborghini Gallardo, no V8 this time but an even more exotic V10 engine, 5-Liter displacement, and 500 hp in a very stylish model that looked like a Baby Murciélago, and the Gallardo would quickly grow into the most popular Lamborghini ever with over 14,000 units built by 2014 when the Huracan replaced her.
The Lamborghini Gallardo evolved quite a bit during her 11-year production span, originally powered by a 5-liter V10 with 500 hp, we got a Gallardo SE with 520 hp in 2005, while that same year Lamborghini introduced the Gallardo Spyder, which became very popular. In 2007 the Gallardo Superleggera was introduced, creating a lightweight, more powerful 530-hp version, but the big leap in power came in 2008 with the mid-life facelift Gallardo LP560-4 with 560hp, a year later followed by the LP560-4 Spyder and an over more powerful LP570-4 Superleggera in 2010. The swansong of the Gallardo range was the magnificent LP570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale, a limited edition version with 150 units built between 2011 and 2013, and another 50 units in 2013 of the LP570-4 Squadra Corse … both road cars that were inspired by the Gallardo Super Trofeo racecars.
The latter models will still demand a premium in today’s market. As usual a Spyder version or one of the Superleggera editions will always be more expensive to acquire. Still, if you look at the original Gallardo Coupe built between 2003 and 2006, you are bound to find a good deal these days. While you might argue we’re talking about a 20-year-old car, this is still a modern Lamborghini. If correctly maintained, the Gallardo is a reliable car, but make no mistakes, many Gallardos found their way into the hands of people who could barely afford to buy one, let alone keep up with the expensive maintenance, this is still a Lamborghini, so dealer costs could quickly rise. Just think about that when you are looking at a second-hand Gallardo today.
Let’s just take a look at what YouTube author Doug DeMuro has to say about a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo that recently sold on Cars&Bids:
