2008 Lamborghini Reventon Review

Model year 2008 is the first and only year of production for the rarefied Lamborghini Reventon.

The V12-powered 2008 Lamborghini Reventon sports a unique fighter-plane-inspired body and cockpit, and only 20 are being produced. Lamborghini will no doubt sell every copy, even at an eye-watering price of $1.5 million.

First, the facts. The 2008 Lamborghini Reventon costs $1.5 million. It sports bodywork and interior styling inspired by the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, but under the skin it's virtually a mechanical twin of the far cheaper Murcielago LP640. The similarly priced Bugatti Veyron thoroughly trounces it with regard to both acceleration and top speed. Umm…did we mention that it costs $1.5 million?

Actually, scratch that whole paragraph. We were still stuck in our consumer-advice mindset -- you know, the one where we evaluate the relative merits and deficiencies of competing models and tell you how a rational shopper with limited resources would proceed. For those who are prepared to shell out for a Reventon of their own, it's utterly irrelevant that the $70,000 Nissan GT-R is just as quick, the $108,000 Porsche 911 GT3 is more fun to drive and the Murcielago LP640 delivers equal performance for a fraction of the price. As for the Veyron, chances are they already have one. All they need to know is that only 20 Reventons will ever be produced, which pretty much guarantees that they'll never encounter another one, even in the tony enclaves in which they reside.

Well, to be fair, there's more to the Reventon's appeal than that. We mortals may scoff at its million-dollar premium over the LP640, but this ludicrously expensive Lamborghini is undoubtedly a striking car, with more angular folds and creases than a paper airplane. Hop inside and the aeronautical theme continues, as the Reventon offers possibly the best-ever automotive imitation of an airplane cockpit. It's also blisteringly fast, dispensing with the 0-60 sprint in less than 3.4 seconds en route to a top speed of 211 mph, though those numbers are matched by its relatively bargain-priced sibling.

Cost no object, would we like to have a 2008 Lamborghini Reventon in our garage? Of course we would. And for the 20 people who buy one, cost will assuredly be no object. If our budget were limited, we wouldn't give the Reventon a second thought. But if we had more millions than we could count, as Reventon buyers no doubt do, we'd probably be right behind them in the queue.

The all-wheel-drive Reventon is powered by a 6.5-liter V12 that cranks out 650 horsepower and 487 pound-feet of torque -- a handful more horses but the same torque output as the Murcielago LP640. Lamborghini's "e-gear," a single-clutch automated-manual transmission, is mandatory. According to Lamborghini, the Reventon should dash to 60 mph in the low 3-second range. Fuel economy is Hummer-esque at 9 mpg city/14 highway and 11 combined.

Standard safety features on the 2008 Lamborghini Reventon include antilock brakes and traction control. However, stability control and side airbags are unavailable.

It's hard not to be impressed by a car that will do in excess of 200 mph while providing racecar-like handling, but one aspect of the 2008 Lamborghini Reventon that we take issue with is the e-gear transmission, which falls short of the newer multi-clutch units in both shift times and smoothness. Furthermore, the Reventon's exhaust note just doesn't stir our souls like a Ferrari. However, it's highly unlikely that most Reventons will see much time on public roads. As such, we doubt Reventon owners will care whether their prized automotive sculptures can bang off slick full-throttle upshifts or match the spine-tingling V12 wail of the comparatively commonplace Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano.

The Reventon's interior design is one of its primary claims to fame. High-quality materials are everywhere, as you might expect of a car at this mind-boggling price point, and the gauge cluster in particular has been rendered to simulate the experience of piloting the F-22 Raptor. If you're like us and haven't flown one, this basically means that the Reventon's gauges look pretty cool. Of course, as far as we're concerned, the Murcielago LP640's gauges were just fine -- but there we go again, being all practical.