Skip advert
Advertisement

Lamborghini Murcielago

Rather like retiring a racehorse, it’s now time for the Murciélago to bow out and take on lighter duties

It was September 2004 when I pointed SG54’s short nose through the doors of Lamborghini Manchester with just 64 miles on the clock, and while the 44,594 miles that followed weren’t all plain sailing, I can’t think of anything I’ve driven before or since that can get close to the sense of occasion when those scissor doors slammed shut and that fabulous 6.2-litre V12 exploded into life.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Back then the plan was to run the Lambo for three months or so, then hopefully offload it at near the original price (Murciélagos aren’t exactly thick on the ground now; three years ago they were rarer still). But one Sunday morning it all went wrong. Hammering down a favourite B-road, listening to that gorgeous gear whine and the jet-like roar from those huge Tubi tips, it dawned on me that I just couldn’t let this leviathan go. I wasn’t ready to give up the dream. A way would have to be found to justify the projected expense and enable me to really use this Lamborghini.

For a supercar, the Murciélago was surprisingly easy to live with. The boot was huge (far bigger than a Gallardo’s) and those attention-grabbing scissor doors really did help in tight spots. That said, parking on a street got no easier during my three years with the car. The Murciélago is a monster that has the ability to make its driver look foolish, and mine succeeded in doing just that on several occasions. One attempt to reverse ‘Balboni’-style (door up, rear end on sill, leaning out) in front of onlookers ended in disaster when my foot slipped off the clutch and I hit a Clio parked behind…

Advertisement - Article continues below
Skip advert
Advertisement
Advertisement - Article continues below

Being centre stage is something you just have to get used to when piloting a seven-foot-wide carrot-coloured beast around town, as associate editor Tomalin discovered when he borrowed the Murciélago for a week. He clearly enjoyed the experience, but as he handed back the keys his first words were ‘How do you cope with the attention?’ I knew what he meant. As the months passed I found I became both more aware of it and more uncomfortable with it. In the end I bottled it and had the windows tinted. But that doesn’t help when you trip over the wide doorsill while exiting the car and end up in a heap on the pavement…

Parking aside, there wasn’t much to complain about in daily driving. The A-pillars often got in the way (a small price to pay to be able to gaze at Donckerwolke’s stunning design when you got out) and the huge pantograph wiper would lift off the screen at high speeds. I also discovered early on that the Murciélago was sadly lacking in the brake department. In fact I can honestly say that the middle pedal on my Vauxhall Corsa van had more bite. And while the Murcie’s discs were just about adequate for the road, after a couple of laps on track I’d soon find the brake pedal sinking into the carpet, accompanied by alarmingly little in the way of actual stopping power. So I’m sure you can imagine I wasn’t best pleased when, three months after I took delivery of my Murciélago, the 2005 model appeared with – yep, you guessed it – new callipers borrowed from the Gallardo, totally transforming the car’s stopping abilities. Oh, and it got a redesigned wiper set-up too!

Advertisement - Article continues below
Skip advert
Advertisement
Advertisement - Article continues below

Upgrading to a set of Tarox discs improved the braking situation on my car, while another essential addition was the Tubi Style exhaust tips and silencer. The factory back-box weighs an incredible 40kg, so losing that in favour of the Tubi resulted in an immediate 30kg weight saving, but, of course, the main difference was to the sound. Instead of being strangled by its standard Euro-pandering pipes, the big Lambo was suddenly able to clear its throat. The sound of that V12 thundering through tunnels will stay with me for a long time.

Wear and tear wise, bar a worn patch on the driver’s seat, the interior was still almost like new after all those miles, and the exterior still had a lovely deep sheen to it thanks to the Zymol wax treatments it received – a worthwhile move, I reckon.

Reliability? On the face of it, it doesn’t look good for the Murciélago, particularly with it blotting its copybook at the last moment with a whopping £11,580 bill for a new crankshaft. But the need for that work was almost certainly as a result of this Lambo enduring far more circuit use than is normal – around 7000 miles in total, in fact. Remove that from the equation and, when you consider that SG54 travelled a further 38,000 miles on the road in all weathers, it’s not had a bad track record at all. Most of the faults I encountered were those common to the model (temperamental throttle bodies, central locking that suddenly acquired a mind of its own, an annoying ticking noise emanating from the front nearside wheel), and all were fixed under warranty quickly and efficiently.

Advertisement - Article continues below
Skip advert
Advertisement
Advertisement - Article continues below

Covering all those miles, it was inevitable that I would get to know my dealer, Lamborghini Manchester, pretty well, and a more enthusiastic bunch of Lambophiles I couldn’t hope to meet. A chat with the technicians was always possible – a nice touch and a good sign in my book.

Supercar running costs are still prohibitive, though – servicing alone topped £18K over three years – which is why SG54 was put to work for its living, offering passenger ‘hot laps’ and later driving experiences at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground and other venues. In year three it almost broke even too, although this didn’t address the final, huge sting in the tail: catastrophic depreciation.

And that, my friends, is the problem. Beg, borrow and steal to acquire your favourite Italian exotic, but dare to buck the trend by actually using it on a regular basis and, when you come to sell, you’ll be spanked harder than if you paid a visit to a dominatrix in a Parisian brothel. It’s a ridiculously outmoded state of affairs, since Italian supercars are far tougher than they were even ten years ago, but a high-mileage Murciélago is almost unsaleable at a sensible price.

So the decision has been made. I’m going to ride the storm and keep this Lambo until things level out. How long that will be is anyone’s guess…

Running Costs

Date acquiredSeptember 2004
Total mileage44,658
Duration of test34 months
Average MPG10.0mpg
Servicing costs£18,425 (2004: £375, 2005:£5,300, 2006: £6,300, 2007: £6,450)
Consumables£500 (two clutches), £7,264 (eight sets of Pirellis), £1,500 (Tarox brake discs), £2,800 (eight sets of pads), £11,580 (replacement crankshaft), £1,000 (other)
Price new£172,655
Trade in value£85,000
Depreciation£87,655
Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

More on Murcielago

2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster review and pictu
Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster
Reviews

2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster review and pictu

We drive the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster. The best convertible supercar on sale?
4 Feb 2013
Lamborghini 50th anniversary gallery
Lamborghini 350GT
News

Lamborghini 50th anniversary gallery

Lamborghini is 50 years old this year, so to celebrate we have created a gallery of all the supercar manufacturer's greatest hits
24 Jan 2013
Lambo Aventador gallery
Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
News

Lambo Aventador gallery

Lamborghini builds its 1000th Aventador LP700-4 supercar. We celebrate with a video and big picture gallery
20 Jul 2012
Lamborghini Urus SUV
Lamborghini Urus SUV
News

Lamborghini Urus SUV

Lamborghini pulls the wraps off its shock super SUV, the 600bhp, twin-turbo V8 Urus
22 Apr 2012
Lambo Aventador J video
Video: Lamborghini Aventador J
Videos

Lambo Aventador J video

Exclusive video access to Lamborghini's jaw-dropping one-off Aventador J speedster
28 Mar 2012
Aventador J video
Lamborghini Aventador J doors up
News

Aventador J video

Lamborghini releases a teasing promo video of its new Aventador J. Want one?
13 Mar 2012
Geneva 2012: Aventador J gallery
Lamborghini Aventador J
News

Geneva 2012: Aventador J gallery

A huge in-depth picture gallery of the stunning Lamborghini Aventador J supercar and its stunning details
8 Mar 2012
Aventador meets ancestors
Lamborghini Aventador meets Countach, Diablo, Murcielago
Features

Aventador meets ancestors

Lamborghini's all new V12 supercar, the Aventador, tackles its illustrious prececessors, the Countach QV, Diablo 6.0 VT and Murcielago SV
21 Dec 2011
evo Issue 162
Latest issue of evo Magazine
News

evo Issue 162

Lamborghini Aventador v Murcielago SV v Diablo 6.0 v Countach, new Jaguar C-X16 sports car, all-new Porsche 911 guide, Boss Mustang v M3 v C63 v RS5
14 Sep 2011
Rear drive Lambo Aventador
New Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 supercar by Oakley
News

Rear drive Lambo Aventador

Oakley Design tunes the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 supercar. More power, rear wheel drive
17 May 2011
Lamborghini Aventador video
Geneva 2011: Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
News

Lamborghini Aventador video

Lamborghini reveals the new Aventador LP700-4, its fastest, most powerful supercar yet, at the 2011 Geneva show - show pics and video
2 Mar 2011
New Lambo Aventador
New Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 supercar official pictures
News

New Lambo Aventador

Lamborghini reveals the new Aventador LP700-4, its fastest, most powerful supercar yet. News and pictures here
28 Feb 2011
Skip advert
Advertisement
Countach road trip
Lamborghini Countach QV road trip videos
Videos

Countach road trip

evo's Harry Metcalfe takes his legendary Lamborghini Countach QV supercar on a road trip. Video action here
2 Feb 2011
New Lamborghini driven
New Lamborghini supercar
News

New Lamborghini driven

evo's Michael Taylor has a drive in Lamborghini's Murcielago replacing flagship supercar
8 Dec 2010
Lamborghini's new supercar
Lamborghini Murcielago replacement supercar
News

Lamborghini's new supercar

First details of Lamborghini’s new Murcielago supercar replacement are released
15 Nov 2010
Goodbye Murcielago
Lamborghini Murcielago
News

Goodbye Murcielago

Production of Lamborghini's Murcielago V12 supercar comes to an end. A gallery of its life
11 Nov 2010
Special Lambo LP670-4 SV
Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV crash
News

Special Lambo LP670-4 SV

Lamborghini uses the Beijing motor show to unveil a special Murcielago LP670-4 SV
23 Apr 2010
Lamborghini LP640 track test
Lamborghini Murcielago LP640
Videos

Lamborghini LP640 track test

The Lamborghini LP640 battles the Aston Martin DBS on track. Which V12 supercar wins?
6 Apr 2010
Lambo goes green
Lamborghini's photovoltaic factory
News

Lambo goes green

Cutting weight and using solar power: two ways Lamborghini's cutting its CO2 emissions
19 Mar 2010
Lambo SV crashed
Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV crash
News

Lambo SV crashed

The Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV supercar that starred in evo 129 crashes
22 Feb 2010
Lambo sales record
Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV
News

Lambo sales record

The 4000th Lamborghini Murcielago rolls out of Sant'Agata. And it's an LP670-4 SV
16 Feb 2010
Lamborghini SV
evo 139 - Italia!
News

Lamborghini SV

Another gallery, blog and video supercar special, this time for the mad (but sublime) Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV
8 Dec 2009
Crashed Pagani
Crashed Pagani Zonda F
News

Crashed Pagani

Yet another heartbreaking hypercar crash: this time it's a Pagani Zonda F
8 Dec 2009