With the Revuelto, a new era has begun for Lamborghini. For the first time, the brand is using plug-in hybrid technology. But, purists, fear not: there is still a V12 in the back. Just like in one of its illustrious predecessors, the Murciélago. When we had the chance to drive them both in Italy, we couldn’t pass it up.
The fact that you find two low, white Lambos here has to do with a happy coincidence. On the occasion of the festivities surrounding ’60 years of Lamborghini Craftmanship’ we were able to immerse ourselves in the world of the Italian brand that was founded in 1963 – so you can take those 60 years with a grain of salt – by Ferruccio Lamborghini. With the 350 GT, he doesn’t cut a bad figure against the cars of his great rival Enzo Ferrari in 1964.
However, it was in 1966 that another model made the ambitious industrialist take a step back. We had never experienced them as low, sleek, elegant and powerful as the Miura. Marcello Gandini’s design is an icon of automotive history to this day. You can also say that about the successor that saw the light of day in 1974: the extremely sleek Countach – also from Gandini’s pen. What a huge difference in design within a period of just eight years!
If we continue the tradition of Lamborghini V12 top models, we arrive via the Diablo (1990) at its successor, the Murciélago. We are writing 2001, and the Italians have barely recovered from the fact that their brand has come into the hands of the mighty Volkswagen concern. That has plenty of cash, is well organized and well structured. Things that are anything but self-evident at the time the Murciélago is being developed. During that period, mid to late 1990s, Lamborghini is owned by Asian investors. Who took over the company from Chrysler again in 1994. A messy time, in short, and Volkswagen comes not a moment too soon. The fact that we can drive a Lamborghini today that was developed before Volkswagen (really) got involved offers a great opportunity to experience how things have changed in Sant’Agata Bolognese, the home of Lamborghini.
Lambo with matching bag
Collaborations between fashion brands and car manufacturers were very common in the past, and at the beginning of this century Ferruccio Lamborghini and Gianni Versace joined forces. Figuratively speaking, because Ferruccio exchanged the temporary for the eternal in 1993, Gianni four years later. Twenty copies of the Versace-Murciélago were built, and we are in copy 0001, we read on the plaque between the backrests. We now also know where he lived: at Via Gesii number 12 in Milan. Not crucial information for such a picture, you would say, but you can sometimes expect the unexpected from Italians. On the outside, you can recognize the Versace version by the labyrinth-like logo on the doors and… nothing else actually. This version of the LP640 debuted at the Paris Motor Show in 2006. It was available as a roadster and coupé, in black or white. To make your exclusive Murciélago even more exclusive, Versace supplied matching bags, shoes and gloves.
Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 Versace.
No unnecessary frills on the outside. There is plenty of evidence that Lambos don’t get any prettier as the years go by. See the heavily spoiler-laden farewell versions of, for example, the Countach and the Diablo. The Murcie’s – in Lamborghini terms, quiet – lines are impressive enough in themselves. The large, sharply cut surfaces in good Countach tradition contrast considerably with the much more rounded lines of its predecessor, the Diablo. The design of that was also by Gandini, the Murciélago is by the Belgian Luc Donckerwolke. Headlights and taillights are of a serious size, the forward-hinged doors, air intakes on the shoulders and slats above the V12 are recognizable design elements.
Lamborghini Murciélago and Revuelto.
The design of the Revuelto, Lamborghini’s current V12 top model that was presented in 2023, is more extreme than the Murciélago in everything. Even sharper lines, even larger cooling openings and an even more aggressive appearance. The Murcie almost looks civilized next to it. Lamborghini has never been the most subtle supercar brand, and the Revuelto is yet another proof of that.
Rough-and-ready Murcie
Rough-and-ready sounds disrespectful, but that’s actually what it comes down to if you compare the interior of the Murciélago with that of the Revuelto. But don’t forget that Lamborghini was a very different company at the time of the Murciélago than it is today. There is much more peace and stability today and therefore more attention to quality. Despite the Versace elements, the leather and the carbon, the inside of the Murciélago is simple and functional. Do you really need more, with such a fantastic V12 in your neck? Asking the question is answering it.
However, the Revuelto proves that form and function can go together perfectly; the sleek design language of the exterior is seamlessly continued inside, with the Y-shapes and the hexagon as identity-defining elements. Physical buttons can in fact only be found on the steering wheel, everything else is processed in the central screen. That is much more research than with the relatively analog Murcie, but in the end it is also about one thing in the Revuelto: driving. And, admittedly, being seen. Because that is ultimately what this category of cars is all about. Demanding attention, that usually works fine in a Lamborghini.
This doesn’t bode well
Wháááf! With a brutal, goosebump-inducing bark, the V12 of the Murciélago comes to life. I haven’t even covered the first meter yet, but that unashamed grin is already on my face. That first meter turns out to be even more complicated than expected, because not only do you have to complete the correct ritual with the flippers behind the steering wheel to get the gearbox into first gear, you also need a clutch that cooperates a bit. The latter turns out not to be the case.
While I see the heat of the twelve-cylinder rising along the slats in the rearview mirror, the growling white monster comes off its spot with a lot of slip. But this does not bode well for the rest of the ride. Such a robotic gearbox was quite something at the time, but in 2025 it feels hopelessly slow and outdated. Fortunately, the mechanism is better in its element at higher speeds, when more action is required, and the shift times are considerably shorter. Although that is quite relative compared to the Revuelto’s dual clutch gearbox, which slams the next gear in faster than you can blink.
The spectacle of the Murciélago LP640 is the 6.5-liter V12, still a real Lamborghini block. It’s not even about the power of 640 hp with which the Murcie is still seriously fast (0-100 in 3.4 seconds, a top of 330 km/h), it’s about the sensation with which the acceleration is accompanied. At 4,000 rpm you already have the idea that you are well on your way, that is how hard the V12 screams. But then you realize that you are only halfway there; the red zone only starts at 8,500!
Great how well the V12 hangs on the gas, how direct the response is. He doesn’t give you a kick in the back like his grandson Revuelto does, but guys it’s been a long time since I heard myself laugh out loud with pleasure in a car. What an experience. Then you quickly forgive him his shortcomings, such as the indirect steering, the understeering character, the poor insulation, the poor seats and the rock-hard, unrefined chassis.
Shuffling electrically through the city
Switching to the Revuelto shows that twenty years in automotive history is an eternity. If I wanted to, I could shuffle silently electrically through the city. But I don’t want to today, if only because I’m not in the city but in the Italian countryside. There the new, atmospheric V12 can show its skills, in collaboration with the three electric motors (two front and one rear) of the Revuelto. More than 1,000 hp of system power is hard to comprehend, and the fact that this Lambo goes bizarrely hard with it with the greatest of ease is really only self-evident.
It is a fantastic powertrain. The acceleration (0-100 in 2.5 seconds) and deceleration are impressive, the car feels very light-footed at high speed; small steering movements have a big influence. Really completely different than with the Murciélago. The same applies to the chassis. That is indeed (also) firm, but then quieter, more refined and more refined. The only blemish is the sound that the V12 produces. Even though you can pull it through to almost 10,000 (!) rpm, it still sounds more emotional than the old Lambo block from the Murciélago.
What it boils down to is that the Revuelto does everything much better than the Murciélago. That really feels like a sports car from another era. Very rudimentary, little refinement. But therefore also all the more brutal and unsurpassed in terms of sensations and experience. When, at the end of the day, after my ride with the Revuelto, I see the Murcie limping onto the factory grounds of Lamborghini on a trailer, I am very happy that I had the first ‘slot’ to drive it today. When the clutch just barely held out. Things weren’t all better in the past…
Lamborghini Revuelto and Murciélago.