Lamborghini are currently a company on cloud nine, following the immense success of their new Urus SUV. Now, that newly found taste for the off-road world has resulted in Lamborghini revealing one heck of a concept.
Based on a Huracan Evo, the Sterrato Concept is a sports coupe with a taste for gravel. Even its name, Sterrato, is Italian for 'Dirt'.
As you'd somewhat expect, the biggest changes are to the Huracan's suspension and track. Ride height is increased by 47mm, with approach and departure angle increased by 1 per cent and 6.5 per cent each. According to Lamborghini, anyway.
The track is 30mm wider than standard, aided in part by the concept's new 20in wheels shod with high-profile all-terrain rubber. Front and rear skid plates and aluminium-reinforced side skirts help protect the Huracan's valuable innards, while composite bodywork with stone-deflection protection around the Lambo's bevy of intakes are designed to give drivers more confidence for exploring.
Power? Well, that's unchanged. The Sterrato makes use of the now familiar naturally aspirated 5.2-litre V10 engine from its Huracan Evo base; sending 471kW to all four wheels.
In the case of the Huracan Evo, four-wheel drive and the subsequent stability that comes with it is supported by four-wheel steering and torque vectoring. And, in this new Sterrato application, all of that is further backed by a newly re-calibrated Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integrata (LDVI) tuned specifically for tackling the dirty stuff.
“The Huracan Sterrato illustrates Lamborghini’s commitment to being a future shaper: a super sports car with off-road capabilities, the Sterrato demonstrates the Huracan’s versatility and opens the door to yet another benchmark of driving emotion and performance”, said Lamborghini CTO Maurizio Reggiani.
"Lamborghini’s R&D and design teams are constantly exploring new opportunities and delivering the unexpected as a core characteristic of our DNA, challenging possibilities while inspired by Lamborghini brand heritage.”
And, yes, there's also a Kiwi connection here.
Lamborghini has said that the Sterrato is, in part, inspired by the brand's special desert-modified Jarama and Uracco models from 1973 and 1974 ("combining Lamborghini's high performance and off-road capabilities", according to the car-maker). And, the test driver for those cars was New Zealander Bob Wallace.
From Auckland initially, Wallace moved to Italy in the late '50s before working with some of the biggest race teams of the time — including Scuderia Serenissima. A job wit Lamborghini came in 1963 as a mechanic and self-titled "trouble-shooter". Internal recognition saw him climb the ladder, and he soon became the brand's chief test driver.
Wallace left Lamborghini in 1975. His replacement? Some dude named Valentino Balboni ...
