Lamborghini's Aventador S Roadster Is A 217mph Hair-Drying Missile

It’s not ever day that a new Lamborghini slips us by, but for some reason the face-smackingly gorgeous Aventador S Roadster managed to do just that. Sorry…

Unveiled about a week ago, ahead of its starring role at the Frankfurt Motor Show today, it’s based on the Aventador S. That means it gets the more powerful, 730bhp version of the normally-aspirated V12 and a four-wheel drive system that can send up to 90 per cent of the Italian horses to the rear wheels.

It revs to 8500rpm, smashes through the 62mph mark in 3.0 seconds, 0.1 second slower than the coupé thanks to 50kg of extra chassis bracing, and tops out at the same 217.5mph. Gear shifts take as little as 50 milliseconds, and thankfully it stops as quickly as it goes: carbon ceramic brakes are standard inside 20-inch wheels at the front and 21-inch units at the back.

That’s not the new bit, though: the roof has been chopped out with typically dramatic Lamborghini flair. This isn’t just a missing roof; there’s a new Y-shaped ‘engine bridge’ running from the back window to towards the spoiler, with optional clear panels either side to showcase the awesome V12. As standard the car has the body-coloured bridge and matt black carbonfibre engine louvres.

The two removable hard top panels weigh less than 6kg, says Lamborghini, and are moulded into a convex shape to give more headroom when they’re in place. They have an, ahem, ‘easy fastening system’ that allows them to be lifted away and stored in the luggage compartment at the front of the car. A choice of finish styles and colours is yours if you can afford the £251,462 asking price… a figure that is plus tax.

You can, of course, drop the tiny rear window to better hear the mighty V12’s heartbeat, or else enjoy fiddling with the four driving modes: Strada, Sport, Corsa and Ego, which allows a driver- customisable mix of characteristics. Deliveries start in February next year.

Elsewhere in Lamborghini’s universe there’s news on the Urus front. The large, luxury-SUV-coupe-supercar-soft-roader-thingy has just been confirmed at the Frankfurt Motor Show. So if you’d like an Aventador S but prefer something a little more… controversial, then get your order in early.