Green, lean and very mean on buyers: Lamborghini's new £2.7m Essenza SCV12 lightweight hypercar is not road legal and owners DON'T get to take it home
- Just 40 examples will be made and the price tag will be around €3million - around £2.7million for UK buyers
- It features the most potent version of Lamborghini's 6.5-litre V12 engine available to customers
- It will be lightening fast, combining power north of 820bhp and a super-lightweight carbon-fibre chassis
- There are catches, though: it isn't legal to drive one of public roads and Lamborghini has to store it in Italy
Lamborghini has launched its latest hypercar that costs up to £2.7million - but there are a few catches.
The Essenza SCV12 is a limited run of just 40 examples powered by a highly-tuned version of Lambo's 6.5-litre V12 engine producing north of 820bhp and featuring a unique carbon-fibre chassis to provide lightening fast speeds.
But if you want one, you'll need to read the small print. As this is a car you can't drive on the road. And not only that, you don't even get to keep it on your driveway!

Green machine: Lamborghini has this week revealed its new Essenza SCV12 track car. Just 40 will be built - and there's a very big catch!
Each example will have a price tag of around €3 million - around £2.7 million for UK buyers with wallets thick enough for a deposit.
It's the spiritual successor to the mighty DIablo GTR launched 20 years ago, featuring one of the most aggressive aero packages you will ever see draped over four wheels. If big wings are your thing, this is a car that will get your blood pumping.

The latest Lambo will be powered by a highly-tuned version of the brand's 6.5-litre V12 engine producing north of 820bhp and featuring a unique carbon-fibre chassis to provide lightening fast speeds

Lamborghini hasn't quoted any acceleration or top speed figures for it yet, but it will eclipse the 0-to-62mph time of 2.8 seconds and 218mph of the Aventador SVJ it shares a powerplant with

It's the spiritual successor to the mighty DIablo GTR launched 20 years ago, featuring a similarly aggressive aero package
As it hints in its name, it uses Lamborghini's wonderful V12 motor. But this is the most extreme version of it for customers to buy, with the 6.5-litre unit ripped from the already potent Aventador SVJ tuned with a racier exhaust, fuel system and ECU to generate upwards of 820bhp.
Lamborghini hasn't quoted any acceleration or top speed figures for it yet, but it will eclipse the 0-to-62mph time of 2.8 seconds and 218mph of the SVJ it shares a powerplant with.
But as the saying goes: 'With great power comes great responsibility.' And in the eyes of Lamborghini, nobody is responsible enough to be let loose with this much brake horsepower on public roads.
Hence why the Essenza SCV12 is for track use only.


The Essenza SCV12 is the spiritual successor to the mighty Lamborghini DIablo GTR from two decades ago

A reported 32 Lamborghini Diablo GTRs were built - here are 20 of the examples pictured in one shot
And that's not the only limitation customers face if they want to get their hands on one.
Despite buyers bankrolling this vehicle with funds of up to £2.7million of their own hard-earned cash, they won't be able to park it in their garage or on their driveway.
This car comes with a strict 'not to take home policy', with Lamborghini instead provided a dedicated storage facility in its hometown of Sant’Agata Bolognese for each one.

What's the catch? Not only can it not be driven on the road, the 40 customers who can afford one can't even keep it at home...

This car comes with a strict 'not to take home policy', with Lamborghini instead provided a dedicated storage facility in its hometown of Sant’Agata Bolognese for each one. That means you can't even pretend to drive it in your own garage

Each of the 40 examples will have their own personalised storage facility that's equipped with a webcam so you can check up on it on a dedicated app on your smartphone
Each of the 40 examples will have their own personalised garage that's equipped with a webcam.
Owner will be given access to the cameras on a special app so they can watch it accumulate every spec of dust from their smartphone or other devices.
When owners do want to drive the car they've actually bought, they need to prepare themselves for a terrifying rapid experience.
Fitted with a ram-air scoop on its roof, the device pushes extra air into the engine's intake manifold to boost performance.
The faster the car is travelling and gulping down air, the more the power output increases. Yikes!

This is the most extreme version of Lamborghini's V12 engine available to customers. It's an upgrade of the 6.5-litre unit taken from the already potent Aventador SVJ, then tuned with a racier exhaust, fuel system and ECU to generate upwards of 820bhp

That ram-air scoop on its roof pushes extra air into the engine's intake manifold to boost performance. The faster the car is travelling and gulping down air, the more the power output increases

How do the doors open? Upwards of course! If you're going to spend a hefty sum on a Lamborghini, it should have the correct doors
And all that power isn't going to four wheels. It's rear wheel drive only, with drive sent via a six-speed sequential gearbox.
As well as having a flyweight carbon fibre chassis, most of the external appendages are also molded out of the composite material.
That includes the enormous rear wing and its mount, front splitter, rear canards, side skirts and whopping rear diffuser, all of which combine at speed to produce more downforce than a GT3 racer.
Here's hoping the not-to-all-tastes 'Verde Silvans' green paint on the launch car is optional.

Owners who do get to experience their cars on track will be to be extremely cautious, as over 800bhp is delivered solely to the rear wheels - so there's no safety of all-wheel-drive

The specially-crafted aero pack on the Essenza SCV12 combines together to produce more downforce than a GT3 racer

The enormous rear wing and its mount, front splitter, rear canards, side skirts and whopping rear diffuser are all carbon fibre
Uprated suspension, brakes, tyres and suspension means it also holds the road and stops like a race car.
Additionally, the interior is the full racing spec - so that means none of the usual creature comforts you'd get in a Huracan or Aventador.
While it does get an F1-style steering wheel and a hi-tech control panel in the centre console to allow owners to make finite adjustments to the throttle response and how invasive the traction control is, it doesn't get much else bar a couple of bucket seats and racing harnesses.
There isn't even windows, air conditioning or door handles, which have been stripped from the inside to save weight.
The glass has been substituted for lighter polycarbonate sheets with a letterbox-style opening. And to get out of the car, drivers have to pull on a fabric loop to release the upward-opening doors.

The interior is the full racing spec, with an F1-style steering wheel, bucket seats, five-point harnesses and even a control panel to make intricate adjustments to the throttle and brake response

To keep weight low there's no air-conditioning and the windows are polycarbonate rather than glass. It also does away with interior door handles, replacing them with a loop pull of material

Customers best get swatting up before they go out on track, as the volume of buttons on the steering wheel and dash would send the likes of Lewis Hamilton into a spin
Stefano Domenicali, CEO and chairman of Automobili Lamborghini, said the Essenza SCV12 represents the 'purest track driving experience that our brand can offer', dubbing it an 'engineering feat that highlights the inextricable link between our cars and the asphalt of the track'.
He added: 'Lamborghini is a brand constantly looking to the future and searching for new challenges, but we never forget our roots and who we are: Essenza SCV12 is the perfect combination of our unconventional spirit as a super sports car manufacturer and our true passion for motorsport.'
Buyers will be issued with a track calendar of events scheduled to start in 2021 - something Lambo is calling 'arrive and drive' meetings.
They will only be held at FIA Grade 1 homologated circuits. Silverstone is the only UK entry in this category, which also includes F1 and MotoGP tracks such as Monza and Mugello in Italy, Catalunya and Jerez in Spain and Magny-Cours and Paul Ricard in France.
Five-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Emanuele Pirro, will be on hand at all the events to tutor owners, alongside Marco Mapelli, Lamborghini Squadra Corse's factory driver.

Buyers will be issued with a track calendar of events scheduled to start in 2021 - something Lambo is calling 'arrive and drive' meetings - they can book and have their car delivered to

If you were spending in the region of £2.7million on a car, would you be happy to pay for the Essenza SCV12 knowing you can't use it on the road or even take it home?
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