Today Lamborghini has an Aventador because there was a Murcielago before it. It is this car that took the Lamborghini flagship to new heights and it was this car that made the flagship bigger, better and faster.

The Murcielago was literally the flagship to transition from the old Lamborghini to the new with new styling cues, multiple engine updates and addition of new technology to the car.

Beginning of THE Flagship:

The Murcielago was introduced back in 2001, which seems like such a long time today. But back then, it was the car that has shaped the way Lamborghinis look today because back then it was a revolution in the design of the Murcielago. Previous flagship from Lamborghini; DIABLO also did very well as a flagship, but it was time for change since there were a lot of changes going on in Lamborghini.

For starters, the design of the Murcielago was a fresh welcome change since it was the first change in the design for a Lamborghini car in 11 years. Now that is over a decade. Secondly the car was the first to be developed under the new management of Audi, which is a Volkswagen owned brand. This is the reason why the Murcielago is so important.

Not only is the car a true icon but it is the proof that even under the new ownership, the car has not lost touch with its roots and even the new management left no stone unturned to make sure that the car stayed true to its Lamborghini origin. This was also the first flagship to actually get a complete engine makeover in its lifetime and not an update or retuning of the engine.

Under the Hood:

Source: https://www.zastavki.com/

We all know that the Lamborghini Murcielago is one car that is an amazing looker with the Angular cut quadrilateral headlamps and the scissor doors. But what really was special about this car is its engine.

When launched, the Murcielago had received the 6.2-litre V12 engine that produced 575HP of maximum power and was also starred in the movie Batman Begins.

But the main fun arrived when this engine was bumped up to a 6.5-litre V12, which was the start for this engine being used in Lamborghini flagships. The powertrain churned out 640HP power and an impressive amount of torque pull. This was also the car that first had manual transmission on it and later received the E-gear package to it making it a true luxury cum performance machine.

Later with years to come by, the engine of the car received tuning updated where the power of the car was increased from 640 to 650 HP and later to 670 HP, which was really impressive. The final iteration of the car finally made to the 3 second mark and the last edition, the Murcielago SuperVeloce, was the one to breach 0-100 kmph in 2.8 seconds

Performance and Features:

The Murcielago was the epitome of performance from Lamborghini back then, as it was the first Lamborghini to be fitted with so many performance parts and lots of electronics to go along with it.

It was a car that could do 300kmph of top thwack and also run speeds quite quickly. The second iteration of the car, which was a roadster, has a convertible top and there the company even put out a warning on the windscreen for the driver to not cross 100 miles per hour with the top up.

Other than that the car got the E-gear system that allowed the driver to switch the car to automatic when needed and if he wanted the manual transmission, he could shift the gears using paddle shifters located at the back of the steering wheel.

Also the Murcielago had the electromechanically controlled rear spoiler, which came into effect only when the car reaches high speeds, so as to provide better performance and aid in the cooling of the engine too.

The engine was located in the rear of the car and was provided with water and oil cooling along with multiple air inlets. The rear location did help in the performance of the car by making it more nimble and hence could attack corners really well. This even allowed the car to be capable of participation in Motorsports.

Motorsports Participation:

The Lamborghini Murcielago with its V12 6.5-litre producing 670HP of power was the car of choice for many to take part in motorsports. The Murcielago R-GT was a limited edition track only version and only 9 units of them were made to comply with the regulations.

It entered a lot of tournaments and won various races but sadly it was not classified in the 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, which if possible could have had been a huge thing for Lamborghini as a whole.

Limited Editions:

Source: www.moibbk.co

The Murcielago underwent about 5 FACELIFTS and updates in its lifetime as follows:

• Murcielago
• Murcielago Roadster
• Murcielago LP 640
• Murcielago LP 640 Roadster
• Murcielago LP 670–4 SuperVeloce

Apart from this the car also received numerous LIMITED EDITIONS too as follows:

• 40th Anniversary Edition
• LP 640 Versace
• LP 650–4 Roadster
• LP 670–4 SuperVeloce China Limited Edition

There were a lot of reports previously that the Lamborghini cars were catching on fire and due to which the company recalled about 428 of its cars for a suspected fuel pump issues that could cause a leak in fuel and hence lead to catch fire. But the problem is now reported to be sorted out.

The Lamborghini Murcielago is quite an iconic car for the company and it has done really well, giving justice to it being the flagship Lamborghini. There are 4099 Murcielago sold across the globe through its lifetime across various editions and updates and ultimately the car was succeeded by the Aventador in 2011.