OK, this one really blindsided me!When Lamborghini first started sending out teaser photos of the Estoque I was thinking it might be the modern-day interpretation of the front-engine Espada coupe, but there it was in the flesh at the 2008 Salon d'Automobiles in Paris a few weeks and a half-dozen teaser shots later, quite possibly the most desirable four-door coupe ever.
Yes, by the visuals alone it should elevate the Italian super-brand's recent sales success in the ultra-premium market. Some would say that Porsche's Panamera Gran Turismo is the pinnacle of four-door performance and prestige, especially Porschephiles not disgruntled with Stuttgart for building the car in the first place, but most will agree that Lamborghini should be deemed a little higher on the social pecking order than Porsche, at least where price is concerned.
Not counting the Aston Martin Lagonda from the late ‘70s, early ‘80s Mercedes-Benz was first to this market, effectually creating the segment by introducing the stylish CLS, and others have followed, with the most premium so far being Aston Martin with its gorgeous Rapide that will soon get in on the action. Alas, the financial crisis has claimed its first victim in the segment, the stillborn BMW CS Concept which was slated for production. A stunningly beautiful creation, the CS was poised to pull BMW back into the near-exotic segment, much like the beautiful Z8 did years ago. Let's hope the folks at VW, who are now going over the business case proposal to build Lamborghini's quattro-porte coupe, have the necessary anatomical appendages to give the go-ahead.
Why should we care? Well, for one, if you're reading this you're probably a petrol head and want to see any good design come to life, but for another, it's a beautiful design that allows Lamborghini to expand from its two-door, two-seat format into an entirely different category, much like it entered the 4x4 arena back in the ‘80s with the fabulously fast and outrageously capable LM002. Off-roaders aside, the Estoque would be a great platform to spin off a larger front-engine, four-seat, two-door coupe, a modern-day Espada, for instance, and maybe even a conventional four-seat convertible model. As nice as such thoughts are, the four individual Nappa leather covered sports seats in the Estoque show what Lamborghini could create now, and very close to what is expected to be production trim if Wolfsburg gives it the nod.
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這真的讓我很震驚！當(dāng)蘭博基尼最先開(kāi)始發(fā)出Estoque的那些誘人的照片時(shí)， 我想這可能是用現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言詮釋的前置引擎Espada轎跑車(chē)，但在巴黎的2008年汽車(chē)工業(yè)沙龍的后幾個(gè)星期，我認(rèn)為這很可能是最讓人渴望的四門(mén)跑車(chē)。
它的獨(dú)特的視覺(jué)效果應(yīng)該提升了意大利超級(jí)品牌的銷(xiāo)售成績(jī)，雖然是在近期的一個(gè)超溢價(jià)市場(chǎng)。有些人會(huì)說(shuō)，保時(shí)捷的Panamera GT賽車(chē)是四門(mén)轎跑車(chē)的性能和威望的巔峰，尤其是那些不滿(mǎn)斯圖加特是汽車(chē)制造第一城市的Porsche忠實(shí)車(chē)迷，但多數(shù)會(huì)同意，蘭博基尼應(yīng)被視為略高于保時(shí)捷的社會(huì)認(rèn)知度，至少在價(jià)格方面。
如果不計(jì)算70年代末的阿斯頓馬丁的Lagonda，80年代初的奔馳CLS創(chuàng)造了這一市場(chǎng)。隨后其他廠(chǎng)商加入，迄今為止最優(yōu)質(zhì)的就是阿斯頓馬丁華麗的Rapide。唉，金融危機(jī)已宣稱(chēng)了他的第一個(gè)受害者，寶馬CS概念車(chē)取消本已定為量產(chǎn)的計(jì)劃。CS美麗的外表本可以像前幾年的Z8一樣把寶馬帶進(jìn)一個(gè)另一個(gè)境界。讓我寄希望于大眾，他們正在通過(guò)分析一些商業(yè)案例去造車(chē)蘭博基尼的瑪莎拉蒂轎跑車(chē)。
我們?yōu)槭裁匆P(guān)心這些？第一，如果你閱讀這些，你可能是一個(gè)忠實(shí)車(chē)迷，并希望看到任何好的設(shè)計(jì)，另一個(gè)，這是一個(gè)漂亮的設(shè)計(jì)，使蘭博基尼從其雙門(mén)雙座格式擴(kuò)大到一個(gè)完全不同的類(lèi)別，很像在80年代末進(jìn)入4X4舞臺(tái)的時(shí)候他們創(chuàng)造了強(qiáng)悍的LM002。撇開(kāi)越野車(chē)來(lái)說(shuō)， Estoque將是一個(gè)巨大的平臺(tái)，擴(kuò)充了前置引擎， 4座，雙門(mén)式跑車(chē)的范疇，這就是現(xiàn)代Espada，甚至轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)閭鹘y(tǒng)的四座敞篷模式。從此看來(lái)，Estoque展示了蘭博基尼的創(chuàng)造力，已經(jīng)非常接近他們希望的量產(chǎn)目標(biāo)，如果沃爾夫斯堡給了一點(diǎn)頭。
