Best Lamborghini cars: the greatest models to wear the Raging Bull
From the Miura, to the Countach and ‘Rambo Lambo’, we name our favourite models to roll out of Sant’Agatta Bolognese
As well as being a purveyor of some truly lovely tractors, Lamborghini’s reputation as a top-shelf supercar maker is the envy of just about every other brand in the business. In fact, Lambo is often credited as being the creator of the world’s first-ever supercar, the Miura. With this rich heritage and a portfolio of cars that are as wild to look at as they are to drive, there’s no shortage of options when trying to come up with a list of the greatest Lamborghini cars of all time.
Ranging from ferocious record-holders to alarmingly thirsty SUVs, our expert road testing team have taken on the difficult task of picking out the top 10 best Lamborghini cars ever made, and you’ll find their picks below. If you have your own contribution to add to our list, be sure to mention it in the comments section.
Lamborghini 400 GT
By Alastair Crooks
- Price new: £6,000
- Price now: £500,000
- Engine: 4.0-litre V12
- Transmission: Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 320bhp/374Nm
- 0-62mph: 6.8 seconds
- Top speed: 168mph
Although I drove a Lamborghini Miura the very same day, nothing could eclipse the experience of trying a Lamborghini 400 GT. Based on marque’s first car, the 350 GT from 1964, the 400 GT arrived in 1966 with several key upgrades that really helped Ferrucio Lamborghini cement his status in the automotive world as a genuine threat to Ferrari.
It's powered by a V12 developed by Bizzarrini, the same one still fitted to the Murcielago 50 years later. In the 400 GT, it’s a 320bhp, 4.0-litre unit for a 6.8-second 0-62mph time. The Miura arrived in same year and topped out at 171mph, but the 400 GT was just 3mph shy.
Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae
By Jordan Katsianis
- Price new: £324,000
- Price now: £450,000
- Engine: 6.5-litre V12
- Transmission: Seven-speed semi-automatic, four-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 769bhp/720Nm
- 0-62mph: 2.8 seconds
- Top speed: 220mph
My favourite Lamborghini is one of the lesser-known Aventador specials that was released at the end of its lifecycle. The Ultimae combined the savage 769bhp variant of the 6.5-litre V12 engine from the SVJ with a softer chassis set-up. This created, to my mind, the most engaging V12 Lamborghini of its generation.
It also had suspension and chassis tech that made the most of its powertrain, such as rear-wheel steering and active fluid-filled dampers. But in reality it was all about the engine.
I was lucky to get behind the wheel of this special car and it was one of the most visceral and exciting drives of my career.
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Lamborghini Countach LP 5000QV
By Paul Barker
- Price new: £91,000
- Price now: £750,000
- Engine: 5.2-litre V12
- Transmission: Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 414bhp/500Nm
- 0-62mph: 4.8 seconds
- Top speed: 185mph
Despite being revealed in 1971 and launching in the mid-seventies as a replacement for the Miura, the Lamborghini Countach is an eighties’ icon. Earlier versions of the Bertone-styled supercar were cleaner, but there’s something about the optional rear wing and additional bodywork that makes it such a stunning brute.
It transformed a sleek supercar into a head-turning bruiser that couldn’t be ignored. Almost 2,000 Countachs were built, while its enduring popularity explains why used prices sit in excess of half a million pounds today.
Lamborghini Diablo VT
By Alex Ingram
- Price new: £155,000
- Price now: £300,000-plus
- Engine: 5.7-litre V12
- Transmission Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 485bhp/580Nm
- 0-62mph: 4.5 seconds
- Top speed: 202mph
For a certain generation of car fans – this writer included – the Diablo is the ultimate Lamborghini. In the nineties, it was the poster car to top all others. Marcelo Gandini has a staggering back catalogue, but few of his designs managed to mix drama and beauty quite as seamlessly.
Contemporary road tests spoke of a car that was very much of a time before supercars became easy to use every day. The clutch needed a bodybuilder’s left leg to operate and early models didn’t have power steering. But all is forgiven and forgotten the second you hear the noise of that 5.7-litre V12 – and all the more when you just stand back and look at it.
Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Balboni
By Richard Ingram
- Price new: £137,900
- Price now: £200,000
- Engine: 5.2-litre V10
- Transmission: Six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 542bhp/540Nm
- 0-62mph: 3.9 seconds
- Top speed: 199mph
I fell in love with the Lamborghini Gallardo the moment I set eyes on it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed back in 2003. The car evolved throughout its life, with a drop-top Spyder, various power hikes, special editions and a facelift.
But to me, the LP550-2 Balboni is peak Gallardo. It swapped the standard car’s 4WD layout and sent all 542bhp to the rear axle. It had a redeveloped limited-slip differential, and kept that all-important gated manual gearbox.
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Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato
By Steve Walker
- Price new: £233,000
- Price now: £227,000
- Engine: 5.2-litre V10
- Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch auto, four-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 602bhp/560Nm
- 0-62mph: 3.4 seconds
- Top speed: 160mph
We should probably have seen it coming from a brand with a proud history of all-wheel-drive supercars, which had launched the Urus SUV in 2018 and that started out selling tractors, but in 2023 the Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato was still a bit of a shock. Limited to 1,499 units, the Sterrato (‘dirt road’ in Italian), was part of the firm's 60th anniversary celebrations. It amounts to an off-road version of the Huracán supercar.
This was a properly resolved performance car, incorporating learnings from the Urus's development and serving as a swansong for the Huracan and its V10 engine. Its 602bhp output was enough for 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds on the road, but the Sterrato is best in dirt, where it's a complete hooligan. Yet it's an easy car to potter around town in, too.
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Lamborghini LM002
By Dean Gibson
- Price new: £100,000
- Price now: £350,000
- Engine: 5.2-litre V12 (or optional 7.2-litre V12)
- Transmission: Five-speed manual, four-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 449bhp/500Nm
- 0-62mph: 7.7 seconds
- Top speed: 118mph
Arguably bridging the gap between Lamborghini’s supercars and its tractors, the LM002 was the by-product of an attempt to win a lucrative contract with the US Army for an off-road attack vehicle.
The straight edges and flat panels of the original Cheetah prototype helped define the LM002’s look, but rather than a rear-mounted Chrysler V8, the production car had the same V12 as the Countach QV mounted in the nose. It packed the same 449bhp as the QV, but with a permanent 4x4 system and a 2.7-tonne kerb weight,
its 0-62mph time of 7.7 seconds and top speed of 118mph were far more sedate. It made up for that with its presence, and it wasn’t nicknamed the Rambo Lambo for no reason.
Lamborghini Miura P400
By George Armitage
- Price new: £20,000(est)
- Price now: £2.2 million - £4 million
- Engine: 3.9-litre V12
- Transmission: Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 350bhp/378Nm
- 0-62mph: 6.7 seconds
- Top speed: 170mph
Picture the scene: a bright-orange Lamborghini Miura gliding through the Italian Alps, the V12 symphony humming, with Matt Monro’s ‘On Days Like These’ in the background. The opening of The Italian Job is one of the most memorable film intros ever, but the Miura didn’t need Hollywood to be iconic. It was the first true ‘supercar’, with that word coined for the car by journalists when it was released.
The Miura is low, mid-engined and powered by a glorious 3.9-litre V12; that racing-inspired layout changed how the fastest supercars were built. Designed by Bertone's Marcello Gandini, it looked like a concept brought to life. The Miura stood out, and even after 50 years, the original supercar still does.
Lamborghini Murcielago Super Veloce
By Tom Jervis
- Price new: £265,937
- Price now: £800,000
- Engine: 6.5-litre V12
- Transmission: Six-speed manual, four-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 661bhp/660Nm
- 0-62mph: 3.2 seconds
- Top speed: 212mph (209mph with aero kit)
There were concerns that Audi’s buyout of Lamborghini might tame the bonkers nature of the supercar maker. Thankfully, the Lamborghini Murcielago arrived in the early 2000s to quell such unease, with its V12, deployable bat wings and signature Lambo scissor doors to go alongside the sensible four-wheel-drive set-up and superior build quality brought in by the Germans.
But even more deranged was 2009's Super Veloce variant. The engine displacement had already recently been enlarged from 6.2 to 6.5 litres for the refreshed LP 640 version, but the SV edition went further with new exhaust and intake systems, plus improved valve timing to boost power to 661bhp and a top speed of 212mph.
Lamborghini Sesto Elemento
By Ellis Hyde
- Price new: £1.95million
- Price now: £2million
- Engine: 5.2-litre V10
- Transmission: Six-speed automated manual, four-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 562bhp/540Nm
- 0-62mph: 2.5 seconds
- Top speed: 221mph
Too unhinged to be let loose on public roads, the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento looked like the result of a night of debauchery between a B-2 stealth bomber and a GT3 race car. Almost every part was made using carbon fibre, including the suspension.
It weighs less than a Vauxhall Corsa, and the 562bhp V10 and all-wheel drive means 0-62mph takes 2.5 seconds. But more than just sheer speed, the fanatical pursuit of lightness delivered an incredibly raw driving experience and astonishing handling abilities.
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