Elite Traveler January-February 2017

INSPIRE LAMBORGHINI

MADRID TO OROPESA First up, I jump in a Huracan. Until the arrival of its Urus SUV in 2018, this is as close as Lamborghini gets to a town car, and it’s a good choice to negotiate a busy Madrid rush hour and a long stretch of almost-as-busy motorway. However, while the Huracan is dismissed by some as being no more than a gussied up Audi R8, it is harsh to view this as an Audi with attitude problems. It is a proper Lamborghini, with a raw and raucous V10 producing 600bhp, transmitted through a super quick dual clutch automatic. And if it is as easy to drive as a town car, the Huracan is certainly not at its happiest in a traffic jam. Once we hit a quiet stretch of highway, it becomes clear the Huracan has a “natural speed” at which everything starts to settle into place. For legal reasons, it is best not to name that speed, but there is a point where the car stops feeling like it’s searching for another gear. With its striking looks, quirky interior (the switches are designed to be as angular as the exterior and have the look of something from the cockpit of a fighter jet), this is an excellent introduction to the fleet. After a swift stop to refuel the cars, we head into the Parador in Oropesa for coffee. Paradores is a Spanish government-owned chain of hotels offering comfortable accommodation (usually in historic buildings) right across the country. The Parador at Oropesa is a classic example and as we entered in convoy and parked, it didn’t take long for a crowd of camera-wielding admirers to gather around the cars. OROPESA TO ZAFRA After an excellent cortado coffee (although several Italians in the group complained the coffee wasn’t up to scratch) and with less congested roads now available, I swapped the Huracan for an Aventador Superveloce. This is at the more serious end of the current Lamborghini range, delivering a mind-numbing 750bhp, via a fabulous naturally aspirated V12 engine. Due to environmental limits placed on all car firms, it may be one of the last V12s Lamborghini makes. I was determined to enjoy it while we have it. This was a long section of largely empty highways, a fabulous chance to allow the Aventador to stretch itself, although I had to constantly remind myself we weren’t on a racetrack. We arrived at the lunch stop – this time Parador de Zafra – with the wonderful rasping, snorting, popping sound of the Superveloce ringing in our ears. After an impressively long lunch (without wine) we were off again.

E T U R N T O F O R E V E R

There is something uplifting about walking out of a hotel, seeing a fleet of Lamborghinis parked out front and being asked which one you want to drive first. Albeit not as good as walking into your own garage to make the same choice. I’m in Madrid for the first day of the Return to the Name weekend, a celebration of 50 years of the Miura, the car that made Lamborghini a global sports car brand. Parked outside the Eurostars Tower is a fleet of six new Lamborghinis – three Aventadors and three Huracans. Very pretty they look too, attracting crowds eager to take their pictures with the cars. This becomes the routine wherever we stop. Sometimes the police get involved (to take their own pictures). The highlight of this weekend is taking a spin in a Miura around the farm from which the car gets it name. Our destination is 373 miles to the south. We’re all up early and eager to leave Madrid for Seville. Not only is there a Miura at the other end, but we’ll cover the distance in this gorgeous Lamborghini fleet.

Richard Cree takes a 373-mile drive through Spain in order to get behind the wheel. Such is the continuing allure of the Lamborghini Miura, regarded as the world’s first supercar. Not even traffic jams, rain and narrow medieval streets could dim the joy

Far right: The Lamborghini Miura – the world's first supercar