Tom LaPointe's Exotic Car Lifestyle Notebook

Ramblings on exotic cars, the car market, and things with wheels overall. We especially love Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche, and all the events where you find them.

About Me

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Location: Dunedin, Florida, United States

I currently publish iParent Magazine in the Tampa Bay area and work as a freelance writer for Affluent Page Index, in NYC. I grew up in Michigan near the Motor City and finished high school in Fernley NV. After attending the University of Nevada as a music major, I joined the Marine Corps as a combat correspondent. As a writer and editor, I won many publishing awards for photography, writing and editing. What led me to the auto industry is simply this: I love cars. I have raced stock cars and sports cars and competed in Land Rover off-road competitions in Vermont and Colorado. I have been a pit official for the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, and a pit crewman for Indy and a Hooters Pro Cup races. I've served as a manager of both sales and service for one the largest luxury car groups in the world. I'm still active as an off-road instructor for Land Rover and HUMMER dealers and owners. I enjoy crawling an off-road vehicle through the most severe obstacles as much as heel-toeing sports cars into hairpin turns! I am also a freelance writer for several automotive publications.

July 10, 2009

New Lambo Spyder is a ROCKET

For years, people have asked me why people buy Ferrari over Lamborghini, or vice versa. I always described the different image each car represents, with Lambo being ostentatious looks with great performance, and Ferrari more of high-performance art on wheels that also has the benefit of 16 F1 Constructors Championships and hundreds of sports car races. And as much as Lamborghinis pin my cheeks back during acceleration and yank my guts around in the curves, I’ve always had a little bit more passion for the Cavallino Rampante. But with the launch of the LP560-4 Spyder, I would probably have buyer’s remorse if I couldn’t have one of each.
The performance capability of the LP is mind-numbing – 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and a quarter mile time of 11.5 seconds at an amazing 128 mph. Yikes! Throw in a 201 mph top speed and that’s supercar territory. The rear-mid engine sports car sports a 5.2-liter, 40-valve V10 that pumps out a massive 552 horsepower and just under 400 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels.
Properly equipped (you want e-Gear, carbon-ceramic brakes, and heated power seats), prices will top $250k, but VW/Audi engineering and reliability eliminate most traditional objections to Italian sports cars, as long as there’s enough in the bank account to cover the check.
Give us a call if you are interested in putting one in your garage!

posted by Tom LaPointe | 9:55 PM