Total Mileage: 163,557
MPG This Month: 12
Cost's to date: £67,554
(routine servicing and repairs, 5 clutches, 118 tyres, top end rebuild, bodywork repairs)
It's probably fair to say that as recently as a decade or so ago it would have been nigh on impossible to pen a report about an Italian super car that had covered one hundred thousand miles, let alone one well on it's way to twice that. It just goes to show how far Italian engineering has come - with a little help from AUdi in this case...
It was September 2004 when SG54LAM poked it's snout out of the Lamborghini Manchester showroom for the first time with just 67 miles on the clock. Today, some 163,557 miles later, the orange monster is still here, hammering around tracks as well as covering a fair few road miles too. Over the past five years a staggering 5,788 customers have been behind the leather-clad wheel on the driving experience days I help run, and 24 of those have put it into the scenery thanks to it's notoriously unforgiving bite.
Yep, the old lady has traversed ploughed fields, shot up grass banks and even spent an hour or so grazing in long grass before being dragged backwards onto the tarmac once more. Of course, the income generated by the car at these events outweighs the cost of repairs (and what initially look like outrageous servicing costs). Those costs aren't so bad given the very hard life the car lives, though and with the exception of the crankshaft pulley sheering in 2006, it's been virtually bomb proof. Maintenance has been mostly routine, consisting largely of items related to the cars track heavy life, such as ball joints, track-rod ends and brakes.
Rather like an aircraft fuselage, SG54 has also been subject to continuous updating along the way. In my last report I mentioned that the original front brakes had been upgraded to LP640 spec, necessitating the matching wheels be fitted too. Since then the paintwork has also been updated, with an SV-style matt black finish for the lower body and rear, while LP640 LED rear lights have completed the transformation of the car's fat rear end.
Further improvements are on the way, including a full interior re-trim in black leather and a top-end engine rebuild that won't be cheap at around £15,000, but which should take the car all the way to 250,000 miles. I often get asked how much the car is worth these days and the honest truth is I really don't want to know, but I suspect the depreciation on the original £167,000 is well into six figures. It doesn't matter, though, because SG54 isn't going anywhere quickly - if you see what I mean.....
