2008 Lamborghini Reventon Coupe Is Our Bring a Trailer Auction Pick of the Day

This Reventón, one of just 20 sold, is a rare blend of Lamborghini’s past and present.
Combining stealth-fighter styling and a lusty V-12 powertrain, this flagship Lamborghini led the way for the creation of the Aventador.Bidding has already gone into seven figures with six days to go on the online auction at Bring a Trailer.

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Directly inspired by the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, the Lamborghini Reventón did anything but fly under the radar. A highly limited edition based on the V-12–powered Murciélago LP640, it featured unique carbon-fiber bodywork in a flat gray that enhanced the stealth fighter looks. The Reventón made its debut in 2007, and all 20 cars were snapped up by collectors before the public even saw them (one additional car was reserved for the Lamborghini museum). This one is now up for auction on Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—and it’s an opportunity to own a Reventón for anyone who missed out the first time around.

Fair warning: It won’t be cheap. With six days to go, bidding on this special Lamborghini has reached $1.4 million, the first Lamborghini product to crack the million-dollar barrier on the site. Then again, an F-22 Raptor costs roughly $143 million. This thing’s a bargain!

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If you’re thinking there were a lot of hints at the then-upcoming Aventador’s styling in the Reventón, you’re right. In many ways, it was a roadgoing concept car, showing the way forward for Lamborghini’s V-12 machines.

Here, that V-12 displaces 6.5 liters and produces 641 horsepower at 8000 rpm, slightly more than in the Murciélago. Note that this was one of the last examples of the first-generation Lamborghini V-12, which could stretch its bloodline all the way back to the birth of the company, and the handiwork of Giotto Bizzarinni.

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And, at the same time, the Reventón smashed any neo-retro nostalgia Lamborghini’s designers might have been toying with. One year before this all-angular car emerged, the 2006 Miura concept hinted at the potential for Lamborghini to look to its past for inspiration. The customer and public response to the Reventón helped Lamborghini hit the afterburners on an ever-wilder, knife-edged design.

You can see the next evolution of that design in the just-released Revuelto, Lamborghini’s hybridized replacement for the Aventador. Many details on the Revuelto can be traced back to the limited-run Sián, which followed in the Reventón’s hoofprints in helping Lamborghini bridge the gap between models.

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This example is more artwork than car, with just 457 miles on the odometer. Car number five of the 20, it has been driven sparingly but maintained, and includes the military-style bag that came with the car on its original delivery to customers.

Being that there are only 20 cars out there (plus 15 roadster versions that followed), the opportunity to own a Reventón doesn’t come along every day. As Lamborghini moves towards an ever more electrified future, this combustion-powered, combat-aircraft-inspired machine seems destined to only grow in value, even if the next owner puts a few more miles on it. Here’s your chance to take it out for a sortie while you still can. The auction ends on Wednesday, April 12.

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Contributing Editor

Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.