Lamborghini Reventon Roadster

Two years after the Reventon coupe was presented at the 2007 Frankfurt show, the Italian automaker is making a comeback at this year's IAA with the unveiling of a roadster model. As with the coupe, less than 20 examples of the jet-fighter inspired supercar will be built for sale, each priced at a whopping 1.1 million euros or 1.6 million USD at today's exchange rates, and mind you, that's not including taxes. Deliveries of the V12-powered Italian special will begin as early as October 2009.

"The Reventón is the most extreme car in the history of the brand," said Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Lamborghini. "The new Roadster adds an extra emotional component to our combined technological expertise – it unites superior performance with the sensual fascination of open-top driving."

Like the coupe, the Reventon Roadster measures 4700 mm (185 in.) in length, has a wheelbase of 2665 mm (105 in.) and is 2058 mm (81 in.) wide and 1132 mm (45 in.) high.

Besides the targa roof, the only other styling differences between the two bodystyles concern the addition of two hidden pop-up bars that deploy upwards in just a few hundredths of a second in the event of a rollover, the new engine bonnet that is virtually horizontal and comes with four glass windows providing a full view of the V12 and finally, a new shade of matt grey.

Lamborghini says that the Reventon's base bodyshell, which is made almost exclusively from carbon fiber elements, with sheet steel used only for the outer door skins, was already so stiff that the Roadster model required only minimal reinforcement. This translates to an extra 25kg (55 lbs) bringing the Roadster model's total dry weight to 1690 Kg (3,725 lbs.).

Inside, the jet-fighter theme is continued with the "two transreflective and one transmissive" liquid-crystal displays replacing the classic analogue instrumentation while the two bucket seats are separated by a large central tunnel covered in carbon fiber and Alcantara.

Heavily based on the Murcielago, the Reventon Roadster is powered by a 6.5-liter naturally-aspirated V12 engine that cranks out 670 ponies at 8,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 660 Nm (487 lb-ft) at 6,000 rpm. That's 20HP more than the coupe's V12 while the peak torque figure is the same. The engine is coupled to a six speed automated-manual transmission that sends power to all four wheels.

According to Lamborghini, the Reventon Roadster can accelerate from 0 to 100 Km/h (62 mph) in 3.4 seconds and reach to a top speed of 330 Km/h (205 mph).