Lamborghini Ankonian by Slavche Tanevski is part wasp, part alien, all black

By Jonathon Ramsey

Slavche Tanevski had a project to complete at the Munich University of Applied Sciences, and the result is the stacked, vented, and char-blackened concept you see above. In keeping with Lamborghini nomenclature, an Ankonian is a kind of bull, and if you took a Lamborghini Reventon and asked the question, "Does it blend?", the Ankonian concept is what you might pour out of your glassware.

It doesn't have any hypothetical specs, nor, we suppose, does it really need them. The car is long, low, and narrow, and darkly hostile enough to go as quickly or as slowly as it wishes. What it does have is flames that shoot out of the exhaust, and frankly, that's enough for us. You can have various looks at it in the gallery of high-res photos below, but please, don't make it angry. You wouldn't like it when it's angry.

Officially Official: Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni

By Damon Lavrinc

Few names resonate more with the Lamborghini faithful than Valentino Balboni, Lambo's long-term test driver who's honed every model to roll off the line since 1973. In an ultimate tribute to Balboni, the Italian supercar manufacturer has created this: the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni.

As its name would imply, the Gallardo ditches the standard model's all-wheel drive system and sends power to the rear wheels, and according to the automaker, the 550-2 "was conceived in line with [Balboni's] own thinking, and it meets many customers' requests for a model with a unique character, which offers a very special kind of active driving fun."

The 5.2-liter V10 has been tweaked to put out 550 hp and coupled with a the Gallardo's reduced curb weight (3,042 pounds), the LP 550-2 can sprint to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and top out at 199 mph.

As we saw yesterday, the exterior receives a new set of Scorpious wheels (hiding a revised suspension) and a white and gold stripe running the length of the Lambo, with the theme carrying over inside in the form of a white leather center console and seats. Eight exterior shades are available, along with black, orange or yellow brake calipers, depending on the chosen hue, and in addition to the standard transparent engine cover, rear-view camera, navigation system and Bluetooth integration, buyers can option up for the e-gear transmission and carbon ceramic brakes.

This purest of Gallardos will be limited to 250 units, each bearing a serial number and Balboni's signature on the left side window, with US pricing starting at $219,800.

Jay Leno and the Lamborghini Countach

By: Alex Nunez

The Lamborghini Countach is the poster child for the modern Italian supercar. Literally. If you're of a certain age (and there are a few of us here at Autoblog who are), you probably had a series of Countach posters on your bedroom wall throughout your formative years. Put simply, the Countach was awesome. Still is, too. The clean-looking LP400 cars, as shown above, are simply gorgeous. Successive updates added visual muscle, but the basic goodness remained the same. (And yes, the 25th Anniversary car's cheese-slicer grates are an abomination.)

While the Countach is capable of being outperformed by a number of modern, far less exotic sports cars, none of them carry its overwhelming wow factor (or the excellent bold oblique lamborghini logo) Roll up in a Z06 or 911 Turbo today and no one will bat an eyelash, despite their being world-class machines. Arrive in a Countach, however, and you have an event on your hands. That's just how it is. Always was. Always will be.

Jay Leno, no surprise, has a Countach -- a nicely-worn, red, carbeurated '86 Quattrovalvole that once served as his daily driver and now has 70,000 miles on the clock. Obviously, he loves it, and it's the subject of the Jay Leno's Garage video we've got embedded after the jump. Jay gives a brief history of his car, which includes nuggets such as his deletion the rear wing because he thought it was stupid. (And really, it is. These cars look so much better without it.) Make sure you watch the whole thing. If you bail early you'll miss the ending. And really, who wants to miss Countach burnouts?