Car of the Week: This Rare Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster Could Fetch $1.75 Million at Auction

I remember as if it were yesterday, watching what was possibly the first production Murciélago inch its way along the production line at the Lamborghini factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese back in 2001. It was nose to tail with what may have been the final Diablo. Both cars were yellow, and both were so otherworldly, they could as easily have been a couple of spacecraft from another galaxy.

I was brought back to reality when I saw a leg emerge from the Murciélago’s passenger side, with the scissor door up. The technician’s foot gained purchase on the factory floor as he lay on his back inside the car, apparently struggling with a fastener under the dash. He held a crescent wrench in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. It was just another day at the factory. And while it wasn’t Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam or Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, the piece of Italian automotive art that resulted was magnificent.

I got to know Lamborghini’s Murciélago early on, driving one of the first examples in the North American media fleet. It was a week of unbridled excitement. Apparent was the relationship between its 6.5-liter V-12 engine and the original Bizzarrini-designed V-12 that powered the marque’s 400 GT. Few cars, apart from maybe the Porsche 911, elicit as visceral a connection between the descendants and their patriarchs. And like one of those trained circus bears I saw as a kid, riding a bicycle or boxing with dupes who bought a ticket to get in the ring, the model patiently tolerates missed shifts, overheated clutches, and any other number of indignities doubtlessly heaped on an otherwise brutal automotive beast by many of the people who have bought one. The Murciélago is a gentle giant. Up to a point.

Lamborghini released the Murciélago LP640-4 iteration at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show. It was the first major update to the model, and along with more power, the supercar got new front and rear bumpers, restyled taillights, and a center exhaust outlet. The shape of the Murciélago Roadster is derived from Luc Donckerwolcke’s original design for the coupe, and while not as pure in form, the roofless version more fully immerses the driver and passenger in the V-12’s mechanical symphony.

No one will use this car in inclement conditions, but rather as a fair-weather machine to be seen and heard in—pure and simple. The essence of the Murciélago Roadster is its 631 hp engine, which enables the car to cover zero to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds. In my opinion, it’s one of the most exciting V-12s out there. To rev the monster up to 7,500 rpm is to hear a heavenly 6.5-liter orchestra. Yet to do so repeatedly is likely to risk hearing impairment and incarceration.

During Northern California’s Monterey Car Week, RM Sotheby’s will offer a 2008 Murciélago Roadster as part of its Monterey auction on Saturday, August 17. The example is one of only eight U.S.-market Murciélago Roadsters that was factory-equipped with a gated manual gearbox, and the only one finished in Oro Adonis with Sand Bi-Color leather trim for the exterior and interior, respectively. While most buyers back in the day opted for the paddle-shift transmission, a few ordered their Murciélagos with a manual gearbox. That good-old-fashioned six-speed gated shifter is topped with a metal cue-ball that looks to be right out of a high school machine shop. It still feels perfect today. Clutch effort is Herculean, and shifting—like the recoil of a big-bore automatic handgun—is indelicate but infinitely satisfying.

This example, with only 6,276 miles on it, rides on gloss-black 18-inch Hermera rims and is equipped with carbon-fiber options that include an engine brace, an interior package, and a wind deflector. Like this writer, Will Driscoll of RM Sotheby’s is also a fan, saying, “Any manual Murciélago is special, but a Roadster is an incredibly rare machine that virtually never comes to public market. Being one of eight U.S.-specification manuals and one-of-one in this color scheme, it’s undoubtedly my pick of the sale.” The car carries a high-end estimate of $1.75 million.

Click below for more photos of this 2008 Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster.