In the fourteen years since the Volkswagen Group has taken over ownership of Lamborghini, we have seen this marque transform from a financially troubled low volume sports car manufacturer to a stable producer of high end, aggressive supercars that successfully combine Italian flair and German sensibility. As a follow on to the Diablo’s successor, the Murciélago, Lamborghini introduced a smaller, V10 powered sports car called the Gallardo. Less expensive than its larger V12 powered sibling, the Gallardo has been the most produced vehicle in Lamborghini history, hitting the 10,000 mark in 2010. With the Gallardo having been around now for a few years, used examples are readily available. While still expensive, you can find clean, lower mileage examples well under $100,000, which isn’t too bad for such a flamboyant vehicle with all-wheel drive capability. This example for sale in Atlanta has the standard six speed manual gearbox and has covered just over 40,000 miles, which begs the question, are these new Lamborghinis built to last?

2004 Lamborghini Gallardo

Very clean 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo. It comes with a highly desirable color combination of silver exterior with ebony interior.

There have been stories of wealthy enthusiasts using these new all-wheel drive Lamborghinis as daily drivers, such as rally driver Jon Olsson of Sweden. At a little over $80,000, we are in the same price territory as the recently revised Porsche 911. Is it worth taking a chance on such an exotic, even if it has Audi DNA built into it? If I was in a position to do so, I would pull the trigger on this car. As the French would say, vive la différence.

-Paul