It was July 2021 when Lamborghini said goodbye to the Aventador with the Ultimae as the last hurrah for the naturally aspirated V12 without electric assistance. The supercar's swan song was capped at 350 coupes and 250 roadsters, and there's a risk some of them may have perished when the Felicity Ace went up in flames a few days ago.
The cargo ship was carrying almost 4,000 vehicles belonging to the Volkswagen Group, including high-end models like Lamborghinis, Bentleys, and Audis. While most of the cars built in Sant'Agata Bolognese were the Urus SUV, there were some Aventadors and Huracans as well. All V12 and V10 machines were on their way to customers, who already had to wait about 12 months to take delivery.
Gallery: Lamborghini Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae
In an interview with Automotive News Europe, Lamborghini America CEO Andrea Baldi admitted there is a possibility Aventador production could restart. Should some of the cars be damaged or completely destroyed, the 46-year-old executive said the company will have to reach out to suppliers and see whether those could be replaced.
He went on to say having to rebuild a car would push back delivery of an Aventador by six months at the very least. Baldi said future owners will be notified about the state of their cars once Lamborghini will have a "definitive picture" of the fiery incident's outcome: "And you know, still we still hope for the best, but we are prepared for the worst."
It should be less of a problem for those waiting for a Huracan or a Urus since both these models are in production. The Aventador has exited the assembly line to make room for its replacement, which we spied towards the end of last year. It’s too soon to say whether a potential restart of production could force Lamborghini to delay its next V12 raging bull, but we're hoping that won’t be the case.
It wouldn't be the first them when the VW Group would have to put a defunct performance car back in production. In a rather sad coincidence, Italian cargo ship Grande America caught fire in March 2019 and destroyed four brand-new 911 GT2 RS units. Porsche had no other way but to restart production. 33 other vehicles from Zuffenhausen were on the same ship and all were heading from Hamburg, Germany to Santos, Brazil.
