As we all know, red is a colour synonomous with Ferrari but did you know that red is the official racing colour of Italia? Before the days of sponsorship, people would paint their cars in their nation’s official colour and Italian cars were painted red. I could do a complete history lesson on that right now but I won’t because that’s not today’s subject. So what is my point here? Well, Lamborghini does have a fascination with green, yellow and orange in their marketing material, presenting many cars in such colours when shown to the world for the first time. Red is not a common colour and may seem “wrong” for a Lambo, but history suggests that red is an appopriate colour… especially for something inspired by a full-blown race car.
The Hurcan STO is not a proper homologation special because the rules around GT racing forbid such vehicles from competing. Misleading name aside, this car is genuinely as close as you can get to the Super Trofeo race car. It’s rear drive only, has plenty of aero and no front boot – it’s a complete clamshell that tilts forward. I’m pretty sure some learnings from the GT3 car have gone into this machine. However, this particular STO has extra aero that you will not see on a factory fresh model, which is why it sticks out to me. The additional pieces around the wheelarches, front and side of the car are all carbon fibre of course.
Unmarked may be more of a show for JDM cars but even in such a Japan-centric environment, this car still commands attention. Why wouldn’t it? As someone who paints almost all his cars red in Gran Turismo and Forza Horizon, this STO pulls me in like a planet to a star. If you were on the ground at the event, you would’ve seen me orbit this car a few times because there were some rather succulent angles to capture. More than any Chinese, or rather Italian, meal. Not to be taken out of context any further, this car doesn’t even have a back window. The reason? Glass is too heavy. Talk about weight saving.
I should probably talk about the wheels on this car because they aren’t the kind you can take off easily in your garage. Yes, this car has centre lock wheels because when you’re doing hard cornering, you want a mechanism that prevents them from falling off. It’s also helpful if you want to do a quick wheel change with a rattle gun; although that seems pointless when you aren’t racing anyone. Then again, you wouldn’t expect Lamborghini to make something practical. In fact I’m pretty sure that the mere mention of the word “practical” during a team meeting would result in an instant ejection. They’ve been doing crazy things their way since 1963 – hence the number 63 on the side of the car. Excitement transcends generations and Lamborghini is proud of said fact.
If you want some good old-fashioned fun behind the wheel, the Huracan STO is the car for you. Sure, it has traction control and ABS but that’s about it in terms of nannies. There’s no 4WD system to pull you out of a corner, no turbocharging to corrupt the noise of that glorious V10 and no electric motors to appease the greenies in a crowded city. It’s old fashioned in the best possible way and we can’t let it fade.
DevMacCars 