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Be sure to check out our photo-gallery of the eye-popping Reventn, as well as a video from inside the cockpit.

When we heard that Lamborghini was offering a first drive of its brand new Reventn, we dispatched far-flung PopSci correspondent William Snyder to Italy without hesitation. The 650-horsepower Reventn-named after a bull that killed the legendary matador Felix Guzman in the 1940s-does 0â€60 in 3.4 seconds (topping out at 211 mph), comes in a limited production run of 20, and looks like the love child of an F-22 Raptor jet and the latest Batmobile. Here’s our correspondent’s report from Bologna.

When I was told about the chance to go to Italy to be among the first to drive the Lamborghini Reventn, I had to consult a gearhead friend to make sure I wasn´t in for more than I could handle. This IM exchange took place last week:

_
Me: I’m heading to drive the new Lamborghini for a day soon. You’ve driven a couple before, right?

JB: Yeah, they’re pretty easy to drive. Why are you going?

ME: PopSci called yesterday and needs a review of the new Reventn.

JB: Holy ****! You’re gonna drive the Reventn?!

JB: It’s a really powerful car and might not be all that easy to drive. A big mid-engine means it can get loose in turns if you´re hitting them hard, so you need to be careful.

ME: Well, i’ve been mastering Opels and Fiats here in Spain all summer.

JB: Please don’t die.

ME: I’ll probably just roll around in first gear, and then if I get too worried I’ll break it and get out

JB: No. Speed. But remember, don´t die.
_

Driving advice in my life has always been lighthearted: Don’t ride the clutch. Accelerate through a turn. Watch for cops laying speed traps behind diners. That kind of thing. But now it was getting ominous.

The thought of driving a Lambo, though, was just too tantalizing. The legendary Countach was my childhood fantasy of sexiness, punctuated with a bikini-clad girl perched on the hood like she was floating on a velvet cloud. And I´m not alone. I IMed another friend:

_ME: Dude, test-driving a Lamborghini for work!

John: Lamborghini! Get a girl to pose on the hood. Like the posters!_

But the factory in Sant’Agata stopped cranking out the Countach in 1990, and from what I could find online, the Reventn wasn´t about explicit sexuality. For starters, the paint job doesn´t scream string bikini-it´s a drab gray/green you would expect on a tank or a hunting blind. But somehow (they say it´s the metallic flakes) the color shimmers and pops.

And the body, a carbon-fiber composite glued to a steel frame, pays an obvious homage to stealth fighter jets. Broken lines and sharp angles are not the trend for supercar designs among the other big players, such as Bugatti´s Veyron or the world´s fastest production car, Shelby´s Ultimate Aero.

The Veyron and Ultimate Aero changed the direction of supercars from form and function to straight-up raw power. The Reventn seems to be bridging the gap for Lamborghini. It maintains the Sistine Chapelâ€like standards of good looks while answering the market demand for ludicrous speed. I mentioned this to my mother before leaving.

_
Mom: Don´t speed, and please don´t die._

What is this? My family and friends are suddenly under the impression that I´m a horrible driver. It´s not like I´ll be cruising through packed Italian streets at 200 mph-Lamborghini set up a day at a municipal airport with the runway as our playground. In such a safe environment, there´s no way I was going slow unless something ridiculous happened. Something like, say, a speed restrictor on the engine.

The Reventn flashed to the front door of the Lamborghini headquarters, and although it looks stealthy, functionally it is quite the opposite-you hear it long before you see it. I checked out the new aeronautic touches, like a display option for the gauges that mimics the cockpit of a fighter jet. Lamborghini also introduced a G-force meter which displays drive forces–longitudinal acceleration during acceleration or braking and transversal acceleration around bends–and projects them onto a 3-D grid above the tachometer.

Heatproof LEDs are used for brake and indicator lights on the back because of the proximity to the engine. And speaking of the engine-it´s impossible to ignore, since it consumes practically all of the rear and is auspiciously visible through the glass â€hood.â€

I prepared to take hold of the wheel and burn across the countryside, when one of the Lamborghini representatives delivered a blow as deadly as a matador´s sword but with the grace of a one-legged ballerina: â€Mr. Snyder, we have a speed limiter on the engine that keeps it at 130.”

A disappointment, to be sure, but I can handle 130 mph, I thought to myself. It´s not great, but we can work around it. â€No, Mr. Snyder, kilometers, not miles. It´s the speed limit in Italy, and we want to be safe.†And there goes the glory.

For the next three hours, we pushed the Reventn from 0 to 130 (around 80 mph) over and over again (see the video below), not even challenging the V12 but certainly testing the cooling system for the ceramic disc brakes. And as I turned a corner listening to the pitch-perfect roar of the engine, lining up on the runway, I realized how fine-tuned the power was in the machine. It hummed with excitement in a way that felt almost like it was alive. Too bad that at 80 mph, the thing was barely even half awake.

What Lamborghini realized with the Reventn is that you don’t need the girl on the hood. The fantasy now is for raw power-a fantasy more subversive than ever in an age where innovative, gas-sipping hybrid concepts far outnumber the audacious supercars at auto shows. With a space-shuttle thruster for an engine, an original body engineered to outrageous perfection and a through-the-roof price tag, Lamborghini is certainly hoping to elevate the Reventn to legendary status among the rarefied supercar elite. Unfortunately, with a rev-limiter standing in the way, it´s a bit difficult to tell if it´s truly succeeded.

By no means is it not a thrill behind the wheel, though, as you can see:

To house the giant engine and keep the frame low to the road, engineers built the Reventn out instead of up. The rear of the car is more than 2 meters wide.

by William Snyder

To house the giant engine and keep the frame low to the road, engineers built the Reventn out instead of up. The rear of the car is more than 2 meters wide.
The stealthy fighter jets like the F-22 Raptor inspired the Reventn's sharp angles and broken lines. The only thing missing is the wings.

by William Snyder

The stealthy fighter jets like the F-22 Raptor inspired the Reventn’s sharp angles and broken lines. The only thing missing is the wings.
The engine is unmodified from the version used in the Murcielago LP640. In other words, it's a 6.5-liter V12 producing 650 horsepower at 8,000 rpm.

by William Snyder

The engine is unmodified from the version used in the Murcielago LP640. In other words, it’s a 6.5-liter V12 producing 650 horsepower at 8,000 rpm.
One of the signatures for Lamborghini's modern fleet is a glass laminate engine hood with gaps between each pane for ventilation.

by William Snyder

One of the signatures for Lamborghini’s modern fleet is a glass laminate engine hood with gaps between each pane for ventilation.
A new color was developed just for the Reventn paint job, a green/gray opaque, which is a break from the bright, shiny finishes typical of supercars. All the Reventns will be painted this color.

by William Snyder

A new color was developed just for the Reventn paint job, a green/gray opaque, which is a break from the bright, shiny finishes typical of supercars. All the Reventns will be painted this color.
Tight yet comfortable is the best way to describe the cockpit-er, seats in the Reventn. Their ergonomic design holds you steady when you hit the accelerator.

by William Snyder

Tight yet comfortable is the best way to describe the cockpit-er, seats in the Reventn. Their ergonomic design holds you steady when you hit the accelerator.
Since the Countach, upward-opening gull-wing doors are a standard of Lamborghini design. Below each door on the Reventn are two massive air intakes.

by William Snyder

Since the Countach, upward-opening gull-wing doors are a standard of Lamborghini design. Below each door on the Reventn are two massive air intakes.
It's being made in a very limited edition of 20, with each priced at 1 million euros, roughly $1.5 million. All 20 models were sold on a first-come, first-served basis earlier this year.

by William Snyder

It’s being made in a very limited edition of 20, with each priced at 1 million euros, roughly $1.5 million. All 20 models were sold on a first-come, first-served basis earlier this year.
Owners have two display-interface options. This one is based on what you would find in an airplane, with a tachometer on the left and speedometer on the right.

by William Snyder

Owners have two display-interface options. This one is based on what you would find in an airplane, with a tachometer on the left and speedometer on the right.
The price tag is astounding (and even makes the $240,000 Murcielago look like a junkyard deal), but with a production run of 20, Lamborghini has to recoup the costs of R&D.; Aficionados can take solace in knowing that elements of the unique Reventn will certainly show up in future Lamborghini designs.

by William Snyder

The price tag is astounding (and even makes the $240,000 Murcielago look like a junkyard deal), but with a production run of 20, Lamborghini has to recoup the costs of R&D.; Aficionados can take solace in knowing that elements of the unique Reventn will certainly show up in future Lamborghini designs.
Poised and ready, the Reventn sits at the end of a municipal runway ready to show its muscle. It can do 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, a 0.4-second improvement from the Murcielago.

by William Snyder

Poised and ready, the Reventn sits at the end of a municipal runway ready to show its muscle. It can do 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, a 0.4-second improvement from the Murcielago.
The latest relative to join the extreme-supercar family is the Lamborghini Reventn, with a completely new body design not based at all on its predecessor, the Murcielago.

by William Snyder

The latest relative to join the extreme-supercar family is the Lamborghini Reventn, with a completely new body design not based at all on its predecessor, the Murcielago.
A 100-liter gas tank is topped off with a cap machined from a single aluminum block.

by William Snyder

A 100-liter gas tank is topped off with a cap machined from a single aluminum block.
Here is a view of the traditional dial interface for gauges. Also new for the Reventn is a "G-Force Meter," which displays drive forces, longitudinal acceleration during acceleration or braking and transversal acceleration around bends. These are represented on a 3-D grid.

by William Snyder

Here is a view of the traditional dial interface for gauges. Also new for the Reventn is a “G-Force Meter,” which displays drive forces, longitudinal acceleration during acceleration or braking and transversal acceleration around bends. These are represented on a 3-D grid.
Almost every feature of the Reventn is original, including the rims, a combination of carbon-fiber fins mounted to black aluminum spokes.

by William Snyder

Almost every feature of the Reventn is original, including the rims, a combination of carbon-fiber fins mounted to black aluminum spokes.
The Reventn sits where any supercar enthusiast would want it: at the end of a two-mile runway closed to air traffic.

by William Snyder

The Reventn sits where any supercar enthusiast would want it: at the end of a two-mile runway closed to air traffic.
Because the Reventn's engine gets extremely hot and is very close to the rear, Lamborghini uses special LEDs capable of withstanding high temperatures.

by William Snyder

Because the Reventn’s engine gets extremely hot and is very close to the rear, Lamborghini uses special LEDs capable of withstanding high temperatures.
The engine is visible through the glass hood on the exterior and from the seats, which is the view shown here.

by William Snyder

The engine is visible through the glass hood on the exterior and from the seats, which is the view shown here.
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