The Aventador has been a massive car for Lamborghini these past ten years, in spite of selling in lower volumes than the Huracan junior supercar and indeed the recently-introduced Urus SUV. Its importance lays in its symbolism. In the eyes of most, a big V12 flagship is Lamborghini’s bread and butter. The track-only Essenza SCV12, running here at the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, is what happens when you take any rules that restricted even the madness of the Aventador and toss them to the Bulls…
The 830PS SCV12 is the ultimate Lamborghini track car
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It has only the Aston Martin Valkyrie to rival it for loudest in show in the Supercar Run. It’s not just an Aventador with a latter-day GT1 treatment on the bodywork, either. The engine and transmission have been flipped, with the new XTRAC six-speed sequential gearbox that replaces the Aventador’s ISR unit, now hanging out back.
The 6.5-litre V12, unburdened by measures to limit emissions and noise and with a dusting of upgrades, now produces over 830PS (610kW). We suspect this will remain the most powerful non-hybridised iteration of the Lamborghini V12 indefinitely. The body, crazy as it is, improves high-speed stability with its sheer length, while also producing more downforce than a GT3 car.
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Of that, we are abundantly aware on a wet Saturday at the 2021 Festival. As it howls out of the second corner on the Hill past the house, the rooster tails spear up into the air, out from the Essenza’s sprawling venture tunnels, under the massive wing. It’s a spectacular thing to behold and we think a fitting maddest send-off, for the maddest car the maddest company has yet made. Lunga vita Lamborghini!
Photography by James Lynch and Nick Dungan
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