Secret Supercar Owner

We read about them, we ogle them and lust after them; but only a few get to enjoy and experience supercar ownership first hand. Secret Supercar Owner, Mr S, is one of those fortunate people. He has agreed to share his journey with us through all the joy and pitfalls. In Secret Supercar Owner – Chapter 6 he tells us about a new Italian exotic added to his collection. You can read previous chapters at this link.

As you probably know by now, we absolutely LOVE Italian supercars. The Ferrari 430 Scuderia is the jewel of our collection, so the thought naturally came to mind: Why? Why is the Scuderia our favourite?

Apart from being able to stand next to it and drool over its timeless beauty, it’s the driver feedback that really excites us. It’s raw, it’s analogue, and it feels like a racecar that somehow escaped the circuit and found its way onto the road. So, naturally, we started looking at its competitors from the same era.

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German Option

First up was the 997 GT3 RS. An incredible car, without a doubt, but there was one problem: it was German. And we had just got out of our 991 GT3. Buying another Porsche would have felt a little boring, and, more importantly, I didn’t feel it would add anything new to our collection. Yes, I know. I’ve probably just offended every Porsche die-hard reading this.

Then our attention turned to Ferrari’s noisy neighbours: Lamborghini. This is where we fell in love with the brand all over again. We found a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, one of only approximately 620 produced worldwide, and this lightweight ginger beauty ticked every box for us.

Love at First Sight

From the moment we saw her, we loved the looks. But it was the way she drove that really surprised us. Since we already owned a Gallardo Spyder, we assumed the Superleggera would feel somewhat similar. Surely it was still a Gallardo underneath, right? Boy, were we wrong.

The difference in driving dynamics was enormous. The Superleggera felt sharper, more focused and far more serious. It was as if Lamborghini had taken the Gallardo and removed everything that wasn’t absolutely necessary for having fun. And then we made her even more antisocial.

Getting Noisy

We removed the catalytic converters. Suddenly, the car could breathe more freely — and the sound changed dramatically. It is quite noticeable how much of a difference removing the ‘cats’ can make to a car’s character. The V10 went from sounding incredible to sounding absolutely feral.

There is also a practical reason why this modification is popular on the Gallardo. The original catalytic converters can deteriorate over time and release dust and material that can potentially be sucked back into the engine, which can lead to catastrophic engine damage.

So, between the weight reduction, the sharper dynamics and that glorious V10 soundtrack, the Superleggera quickly became something very special to us. And then something happened that we didn’t expect. She became our favourite car.

Just like that, the order in our garage changed:

Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
Ferrari 430 Scuderia
Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder

We clearly have a weakness for the stripped-out, hardcore cars. None of these cars are daily drivers for us. They aren’t grand tourers, and we certainly aren’t buying them because we need somewhere to put the shopping. When we climb into a supercar, it’s for one of two reasons: to find a beautiful, twisty road and enjoy the chassis, or to find a long, open stretch of road and unleash every last bit of horsepower.

Just a Number

And here’s the thing about speed. Speed has become just a number. Let’s be honest, most electric cars are stupidly fast to 100 km/h. Some of them will embarrass these old-school supercars off the line without even breaking a sweat. But launch the same electric car three or four times and, for me, the novelty starts to wear off.

Give me a car with a massive engine, a proper gearbox, a screaming exhaust and an occasion every time you press the accelerator, and I’ll take that every single time. Because when you plant your foot in a car like the Superleggera or the Scuderia, you don’t just experience acceleration. You experience an event.

Worlds Apart

Driving the Superleggera and Scuderia back-to-back really highlights just how different these two cars are. The funny thing is that they actually have very little in common beyond the fact that they are both lightweight, hardcore versions of some of the greatest cars of my generation. The Ferrari feels precise, technical and incredibly focused. The Lamborghini feels wild, dramatic and slightly unhinged.

And having both sitting in the same garage? That’s one of those pinch-me moments that makes you realise just how lucky you are. But as a Lamborghini fan, one question inevitably started creeping into my mind: How many Lamborghinis is too many?

Can you actually have too much of a good thing? And more importantly: Was there an even better Lamborghini from this era?