The internet has been swirling this last week with fevered speculation about a new Lamborghini supercar which is set to be unveiled at next month's Frankfurt IAA, and which will jettison the Sant'Agata carmaker into Ferrari Enzo territory. While little concrete information is known about the form that the new model will take, well placed sources have confirmed the project's existence and aims to Italiaspeed in the last few days.

This dramatic new 'Raging Bull' monster is expected to be limited to just 20 units, with a staggering 1 million euro price tag being attached. All the batch of cars are believed to have been sold already, with just under half being destined for the United States. Reports suggest that a scale model and a video detailing the project's progress have been shown to dealers and high-end VIPs at an airport close to this weekend's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California, with the presentation being introduced by Lamborghini President and CEO Stephan Winkelmann.

The existence of this new project comes as Automobili Lamborghini, buoyed by sharply rising sales and increasing profits, takes the fight for supremacy in the supercar sector right to Ferrari's door. At the end of last month the Audi-owned brand posted a first half pre-tax profit of 26.4 million euros, a record result for the four-decade-old sports car maker which is based close to Bologna. And in fact this rsult was higher than its entire 2006 profit, 18.1 million euros, which was itself a yearly record. During the first six months Lamborghini delivered 1,239 of its V10 Gallardo and V12 Murciélago sports cars, up almost a third year-on-year, while turnover was up an impressive 61 percent to 253 million euros.

Against this backdrop comes a desire to pitch the brand up against its biggest and most established rivals. In Automobili Lamborghini's own words: "the company came one step closer to its target of being the most profitable super sports car manufacturer in the world".
 

Lamborghini puts much of its recent sales success down to its new and vastly improved brand recognition worldwide, a fresh and dynamic model range, as well as its rapidly growing dealer network. Now the next step of this bold approach to 'build the 'Bull' will see a dramatic new 'halo' supercar hitting the streets.

The limited-edition new model is expected to be based on the platform of the Murciélago LP640 supercar, but with all external components being new except the scissor doors and door mirrors. The LP640, with its 640bhp, 6.5-litre V12 engine, was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2006; and was followed by a Roadster version at the end of the year. It is reported that in this new guise cubic capacity will be increased even further and that horsepower is set to be in excess of 700 bhp.

Reports suggest that Lamborghini's design team drew inspiration from the US military's F-22 Raptor fighter jet. The F-22, built by Lockheed Martin, is the latest generation of fighter aircraft to utilise 'stealth' technology. A string of visual cues for the new Lamborghini model have been drawn from this aircraft, while inside it reputedly features an instrument console which has been developed using the theme of the ones found in the F-22's cockpit. The new Lamborghini will be available in just one external colour 'jet fighter grey' (a specifically created, one-off, colour) and, keeping up the overall 'military' theme even further, the interior fabrics will be trimmed in a special hue of green.