Lamborghini pulled the covers off the dramatic Roadster version of the Reventón in Frankfurt with CEO Stephan Winkelmann upbeat that the sports car maker can remain profitable this year despite a dramatic fall in its sales. The Bologna Sant'Agata brand has seen demand for its Gallardo and Murciélago models tumble 37 percent in the first half of the year, however cost cutting measures, including temporary staff lay-offs, mean that it should still break even in 2009. "The year will be positive," he told Dow Jones Newswires at the unveiling ceremony.

Winkelmann was particularly upbeat about the growing importance of China in the Audi-owned firm's future plans and it could become a top-five market "very soon", possibly as quickly as 2011, where it would join the United States, the UK, Germany and Italy, currently the four biggest markets. "China in 2007 was not a market that was of any weight in terms of volumes," Winkelmann told Reuters in an interview in Frankfurt yesterday. "By 2011 it will be a market that will be very important for the Lamborghini brand." He expects it to account for around 100 units in 2011 compared to an estimated 80 this year.

It is unlikely that the market will pick up this year, and Winkelmann doesn't foresee much improvement until 2011 and although he admitted that there was "a small chance of a slow market recovery in 2010", he was more confident the bottom has been reached, adding: "we're pretty sure there will be no further drop." However Winkelmann reckons there is a "good chance" the market for luxury sports cars will pick up again in 2011.

Dubbed by Lamborghini as the ultimate driving machine among open-top two-seaters, the Reventón Roadster the Italian sports car maker says is a sports car of breathtaking fascination, menacing power and uncompromising performance. Unlike the Coupé version of the Reventón which debuted exactly two years ago in Frankfurt, the new Roadster is based around the latest incarnation of the Murciélago, the LP670-4 SuperVeloce which arrived on the market earlier this year. It's 6.5 litre twelve-cylinder generates 670 bhp, which will catapult the Roadster from 0 to 100 Km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 3.4 seconds and onwards to a top speed of 330 KM/h (205 mph). The open-top Reventón is not only one of the fastest, but also one of the most exclusive cars in the world - Lamborghini has limited the series. Apart from changes to the cockpit area and the engine cover the styling is unchanged from the Coupé.

The Reventón Roadster is not destined to remain a one-off. Less than twenty buyers will be able to own this extraordinary car and, naturally, enjoy the incomparable pleasure of driving it. Each Reventón Roadster will be sold for 1.1 million euro without taxes, a very slight premium to the Coupé, with first deliveries set to begin next month.

The Reventón Roadster is derived from the same creative thinking as the Coupé. Its designers found their inspiration in aviation - the aggressive wedge shape evokes images of fighter jets. The powerful arrowhead form at the front, the mighty air intakes pulled way forward, the broad side skirts, the upwards opening scissor doors and the rear end with its menacing edges - the Roadster is clad in a design of maximum functionality and spectacular clarity. Details set stylish accents, such as headlamps featuring bi-xenon units with LEDs forming the daytime running lights and indicators. The rear lamps are also equipped with LEDs.

Like the Coupé, the Roadster measures 4700 mm (185 in.) long. It has a wheelbase of 2665 mm (105 in.) and is 2058 mm (81 in.) wide and 1132 mm (45 in.) high. The driver and passenger seating positions are low and sporty, separated by a substantial central tunnel. Behind the two seats are two hidden pop-up bars that deploy upwards in just a few hundredths of a second in the event of an imminent rollover. A fixed, horizontal wing-shaped member behind the seats bears the third brake light. The design of the Roadster's long back is also quite distinct from that of the Coupé. The engine bonnet is virtually horizontal and a total of four windows made from glass provide a view of the mighty V12 in all its technical elegance.

ItaliaspeedTV - Lamborghini Reventón Roadster