Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 By Request

Lamborghini doesn’t replace its flagship V12 often, and when the Aventador finally did in 2011, it retired an engine architecture that traced back to 1963. Read on to find out how rare the Aventador really is, and what an Aventador ‘J’ sold for with no roof, no windows, and no air conditioning.

Lamborghini doesn’t replace its flagship V12 very often, and when it finally does, the new car has to justify decades of buildup in a single unveiling. The Aventador LP 700-4 had that job in Geneva in 2011, following a V12 engine architecture that Lamborghini had been evolving, not replacing, since the 1960s. What arrived instead was something built from scratch in almost every way that mattered — and it was rare enough, on paper, that most people who wanted one weren’t going to get one.

A Body Borrowed From Two Concepts

The Aventador LP 700-4 is a two-door, two-seat car first shown in Geneva on February 28, 2011, and it stands as the signature model in Lamborghini’s lineup. Built as a limited-edition model around a carbon-fiber monocoque, it bears a strong resemblance to both the prototype Estoque concept and the earlier Reventón.

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© Garytnt | Dreamstime.com – LAMBORGHINI Aventador LP700-4 Supercar Photo

How Rare the Aventador Really Is

Each body mold used in production can produce roughly 500 units, and only eight molds exist — putting total production capacity at around 4,000 units, with roughly 1,000 built as of June 2012. That kind of self-imposed scarcity is deliberate, and it’s a big part of why an Aventador holds its value the way it does.

Swedish Engineering Under an Italian Skin

The electronic all-wheel-drive system, including its traction and handling logic, wasn’t developed in-house — it came from the Swedish firm Haldex Traction, which designed and built the complete system.

The New 6.5-Liter V12

Power comes from an all-new 6.5-liter, 60-degree V12. Combined city/highway fuel consumption is rated at 17.2 liters per 100 km, or about 13.7 miles per U.S. gallon. The Aventador runs 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds and covers the quarter mile in just over 10.6 seconds, with a top speed of 217 mph. Power routes through a Graziano single-clutch semi-automatic transmission with a shift time of just 50 milliseconds. The V12 produces 690 bhp at 8,250 rpm and 690 N-m of torque at 5,500 rpm, for a power-to-weight ratio of 426 bhp per ton.

© Dutourdumonde | Dreamstime.com – A Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Photo

The Roadster Joins the Lineup

Lamborghini announced in November 2012 that a Roadster version would enter production for the 2013 model year, matching the coupe’s performance despite carrying an extra 50 kg. The rear pillar was reinforced to house the mid-mounted engine’s ventilation system and provide rollover protection, compensating for the structural strength lost by removing the roof. The removable carbon-fiber roof panels weigh six kilograms each and stow in a storage area up front. Gloss black paint was used on the roof inserts, A-pillars, windshield header, and rear window area.

The Track-Only “J” Concept

The Aventador “J” concept skipped the roof and windows entirely, running the same V12 as the standard LP 700-4 but shedding creature comforts like air conditioning and a radio to save weight, paired with a lightweight seven-speed automatic rated at 700 hp. This concept car sold for $2.8 million, with a second, unique example built as a gift for a family member of Sheikh Al Yahyaa — the price of that one was never disclosed.

© Bx89831 | Dreamstime.com – Orange Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Photo

The 50th Anniversary Edition

Lamborghini also built an LP 720-4 “50th Anniversary” limited edition, with 100 coupes produced in 2013. The anniversary car came only in a “Giallo Maggio” yellow paint with highly reflective particles under clear coat, plus two-tone black trim, an anniversary emblem, and leather seats. This coupe made 710 bhp thanks to enlarged front air intakes and a newly styled rear end with a larger diffuser and more extensive mesh, improving both engine cooling and cabin ventilation, while small aero flaps and a front splitter increased downforce.

The Dream Liner Special Edition

A Dream Liner-themed coupe version of the Aventador was also built in limited quantities in 2012, finished in a paint scheme matching Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

What the Aventador Replaced

The Aventador’s significance goes beyond any single option package. It replaced the Murciélago as Lamborghini’s flagship in 2011, and in doing so retired a V12 architecture that traced its roots all the way back to the original 350 GT of the 1960s, continuously enlarged and revised for nearly five decades. The Aventador’s V12 was the first genuinely clean-sheet design in that lineage, which is exactly why Lamborghini built an entire unveiling around it rather than treating it as just another engine update.

A Different Kind of Muscle

It’s a fair question why a site built around American muscle cars covers a mid-engine Italian supercar at all. The honest answer is that the Aventador shares more with a big-block Detroit legend than its badge suggests — a naturally aspirated engine built for maximum displacement and raw output rather than turbocharged efficiency, a car whose entire identity is built around the sound and drama of that engine rather than lap-time efficiency alone. Enthusiasts who grew up chasing horsepower numbers on one side of the Atlantic tend to recognize the same obsession when they see it on the other.

Living With Rarity

Owning an Aventador, especially one of the limited editions covered here, means accepting that most of the parts, service, and expertise required live at specialist Lamborghini shops rather than a general performance garage. That’s part of the appeal for buyers who specifically want a car few other people can casually reproduce — the same scarcity that makes an Aventador hard to buy new is exactly what protects its value once it’s parked in someone’s garage. Routine maintenance alone — clutch service on the semi-automatic gearbox, tire replacement on tires developed almost exclusively for this application — runs well past what most drivers would spend maintaining an entire ordinary car for a year, which is simply the cost of admission for a V12 built this close to a race engine — a tradeoff every owner in this category has already made peace with long before signing the paperwork, and one that separates genuine enthusiasts from buyers chasing the badge alone.

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