From the Miura to the Sián: These are Lamborghini’s rarest V12 roadsters

(Motorsport-Total.com/Motor1) – When you think of Lamborghini, you usually have the roar of a twelve-cylinder engine in your ear and a wedge-shaped silhouette in your mind. But there is an escalation of this fascination that has a long tradition in Sant’Agata Bolognese: the whole thing also open. When the V12 works directly behind the passengers’ necks and only the sky serves as a limit, the technology becomes tangible and the acoustic attraction even more powerful.

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Especially the so-called “Few-Off” models, those strictly limited small series, have served the brand for decades to explore technological boundaries and bring design visions to the road before they flow into the mass production.

The Origin: A One-Off Named Miura

The roots of this open tradition go further back than many suspect. As early as 1968, Lamborghini dared an experiment with the Miura Roadster. The one-off designed by Bertone was meant to show how radical an open mid-engine super sports car can appear. While the regular Miura revolutionized the sports car world between 1966 and 1973, the Roadster remained a solitary piece, but laid the foundation for everything to come. It proved that the combination of aesthetics and uncompromising performance works without a fixed roof.

It took until the new millennium for Lamborghini to systematize this concept of small-series roadsters. The beginning was made in 2009 by the Reventón Roadster. Inspired by the design language of modern fighter jets, only 15 examples of the open variant were built – five fewer than the coupe. Under the angular carbon skin worked the 6.5-liter V12 from the Murciélago LP640, here however with 650 hp. It was also the first Lamborghini to introduce the now mandatory digital instruments with LCD displays.

The Era of Limited Small Series from 2014

For the 50th anniversary of the brand in 2014, Lamborghini raised the bar even higher. The Veneno Roadster appeared in a limited edition of only nine vehicles. With a radical aerodynamic concept that resembled more a Le Mans prototype than a road car and a power output of 750 hp. Here, for the first time, the patented “Carbon-Skin” was used extensively in the interior – a material that is now found in a similar form in the series models.

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Only two years later, in 2016, the Centenario Roadster followed for the 100th birthday of the company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini. With 20 units built, it was somewhat less rare than the Veneno, but introduced crucial technologies such as rear-wheel steering, which shortly thereafter was adopted in the Aventador S. With 770 hp, it marked the peak of the naturally aspirated V12’s performance at that time.

Not a so-called “Few-Off”, but a true one-off is the SC20 from 2020. The car actually has road approval and was developed by the motorsport department Squadra Corse on behalf of a customer. The open V12 speedster delivers 770 hp from 6.5 liters displacement, inspired by models like the Diablo VT Roadster and Aventador J. It offers radical aerodynamics, a carbon body, and a 7-speed ISR transmission.

The provisional final point of this exclusive lineage was also set in 2020 by the Sián Roadster. With only 19 examples, it ushered in the electrification of the brand. Its V12 naturally aspirated engine was combined for the first time with a 48-volt electric motor, which, however, did not rely on classic batteries but on supercapacitors. With a system output of 819 hp, it is the most powerful open “Few-Off” in the brand’s history and shows that the tradition of the open V12 also has its place at Lamborghini in the age of hybridization.

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