| Iconic sports-car maker Lamborghini could double its sales within four years if it builds its low, ultra-long, super-aggressive Estoque sports sedan concept car. Powered by a retuned 500-hp Gallardo V10, the Estoque combines supercar power, all-wheel drive and a lightweight chassis in a four-seater that could be the first Lamborghini in history designed for daily use, and the first to have a range of environmentally friendly engines. “With our existing cars, there is day-by-day usability, but they are not used every day. Most of them are used for less than 5,000 kilometers a year,” said Lamborghini president Stephan Winkelmann. “This car is something different. It’s for everyday use.” With its all-aluminum, 5.3-liter V10 sitting just behind the front axle, the Estoque is the first four-door Lamborghini since the 1987 Portofino concept car. Winkelmann says Estoque is an operational prototype, not just a concept car, and could give Lamborghini between 2,000 and 3,000 sales a year if it goes into production in 2012. In 2007, the company sold 2,405 cars. Estoque pricing likely would be in the range of the $200,000 Gallardo LP560-4 coupe. Besides the V10 gas engine, other engines in the Estoque mix include high-powered V8 and V10 turbodiesels and a twin-turbo V8 gas engine. In addition, Lamborghini Research and Development Technology director Maruizio Reggiani suggested the Estoque could even take the lead in showing off the Audi Group’s hybrid technology. Lamborghini insists the Estoque will be as fast as people expect, but it will have extremely usable performance. “We have to have the reserve of power that you need at all times. It’s more about the torque than the top speed for this kind of car,” Winkelmann said. Where the Porsche Panamera borrows heavily from the Cayenne, the Estoque will share only its engine with the rest of the Lamborghini family. Exotic chassis materials will help Lamborghini meet its emissions-reduction target of 40 percent by 2015, with Reggiani insisting any Estoque production car would be “lighter than anything else [all-wheel drive] out there.” While parent Audi has years of experience with lightweight aluminum-chassis technology, Lamborghini could take the concept even further by combining aluminum and carbon-fiber chassis architecture. Don’t look for Lamborghini to apply its hardcore Murciélago and Gallardo interiors to the Estoque. Instead, the show car and production themes have a combination of Nappa leather and aluminum as the dominant surfaces, while the dashboard adopts the fully digitized instrument cluster pioneered on the Reventon. A bench rear seat could be added to make the production car a five-seater. While Winkelmann insists the Estoque is right for Lamborghini, a decision on its future hasn’t been finalized. Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn was told about the car only weeks ago, and it is rumored that the Porsche hierarchy was less than pleased about the car. And if Lamborghini builds the Estoque, there will be one more major departure from the company norm: it will need to outsource much of the subassembly and bolt it all together at Sant’Agata. | 
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