Are we now in a post-supercar era?

Lamborghini have announced that the ludicrous Huracan Sterrato off roader is to become a reality… So what’s all this about?

It’s not every day that the exotic Italian manufacturer announces a new car, and their supercars do tend to remain in production for quite a few years… It’s not like a ‘normal’ car where the same platform will get a mid life facelift before it’s replaced by a new model after 5 years. The Huracan has been around 8 years since it was launched In 2014, replacing the Gallardo which itself had a 10 year production run. Gone are the days when a car would remain in print for a decade, so it’s understandable that Lamborghini wants to roll the dice a bit as it’s Huracan is a little long in the tooth…. But an off road supercar? Really? What’s this all about?

The supercar and hypercar movement has all but paled into irrelevance in the last decade. There was once a time when 150mph was the realm of the gods, and 200mph was a pedestal upon which only one or two cars ever sat… These days your average family saloon can cruise at close to 150mph, and we see cars capable of 170mph+ on a daily basis. Your fast saloons from the likes of Mercedes AMG, BMW’s M division and Audi’s RS department have been churning out bread-and-butter supercars for a decade, bringing performance to the masses and inadvertently diluting the potency of those really ludicrous supercars.

Are we now numb to speed? Have we become accustomed to acceleration? Is brake horsepower boring?

The fact that Lamborghini deems it not only feasible but commercially viable to produce a supercar with a lift kit seems to indicate that we are in a post-supercar era.

When everything can do 0-60 in under 6 seconds, and 600hp isn’t enough to get you noticed, does performance really matter?

As we sit here in 2022, Power, Performance and Outright Gorgeous Looks are all no longer part of the design brief for a high end motorcar. Take a look at any modern BMW and you can see that the days of understated elegance are gone. Does anyone actually make a genuinely good looking car anymore? What has happened to the new car market, and to new car buyers, and how does that impact the way we value our beloved classic cars?

The speed with which modern cars are passing into the realm of irrelevance can only seek to bolster the enthusiasm around classic cars.

We’re here for the sounds, the smells and the style of old fashioned, properly designed and engineered cars from an era where performance was genuinely impressive.

There’s no doubt that the Huracan Sterato will be a hoot to drive off road, and equally no doubt that it’ll sell in droves.

Either way, here’s some photos of the Lamborghinis of old… cars from a time when seeing one would result in your jaw hitting the floor, not turning into a yawn.

Food for thought. What do you think…?