Lamborghini has been very deliberate lately in its evolution as a brand.

In the past half-decade, the company that started making tractors for Italian farmers more than 55 years ago has unveiled the $242,300 Huracán—known for its smoother, sleeker (more affordable) demeanor behind the wheel—and the $200,000 Urus, its first SUV since the LM002 went out of production decades ago.

Both vehicles are attracting new customers to the brand, especially women and first-time Lamborghini owners, according to dealers and company executives.

The cars have also provoked cries from some old-school die-hards that the brand has so tamed itself in order to reach the masses that it is no longer recognizable as the revered brand. (But can you actually call fewer than 4,000 cars sold globally per year mass appeal?)

Those people, I’d suggest, should look take note of the 2018 Aventador S Roadster. The new 740-horsepower V12 bull from Sant’Agata Bolognese is every bit as demonic as its immediate predecessor, the Murciélago—and quite a bit more than anything else that comes from standard stock production. With a starting price of $460,247, it’ll also hurt your pocketbook just as much to own one as those top-end Gallardos and Murciélagos did back in the good old days. You know, before Lamborghini became so common.

A Car Apart
I’ll lay off the sarcasm now, because let’s get real: In an era in which every premium sedan feels interchangeable and anything remotely fuel-efficient feels and looks like an appliance, Lamborghini remains exceptional. You may not like its point of view, but at least it has a point of view. Most brands these days are scared to make any point at all.

And here we find the Aventador S Roadster—the only mid-engine V12 on the market, complete with a front end “fangs” befitting a viper, sides that slice through the air like blades, and a rear that looks like the exoskeleton of an intergalactic insect.

After all, this is Lamborghini’s iconic model. Of course it’s going to scream for attention.  

Where many of today’s top cars from Porsche, Mercedes, Ferrari, and even McLaren are turbo-charged with dual-clutch transmissions (for smoother, quicker, more-efficient driving, my dear) the Aventador S Roadster is naturally aspirated, with only a single clutch to its all-wheel-drive, seven-speed transmission. In Sport—a medium-aggressive (paddle-shifting) option among its four drive modes—it jolts and jerks from first to second and from second to third gear. It does this so abruptly that your passengers will question your driving skills. This also means you get the sort of rubbed-raw driving feel that jump-starts the flow of adrenaline through your veins. If it hurts, it’s working, right?

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