NASA : SCIENCE BLOG When it comes to achieving incredible feats of aerospace engineering Exploring the wonders of the universe And realizing the dreams of astronauts from around the world There’s one organization that stands out above all others This is the Evolution of NASA In the first episode we will cover the origins of NASA When World War 1 started in 1914, the United States lagged far behind Europe In technology and the number of military airplanes Great Britain had 400 military airplanes Germany 1,000 and France even 1,400 While the United States only had 23 In order to catch up, the NACA or National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was founded In 1915 on a mission to change the face of U.S. aviation The research of this committee and its technological expertise laid the foundation for NASA Unlike NASA’s current huge budget of 22.6 billion dollars The NACA initially only had a budget of 5,000 dollars NACA received more funding in the following years Lea...
Lamborghini : 2 blog
In the first episode, Lamborghinistarted making sports cars, but some of the most iconicand expensive Lamborghinis are still to come. This is the second episodeof the Evolution of Lamborghini. In 1972, Ferrucio Lamborghinisold his controlling shares to Georges-Henri Rossetti, a wealthy Swiss businessmanand a friend of Lamborghini. Rossetti bought the shares for $600,000. In December 2020, those shareswould be worth a whopping $6 billion! Under new ownership,the Lamborghini company switched things up by releasing a 2.5 liter V8 model, named the Lamborghini Urraco, which is a Spanish slang wordmeaning ‘little bull’.The 4-passenger sports carwas priced at $22,500 and intended to be amore affordable alternative to the Ferrari Dino and Maserati Merak. It could reach a top speedof 149 miles per hour and go from 0 to 60 in 6.7 seconds. Besides the 2.5 liter V8 model, 2 and 3 liter models of the carwere also made available with either worse or bettertop speeds and acceleration times.
In total 776, Urracos were builtover a period of 7 years. Next, the Lamborghinicompany started working on a successor to the Miura in 1974. The result was the Lamborghini Countach, which oddly enough was not namedafter a bull or an area of Spain. The name actually came from an expressionmade by a guard in his local dialect when he saw the design of the new car. Its equivalent in Englishwould be something like “Wow!” And it's easy to understandwhy he had this reaction. The wedge-shaped Lamborghinihad a completely different design than any other car on the market.
It also was the first production carto incorporate scissor doors. Returning to the 3.9 liter V12 engine, the Countach caused afew gasped expressions with its speed and acceleration too. It could reach 187 miles per hour and accelerate from 0 to 60in just 5 seconds, making it much fasterand quicker than the Miura. The Countach wasn’t cheap though. It was the first Lamborghinito cost over $50,000. It became the longest-runningproduction car, with 1,983 units made over 16 years. Emerging from the shadows in 1976,was the Lamborghini Silhouette. It replaced the Urraco, with a Targa roof,basically making it semi-convertible.
It had a 3 liter V8 engine, making it fasterand quicker than the Urraco, but also more expensive. The Silhouette wasn’t a success though. The plan was to winover the US market, but that never happened. In 3 years, only 55 units were made… With that amount, they wouldn’t evenwin over the North Pole market. The Silhouette wasn’t the only bad thingthat happened to the company. Lamborghini also had internal problemsbecause of the change in ownership, and to make matters worse,in the 1970s, there was an oil crisis, skyrocketing oil prices. As a consequence,Lamborghini car sales suffered because of their high fuel consumption. In 1978, Lamborghini’ssituation worsened so much that it entered bankruptcy. Two years later, the companywas purchased for $3 million by Patrick Mimran and his brother.
Mimran, who was only 24at the time, became the CEO and was later credited for beingthe man who saved Lamborghini. In 1981, under the leadershipof Lamborghini's new owners, the Jalpa was produced. It was the last Lamborghinito use a V8 engine for a long time. The Jalpa was named, once again,after a famous breed of fighting bulls. It replaced the Silhouette and although the top speed was lowerand it had a higher price, the Jalpa was more successfulwith 420 units produced in 7 years. You probably wouldn’t chooseLamborghini as a go-to manufacturer if you’re looking to travelacross rough terrain, but did you know thatLamborghini has made several off-road trucks over the years? The LM002, also known as the “Lamborghini truck”or the "Rambo-Lambo" was made in 1986, after two prototypeoff-roaders had been made including the Cheetah,which was a military vehicle.
The LM002 came with special Pirelli tires which could run virtually flat without risk and handle the desert heat. Two special versionsof the truck participated through the tough terrainsin the Dakar Rally. The 5.2L V12 Rambo-Lambo could reach a top speedof 130 miles per hour and accelerate to 60 in 8.5 seconds. 300 units were made costing $65,000. FUN FACT: The first LM002 was deliveredto the King of Morocco. Another fun fact, the truckfeatured in several movies including the Fast & Furious. With the arrival of the 1990scame a new era for Lamborghini, the era of supercars that were capableof speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour or 320 kilometers per hour! It started with the Lamborghini Diablothat was powered by a 5.7 liter V12 engine.
The Diablo could hit 202 mphand go from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds. Over the course of 11 years,900 units were made. The most expensive Lamborghinibefore the Diablo was the LM002 that hada price tag of $65,000. The Diablo was morethan 3 times as expensive as it was sold for a whopping $200,000! The Lamborghini DiabloSV followed in 1995 and improved upon the speed of the Diablo, which makes sense sinceSV stands for ‘Super Veloce’ or ‘Super Fast’ in English. It maxed out at208 miles per hour and went from 0 to 60 in 3.8 seconds. It was also more expensivewith a price tag of almost $230,000. Not content with those figures,Lamborghini then made the Diablo GTR as a track-ready modelwith power improvements, a stripped interior, and a reduction in weight. It pushed 210 mph and had a 0 to 60 time of 3.4 seconds. Only 32 GTRs were madeand were sold for over $300,000. The Diablo line-upbecame super successful. Almost 3,000 units were sold across the world! FUN FACT: The name Diablo means “devil” in Spanish.
In 1998, Ferdinand Piëch, the chairman of the Volkswagen Group, went on a buying spreepurchasing Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti. Lamborghini was bought for around $110 million and placed under parent company Audi, which is also owned by Volkswagen. FUN FACT: Currently the Volkswagen Group owns 12 huge car brands! That is just unbelievable! The Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001 and served as the flagship V12 of Lamborghini’s line-up. It was the first model madeunder the new ownership of German parent company Audi. The Murciélago had a 6.2 liter V12 and performed similarly to the Diablo,
but its look made it a favourite of many. It’s probably why almost 4,000 of them were made with a starting price of $273,000! FUN FACT: The Murciélago Roadster was driven by Bruce Wayne in ‘Batman Begins’, which is a very clever nod to the superhero because Murciélago is the Spanish word for bat. Following the success of the Murciélago, Lamborghini came out with the Gallardo. Powered by a 5 liter V10 that could reach a top speed of 192 mph and go from 0 to 60 in 4.3 seconds. To own one yourself would have cost at least $180,000 when they were first released. In total, over 7,000 original Gallardos were produced! In 2005, the Gallardo Superleggera was unleashed. It was lighter than the original model due to the use of carbon fiber parts. It maxed out at 196 mph and could go from 0 to 60 in just 3.8 seconds.
618 units were produced and it cost $50,000 more than the original. The fastest of the Gallardorange though was the LP560-4, which was also usedby the Italian authorities to patrol highways. It had a 5.2 liter V10, and with a top speed of 202 mph, you’d have a hard time outrunning the Italian police! It could reach 60 mph in 3.6 seconds and was sold for $198,000. The Gallardo with all its variants became the best-selling Lamborghini model. Throughout its production run, more than 14,000 Gallardos were built. The Reventón is a limited edition masterpiece that was first revealed at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. With a design inspired by the very latest aeronautics, this sleek, swift machine was named after a bull who killed a matador, with the word Reventón meaning “small explosion” or “burst” in Spanish. It was the first Lambo toutilize a 6.5 liter V12 engine that could reach a top speed of 205 mph. It could accelerate to 60 mph in just 3.3 seconds.
In total, only 21 units were made, including one for the Lamborghini Museum. In 2009, a roadster version was unveiled and Lamborghini produced another 15 units of the Reventón Roadster. The Reventón became thefirst Lamborghini to be priced at more than 1 million dollars! And if that wasn’t expensive enough, the Roadster version was sold for 2.1 million dollars! Come on! For this amount of money, you can buy yourself a luxury villa! In 2008, Lamborghiniunveiled a four-door sports car, the Estoque. Just imagine someone bringing their kids to school with this beast. It could reach a top speedof 211 miles per hour, making it the fastest Lamborghini so far.
Production plans for theEstoque were canceled, so only 1 unit was built. In 2009, Lamborghini made a special version of the Murciélago, the Murciélago SV. Using a 6.5 liter V12 engine, it broke the 3 seconds barrier for 0 to 60 miles per hour. It did not only become the quickest Lamborghini so far, but also the fastest with a top speed of 213 mph. Only 186 units were made and it was launched with a price tag of $450,000. In the next episode, we’ll feature the most iconic, futuristic and expensive Lamborghinis of all time, so subscribe to stay up to date in the latest of this series. Click the video on the left to watch episode 3.
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