A certain era of children educated in American public schools will remember Sanitare powder as that material janitors used to sprinkle on their vomit. Imagine mixing that with $15,000 in gold paint and you have this, the barfpowder rainbow Lamborghini — once owned by none other than Dennis Rodman.

Flagged by the Cardomain gang as a candidate for worst custom Lambo — and we all know how tough that competition is — the paint on this Gallardo seems to be its only crime against taste, albeit as transgressive and egregious as they come.

Much like Dennis Rodman, the car’s only previous owner.    We can confirm this is indeed the 2004 Gallardo Rodman once drove during the 2005 Bullrun race. While his face once adorned its flanks, a subsequent fender-bender led to a more plain respray of the side. With just 7,000 miles at its last posting in March, and some $15,000 in gold paint — not to mention an additional $12,000 in custom Lamborghini wheels.

Then again, who am I to judge? Were someone to park a Gallardo in front of my house, I’d surely get behind the wheel and enjoy the full force of that V10 Italian engine. Then I’d get out, get nauseous, and reach for the Sanitare.

Lamborghini’s supermodels these day are as likely to pop up next to you at the stoplights without a roof as in a coupe configuration. It’s only natural that when people buy a six-figure car they want to be seen, yet this isn’t how things used to be.

The Raging Bull only really started making drop-tops of every car they offer since the arrival of the Diablo VT Roadster in 1995.

Then came the Murcielago Roadster and the Gallardo Spyder, which was the first truly practical drop-top. Now, the supercar maker has a whole bunch of other such beasts planned. First off, the recently launched Aventador will drop its carbon-fiber top, while the aging Gallardo will sing its swan song in the form of an LP550-2 variant with rear-wheel drive, just like the Valentino Balboni.

Besides the existing core range of V10 and V12 powered monsters, Top Speed suggests there are a couple of unexpected versions. For starters, there’s the limited production Sesto Elemento, which could see such a conversion taking place, as the chassis is more than strong enough for the job. The Sant’Agata supercar maker made 15 such versions of the Sesto’s predecessor, the Reventon, so the prospects look good.

Finally, Lamborghini is still pondering whether to built the Estoque sedan or a big crossover. But Top Speed states development of the four-door is going smoothly, and the company can rely on a bit of input from Porsche, who is also readying a convertible Panamera.

With all these models on the drawing board, it will be hard for future Lambo owners not to enjoy a bit of sun and fresh air.

Attorneys for the Italian car maker filed suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas against the companies that operate Dal Toro Exotic Car Showroom, Dal Toro Merchandise Gallery and Dal Toro Il Ristorante Italiano in the resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

Lorenzo Barracco, manager of the businesses being sued, said Thursday he was unaware of the lawsuit and said it sounded frivolous.

But the attorneys at the Las Vegas law firm that filed the suit, Akerman Senterfitt, aren’t known for filing frivolous suits. They typically engage in complex financial litigation.

Wednesday’s lawsuit says Lamborghini, with its distinctive bull-in-shield logo, has been harmed by Dal Toro’s unauthorized use of Lamborghini’s trademarks, name and logo.

“Brashly, defendants prominently display a large and striking Lamborghini bull-in-shield protected design mark at the entrance of defendants’ premises and a Lamborghini protected type mark within defendants’ exotic car showroom,’’ the lawsuit says.

It also claims Dal Toro has been designing, manufacturing, advertising and selling apparel and accessory products bearing logos and other identifiers “that are studied imitations of the Lamborghini trademarks.”

“Defendants’ advertisement, promotion and sale of the knockoff products is part of a sophisticated and elaborate scheme to target Lamborghini, to create products that are similar in appearance to well-known Lamborghini products, and to trade upon the goodwill and reputation associated with Lamborghini and its high quality, distinctive product lines, including by deliberately misleading the public and the trade as to the authenticity, source, affiliation or sponsorship of defendants’ operations and products,” Lamborghini’s lawsuit says.

What’s the Aventador about? Is it just another supercar?

Stephan Winkelmann: When we started to think about the Aventador back in around 2006, we had many ideas about what could be the new brand representative of the sixth generation of the vehicle. I went home, I said to myself: “I want something very easy.” So I gave a very short briefing to the team, just two words: “No competitors”.

“No competitors” means you have to be somebody who is leading the pack for at least 10 years because the normal life cycle of a such a super sports car is on average much longer than a normal production car. And so it came up to a mix of technological innovation, because if we speak about design, it’s always revolutionary. What is the technological innovation we need for the future? In these years, we were very much speaking about the power-to-weight ratio. For us, the power-to-weight ratio is the key to the future of the super sports car business.

How was the name chosen?

It’s a tradition to use the name of fighting bulls, and you have to have three things which are matching. You have to have a nice sounding name, it has to be the name of a bull which deserves to be named and then it has not to be used in a different aspect. So you have to block the name. Aventador is the name of a fighting bull that fought in 1993 and he was awarded the most courageous bull at that event, and so he’s a very good representative of Lamborghini.

There are lots of ways to look for names. There’s the Internet, and we have a very old encyclopedia which is all about los toros – the names and the history of each fighting bull … there are some names which are very well-sounding for somebody in Italy, but maybe in the Asian world it’s an insult, so we have to take care of this issue.

What does Singapore mean to Lamborghini?

For me, Melvin Goh (managing director of EuroSports Auto) is representing Lamborghini at its best. And to say what we are looking for and what we need as a partner is exactly what I imagine when I’m here in Singapore. Somebody who is living the life of his customers, and this is very tough. This is not about a 9 to 5 job. It’s about going out every night, taking care of the customers, no weekends, always being available as the first person, because it’s a one-to-one business. And this is exactly what we’re doing, so for me, Singapore and Lamborghini are represented at its best by Melvin Goh. And I can say this without any trace of willingness to please.

More than 70 units of the Aventador were ordered. How does this compare to other cities in the region?

This is a record. Maybe in Beijing we have similar sales, maybe a bit higher. Beijing has hinterland and it has double the citizens and a very fast economy. So this is something we were expecting, but even there it’s outstanding. But I think it’s No 2 or or No 3. But in terms of per capita, for sure it’s No 1 – not only in Asia.

Fans of the iconic Italian (but now German-owned) brand, especially those who can’t afford the cars’ million-dollar price tags, can bring a piece of grand touring tradition into their office.
The laptop offers a distinctive outer-casing design, a 15.6″ display, dual 750GB hard drives and quad-core 2nd generation Intel Core i7 processors and is the world’s first laptop with dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M graphics.

“The VX7 stays faithful to its Automobili Lamborghini pedigree with sheer performance for gaming, multimedia, online entertainment and productivity. What’s more, in two directly licensed colours (orange and black carbon fibre) and with exquisite style in detailed design finishes, it perfectly reflects the panache of the Lamborghini’s iconic image,” said Asus.

The laptop is priced at £1,999 (€2265) and is available now from Anvika or Amazon.

For those of you wanting something a little more portable, Asus makes a Lamborghini VX6 laptop with a 12.1″ display.

Today, however, he is out shopping on Beijing’s swanky Jinbao (Treasure) Street for an addition to his Bentley and cannot quite decide which 300km/h sports car to splash out on.

”I like Aston Martins because I used to watch James Bond films. But I think I prefer Ferrari, even though they are more expensive,” muses the former farm boy, who has made a fortune as a yacht salesman.

Greater numbers of China’s emerging super rich travel in style, driving cars such as the Lamborghini Murcielago. Photo: Getty Images

Each of these cars cost more than 4 million yuan ($A578,000) but price is not Zheng’s main concern.

”Turning heads with a luxury car is not as easy as it used to be. They are common now. Many people can afford them,” he says. ”So I focus on comfort.”

It is an increasingly familiar story as ranks of wealthy Chinese move from bike to Bentley and moped to Mercedes in a generation. This has not only transformed the streets of Beijing, it is reshaping the business strategies of the world’s biggest car makers.

China’s emergence as a car industry super consumer is evident in Jinbao Street. This leafy promenade between the Forbidden City and the central business district opened in 2002 on the site of demolished hutong (alleyway) neighbourhoods. It aims to be Ginza – Tokyo’s shopping and entertainment district – plus Mayfair and Park Avenue all rolled into one, with five-star hotels, plush restaurants and designer boutiques. But its most striking feature is a clutch of car showrooms.

One side of the street is home to Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Maserati, Jaguar and BMW. On the other, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Mercedes.

Most of these luxury brands have only moved in within the past few years, but the chief outlets on this street – and others like it in Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou – have rapidly become the leading profit centres for the world’s prestige car makers.

Sales of ultra-luxury vehicles in China have increased by 30 per cent in the past six months, after even more spectacular growth last year. Thanks largely to this surge, Mercedes – one of the first foreign firms into the market – recently announced the highest monthly worldwide car sales in the company’s 110-year history. BMW has also just attributed its best six-monthly sales to high demand in China.

Audi – another early arrival – sold more than 200,000 cars in China last year, nearly overtaking Germany as its biggest market. Its vehicles are now the must-have status symbol for communist cadres and government officers. According to the finance ministry, the government spent 86 billion yuan last year on official cars.

Cars have become one of the most visible symbols of an increasingly divided society.

Between 2000 and 2010, the number of cars in China increased twentyfold to an estimated 270 million cars and motorbikes. In the next 20 years, this is forecast to more than double again, which means there will be more cars in China in 2030 than there were in the world in 2000. But the pace of growth is as uneven as the society.

In the past six months, the rise of overall car sales has slowed to single digits from the spectacular 20-30 per cent expansion of the past decade due to rising fuel prices, curbs on licence registrations in Beijing and government efforts to promote public transport. But the rich are not only getting richer, they are getting rich faster.

The Aston Martin Rapide – which Zheng is considering – has a six-litre engine, a top speed of 303km/h and a price tag of 4 million yuan.

According to the Hurun Rich List, China has almost a million ”dollar” millionaires, each of whom owns an average of three cars.

Luxury car ownership has distinct Chinese characteristics. On average, Chinese owners are 10 years younger than their counterparts in the US and Europe. They are also more likely to be women. Fiat estimates the percentage of women buying its Maserati models in China is triple that of Europe, while the percentage buying its Ferraris is double the global average.

Foreign companies are cashing in on the growing obsession with status. Last year, Lamborghini’s sales tripled in China to 247 cars, Rolls-Royce’s rose 146 per cent to 678 cars – overtaking the UK and on course to soon surpass the US. ”It will only be a matter of time before the market becomes the largest market in the world for the company,” Jenny Zheng, general manager of Rolls-Royce’s regional office, told China Daily.

But China’s traffic looks likely to slow of its own accord. Despite the surge in sales of 300km/h cars, the rush-hour speed in Beijing is rarely above 25km/h.

Yes, the Star Wars vinyl rap on this Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 can be completely removed without damaging the vehicle. It features “Clone Wars-era Jedi Order crests on the passenger side, Galactic Republic/Galactic Empire crests on the driver’s side, and an overhead view of an R2 unit on the car’s roof.” Click here for Video by Brian Zuk.

Lamborghini research and development director, Maurizio Reggiani, has confirmed to MotorTrend magazine that Lamborghini will no longer offer a manual transmission option. The Aventador will be the first lamborghini offered without such an option and all indications are that the rest of the industry is following the same course.

In the interview, Reggiani explains that just one to two percent of the 1,200 cars that left the factory last year opted for a manual transmission. When the Gallardo replacement, due next year, is introduced it will not include a manual option either. The explanation offered is that for the whole car to work seamlessly, an automated transmission must be offered to make the most of other automated components. It seems Lamborghini want to give customers a faultless experience and remove the potential for driver error.

A decision will also be made on the possibility of a Sesto Elemento limited edition run in the next few months. The technology used in the model is nearing production feasibility. A number of improvements have also ensured that quality levels are at an all-time high at the factory.

The manual gearbox news won’t come as a surprise to most who follow the supercar industry, we reported before on this subject. Next to that Ferrari have produced their last manual gearbox in the California, with models following this all being automated only. Let us know what you think in the comments box below.