When the 495bhp Gallardo was launched in 2004, motoring journalists were impressed - this stylish supercar combined the ferocity of Lamborghini with the polish and practicality of Audi and, at around GBP115,000, didn't scorch the wallet quite as much as its bigger brother, the Murcielago. Lamborghinis have always quickened the pulse, of course, and this book shows why. Packed with model analysis, driving impressions, technical specifications, buying hints, personal anecdotes and sumptuous photographs, it tells the story of this exotic marque, from the peasant background of the founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, to its burning ambition to beat Ferrari in the manufacture of supercars.

Anthony Pritchard, an authoritative writer with a speciality for Italian marques, is the author of Haynes' successful Maserati: a racing history and Scarlet Passion: Ferrari's famed sports prototypes and competition sports cars 1962-73. He lives at Wooburn Green, in Buckinghamshire.