Lamborghinis aren’t cheap. There, I said it. You’re simply not going to get a desirable raging bull for anything less than a house deposit. And yet, I realized something today that surprised me. Certain models of the Lamborghini Gallardo feel almost insanely cheap right now for what you’re actually getting.
If you’re a little hazy on the Gallardo, let me bring you up to speed. It invented the concept of the modern “baby Lambo”—featuring a mid-mounted V10 instead of the meatier V12 of the contemporary Murcielago. Built from 2003 to 2013, it offered the best part of 500 horsepower at all four wheels. Oh, and the kind of soundtrack that makes priests weep that God’s own words aren’t so beautiful.
Most crucially, though, the Gallardo features one special prize that you won’t find on almost any new car today—a gated manual transmission. In my opinion, this makes certain used examples of the Gallardo a supercar bargain right now and I know I’m not alone in this opinion, as Hagerty has said similar.
The Gallardo wasn’t just available as a manual. Most shipped with the “E-gear” automated manual and paddle shifters. Proper three-pedal examples saw a comparatively low take rate; some estimates suggest their numbers sit in the hundreds at most. Surviving examples with the proper six-speed stick thus command a premium in the used market.
Given it’s an Italian supercar that was one of the last on sale with a gated manual option, you might think that it would be a super-high-priced collector’s item. And yet… it’s surprisingly affordable. Not really affordable, of course. You’re not buying this thing on anything less than a surgeon’s salary. But for what it is? I think it’s surprisingly good value.
I found a 2005 example for sale in Tennessee for just $149,900. 16,000 miles on the clock, glossy black paint, and a massive knob on a stick right in the center console to remind you why you get up in the morning. Not bad. In Oregon, there’s a 2007 convertible with just 20,000 miles on the clock and the same sticky, shiftery goodness. Head over to Arizona, and there’s a nice coupe with 31,000 miles for just $117,000, and you get red interior trim to boot.
At that price, you’re looking at new BMW M5 money. For the same stack of bills that will get you a comfortable, anonymous German sedan… you could be slam-shifting your way to V10 ecstasy in a pointy yellow weapon. Which sounds more appealing?
Now, don’t get me wrong. You could just buy a Gallardo with the E-gear. It’ll be quicker by a hair, and probably more convenient in some situations. But doesn’t it just feel wrong? Without that big metal shaft sticking up out of the center console, doesn’t it feel like the bull has been neutered? I’m sure farmers have some silly specific word for that, and I’m sure you don’t want them saying that about your thoroughbred Italian supercar. You don’t want the E-gear, and you don’t want the BMW M5. You want a car that fucks.
Real talk, it won’t be easy. Maintaining a Gallardo doesn’t come cheap, and you’re going to draw a certain kind of attention. At the same time, you’re buying an experience that simply doesn’t exist anymore. Not a single automaker will sell you a V10 supercar with a gated manual today, and there aren’t exactly many on the horizon, either.
Oh, and don’t even think about calling Gordon Murray—they’re sold out. This is your surprisingly cheap ticket to a forgotten kind of thrills, if you dare to accept it.
Surprisingly rare.
If you have the money and you have the means… I think there’s only one answer. You have to consider if it’s worth missing out on the chance to drop the clutch on your own V10 rock concert on your way to visit the horizon. Buying the M5 might be the sane decision, the one that makes you look like a sane and safe professional on the way to success. The Gallardo… quite the opposite. Yet, who could ignore it? Tell me I’m crazy below.
Image credits: via Cars.com, Monaco Motor Group via YouTube screenshot
If it doesn’t have suicide doors, I’m not gonna take that leap. Just sayin’.
I never realized how cheap the interior looks in these. And that is in taking into account when they where made. People give Corvettes crap all the time for having parts bin, cheap interiors with stuff straight from Chevy Cobalts, and they are not wrong to do so, but this looks like it used the same parts bin and added in some child’s play toy plastics, all for obscene amounts of money. Weird. Again, I love the styling and performance of Lambos, I just didnt know quite how cheap that interior was on these.
I’m generally used to people complaining about cheap interiors and rolling my eyes. Most ‘cheap’ interiors look fine and get the job done well, and I don’t care.
But you know what? That really is a hideously cheap interior that Lambo has there. Good lord.
would love to have a gated shifter, but you can keep the aluminum shifter knob, at least in TX where I live. They get so hot in the summer that you have trouble shifting for the first few mins until they cool off, and I ‘ve been a grill cook!
Alberta joins the vote for winter
Go ahead and buy it, it’s easy to swap out the shifter knob!
The Ol’ Lambo Knob Swap is what the call any transaction from one owner to the next 🙂
problem is, in the world of exotics these would for the most part be looked down upon as old models. I imagine a few car buffs would appreciate and know the manual was low volume and give it some cred as a result, but the majority of affluent owners of supercars would likely look down their nose at you, and the average joe would likely just lump you in with jackass youtubers and dickhead lawyers trying to Peacock while you go about your business. I would doubt that any of these would hold up to much daily or even autocross driving for very long. the M5 at least has a warranty if newish, and it fly under a lot more of the radars mentioned above. Though I still think I would end up with the last of the manual Cadillac sedans with the supercharged v8.
Correct answer, CT5 V Black wing with manual. And they finally have a nice green for it too
If you don’t want to turn too many heads and still have the V10 and gated shifter then the Audi R8 is your answer.
Fun to look at but I cannot afford a used Italian car that costs nearly what I paid for my house.
Costs MORE than what I paid for my house. 😀
You’ll need half the price again to maintain the thing for five years. Hard pass.
But at least there is slightly less to go wrong with the manual version.
But they’re all black. *yawn* It should be mandatory that something flashy and loud should be a color that backs that up.
Yes! if you are getting a Lambo it needs to be bright orange or that glorious light green the mercielago got.
Dodge Viper has entered the chat.
Doesn’t have a gated shifter but still..
V10 power and a manual.
Anyone willing to be a “snake charmer”?
lol
Has anyone here driven a gated manual car? (I never have and likely never will). What’s it like? Is it fun? When I do a 2nd to 3rd shift, I don’t really go up-right-up, it’s kind of more a diagonal. I feel like I’d have to really think about shifting if there was a mechanical gate in the console. Just curious.
I got to drive a manual Gallardo once, although it was only a few miles. As I recall, it wasn’t much different from driving any other car with a well-designed manual transmission (i.e. one with a precise shifter). I wasn’t driving it very hard (I really didn’t want to damage a car that was worth several times my net worth at the time), so the gated manual might have advantages/disadvantages I was unable to experience in my drive.
I don’t think the gated part of the gated manual Gallardo is all that interesting. I like that it has a true manual transmission with the correct number of pedals, though.
You definitely can’t shift as fast in a gated manual.
The other issue no one brings up is that stuff can fall into the gates, which is annoying or potentially worse.
This is why I am glad you are here, I have never driven, let alone owned a gated manual car, and I would not have thought of these issues. I have owned many different “regular” manual cars, but there is always some kind of shift boot there to keep it clean. I always kinda thought it would be a slower shift to go through the gates than I can with a normal manual.
Thanks, I’ve never driven one either, but I have met people with them, so this is second-hand.
Yup, the gates were originally put in as a restrictor of sorts to reduce shifting mistakes. Quick shifting is possible, but you really need to be very good with the car because you can’t fudge it at all. That was less the case for the more modern versions like this Lamborghini or the Audi R10. Those were more style-driven.
I rented a manual R10 on Turo a while back, and it really didn’t feel much, if any, different from a non-gated manual.
I drove a friends Ferrari 308. It was like others say, much like a good manual. Direct and positive. Not great at speed shifting, but these cars are not really about that. The only problem I had was my head sticking out the open top and trying to see through the windshield frame which was directly in my line of sight. Sux being tall.
I struggle to find any articles that say driving this car as a manual is enjoyable. That in itself tells me to stay away.
I’m surprised to see the one for sale in Arizona for $117k. That seems on the low end for a gated manual car that doesn’t have very high mileage or obvious flaws.
I wouldn’t mind buying a Gallardo at some point if prices go down a bit, but I would probably get one with the flappy paddles. The gated manual is cool, but not cool enough to warrant a $30k premium.
Aluminum shift knob, black paint, dark interior, and Arizona sun sounds like a car that would never have been parked outdoors during daytime.
My car already has glossy black paint and a massive knob inside of it. At least it does once I get in.
The steering wheel in these cars is awful.
Both awful looking, and if the yellow interior is any indication, awful wearing as well.
Alcantara, imho, is hideous.
I like it, but you need to take care of it.
Yeah I was going to say the steering wheel looked moldy.
Agreed, the steering wheel gives me strong Subaru vibes, which is about my least favorite steering wheel. But hey, at least its got that flat bottom, so, race car!