The month of May 2013 sees Automobili Lamborghini turn 50 years old. To celebrate, the marque has organized a grand tour across Italy; flagging off from Milan through Lombardia, Toscana, Rome, and finally stopping at Sant’Agata Bolognese, Lamborghini’s birthplace. As you might imagine, organizing such a run would be a logistic nightmare; especially when you have to ship in cars from all over the world. As such, participation was limited to only 350 slots, and with thousands of owners who wanted to expressed interest to join the drive, many were left disappointed.
Lamborghini owners in Southeast Asia then decided to organize their own bull-run instead – the Lamborghini 50th Anniversary Asia Drive (50AAD), which was slated to coincide with the original Italy run. Spanning a total of five days, the drive flagged off at Malaysia’s golden triangle, heading towards Bukit Tinggi, Cameron Highlands, Banjaran Ipoh, to their final destination in Penang (we hear they will be met with yet more Bulls!). Total distance is an estimated 900km in length and anyone who has the good fortune of crossing the group in their travels will surely have an eye (and ear!)-ful.
During the brief press conference, it was mentioned that the selected routes would not be the shortest path. Instead, the tour promises to facilitate an exhilarating running of bulls, but with sufficient rest and fuel stops, support cars, along with police outriders at specific points.
“Set to be the largest gathering of Lamborghinis in Asia, the organizers will also channel a percentage of the proceeds from various participation and sponsorship fees into a fund for selected charities and causes across Malaysia,” says Dr Rodwin Bahadur, Organising Director of the drive.
“It has been a pleasure to see our partners give us their unwavering support and commitment. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our main partners Citibank & Mastercard as well as our other partners like Heineken, San Pellegrino, Marini’s 57, The Chateau, Banjaran, Castrol Edge, Leica, World Asia Publishing, and several other supporting partners towards creating an unforgettable experience,” Dr Rodwin added.
The 50AAD grand tour saw participation from the Lamborghini Clubs of Malaysia and Singapore. With close to 90 cars convening at the flag-off point, this was easily one of the largest gatherings of Lamborghini in Southeast Asia. We trawled the car-park where the Bulls were scheduled to depart, and came across a rich cache of cars – Countach, Diablo, Murcielago, Aventador, and Gallardo. Almost every in-between variant was present as well; in the Murcielago camp, we spotted some a first-gen, some LP640s as well a number of LP670 SuperVeloces. Gallardos made up most of the numbers though; from Superleggera, to Performante, STS, MLE, and even a heavily modified twin-turbo Gallardo Spyder – clearly, the Raging Bulls were out in full force!
