New Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Spyder with Rear-Wheel Drive

Once upon a time, sports cars and rear-wheel drive layouts were synonymous terms, but not anymore - especially when it comes to the Volkswagen Group that has essentially built an empire of all sorts of front- and all-wheel drive models.

But every so often, even the VW Group succumbs to the allure of rear-wheel drive. Today, its Lamborghini brand introduced the new Gallardo LP 550-2 Spyder, which combines the open-top body style with rear wheel drive.

"With the Gallardo LP 550-2 Spyder, we are expanding the Lamborghini lineup with a purist model that adds yet another dimension of driving fun," says Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Lamborghini.

"This will appeal in particular to a very special group of customers that enjoy a spirited driving style and also like to experience the sheer pleasure of open-air driving," he adds.

As the name implies, the Gallardo LP 550-2 Spyder is powered by the firm's 5.2-liter V10 engine tuned to produce 550-horses.

Lamborghini says that its engineers have carried out extensive modifications to adapt the car to rear-wheel drive such as applying specific dampers settings and tweaking its aerodynamics to take into account the change in the distribution of forces.

The Gallardo LP 550-2 Spyder tips the scales at 1,520 kilograms (3,351 pounds) and can accelerate from standstill to 100km/h (62mph) in 4.2 seconds en route to a top speed of 319km/h (198 mph).