Full disclosure: I’ve never driven a Porsche 911 Safari or anything similar. However, I’ve always had a mild obsession with 911 Safari-style cars. The idea of taking a sports car and equipping it for off-road-duty is incredibly appealing to me. It isn’t just the incongruity of driving a high-end sports car in the dirt. It also just looks like fun! So, when Lamborghini released its Huracán Sterrato concept in 2019, I was cautiously optimistic. Sure, it looked incredible, but I never thought Lamborghini would actually build the thing. Turns out, I was wrong! Lamborghini just released this teaser of the Huracán Sterrato ripping up a dirt road.
Sterrato literally means “dirt road” in Italian, so there’s no ambiguity about its intentions. Lamborghini has essentially given a Huracán the same Safari treatment as those aforementioned 911s: longer travel suspension, a 1.9-inch taller ride height, a 1.2-inch wider wheel track, a Huracan STO-style roof-mounted air intake, and some rally lights mounted to the nose. It also wears black plastic fender flares, its wheels are wrapped with all-terrain tires, and it even has roof rails. And I need one.
In the video, you get to see the Huracán Sterrato engaging in a friendly race with a cyclist over some semi-rough dirt roads. It’s oddly enjoyable to see a Huracán slide around in the dirt with its V10 wailing in the background. It also simply looks awesome, with rugged fender flares breaking up its classic Lamborghini wedge design and its rally lights cutting through the kicked up dust.
Lamborghini didn’t release any new specs or information with this teaser, so I have to assume it will have the same specs as the concept car from a few years ago. That would mean it packs the same 631 horsepower naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 and seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. It should also get tweaked versions of the standard Huracán’s all-wheel drive and rear-wheel steer systems that are now designed to handle a bit of dirt.
To be honest, even 911 Safari owners don’t take their cars off-road much. Instead, they’re mostly used as road cars that can handle potholes and rough pavement without making their drivers cringe with fear, plus take the occasional dirt road when the owners are feeling adventurous. But that isn’t an insult to either the drivers or the cars. Having a more durable version of a sports car that’s easier to use in everyday life but still feels like a sports car is really appealing. So, despite the Huracán Sterrato seeming like a wholly absurd and ridiculous vehicle, there’s actually some pragmatism to its existence.
I unapologetically love this car. I love the idea of a Lamborghini supercar that can be driven on pavement without having to worry about every nook and cranny in the road. I love the idea of a Lamborghini supercar that can slide around off-road just as well as it can on-road. And I also love that Lamborghini is actually going to build this and sell it, rather than keeping it on the concept car scrap heap. I’d have to sell my house, and possibly a kidney, to buy one and while I’m not saying I would do that, I’m not not saying it, either.