A Lamborghini Gallardo 5.0 Spyder, seen in the cold winter of 2012 in central Beijing. The speedy Italian looks great in matte black with a black top, darkened windows, and the beautiful factory five-spoke alloy wheels.
The Gallardo had very special license plates with the sequence 京M·00003. That’s two rarities. First, any plates starting with an M are rare. I really haven’t seen many M plates at all. Second, ‘00003’ is super rare. Any sequence of more than two equal numbers is rare. This one has four zeros!
Matte black was not a factory color at the time, so this is likely a wrap, and a very good one. The wrap is perfectly applied and covers the entire car. The first generation Lamborghini Gallardo 5.0 Spyder was officially sold in China, starting in 2007 (sales of the coupe begun in 2004).
Power came from a 5.0 liter V10 engine with an output of 520 hp and 510 Nm. The motor was mated to a 6-speed ‘E-gear’ automated manual. The conventional 6-speed manual was not available in China. Top speed was 314 km/h and 0-100 took just 4.3 seconds. Price of the Spyder started at 3.38 million yuan.
A lot going on here. I sat on the right-rear seat of a Hyundai Elantra taxi. The driver’s taxi license is on the left side of the dashboard. I am in the mirror. On the road the Lamborghini in the middle, a Dongfeng-PSA Elysee taxi on the left, a Xiali half behind the Lambo, and a Guangzhou-Honda Accord on the right. Ah those streets! A surprise at every corner, every day.