Spied: Lamborghini Gallardo Spider

Our spy shots reveal the smallest open-top Lamborghini and it promises to be a big hit for the Italian carmaker, which is now owned by VW.

Although the car will have its world launch at the Frankfurt show in September, sales will only kick off early next year. However, insiders say that dozens of Gallardo Spiders have already been reserved for American buyers.

As with its coupé sibling the Spider will feature a 5-litre V10 muscle engine. This normally aspirated power train has a power output of 368kW at 7 800 r/min while torque is 510Nm at 4 500 r/min. However, 80% of the torque is available at only 1 500 r/min.

The car will be available with a six-speed manual gearbox, but an F1-style sequential transmission, called e-gear, is optional.