TESTED 23.5.24, BEDFORDSHIRE ON SALE NOW PRICE £446,742 - LAMBORGHINI REVUELTO

We've sampled Sant'Agata's new-era, 1001bhp supercar on track. Now it's time to see how it fares on a decent B-road

- RICHARD LANE

This is a big moment, in more ways than one. We're among the very first to find out what the latest in a half-century line of bombastic V12-engined Lamborghinis feels like on the road, far away from any meticulously managed manufacturer event.

And make no mistake: the new plug-in hybrid Revuelto is truly bombastic, even by its maker's theatrical standards. This car is a half-foot longer than the Aventador it replaces and almost as wide as a New Routemaster bus. It develops more than a thousand brake horsepower yet weighs about the same as a BMW M3. With 6.5 litres of swept capacity, the engine is colossal, yet the crank still spins to a nosebleed-inducing 9500rpm.

Road test editor Matt Saunders teed up today's activities nicely when he drove this £446k supercar at Italy's Vallelunga circuit last year.

"I can only imagine what the Revuelto will feel like on the road," he wrote. "If the disdainful way in which it seemed to furl up and spit out the circuit's longer straight is any guide, 'utterly berserk' ought to just about cover it".

Fast-forward eight months and to rural Bedfordshire. What Saunders didn't envisage when he scribbled his breathless dispatch was our blinding test car trundling silently through a sodden Kimbolton, mostly unnoticed. But here we are. Frankly, when it comes to assessing the Revuelto's strengths, weaknesses and quirks as a road car, this is a fine place to begin.