When these two guys take their cars out on the town, they know the standard reaction will be something like, “Oh my God! It’s two Lamborghinis!”
On a Saturday afternoon in August, Viktor Aharon, 34, and Richard Colombik, 65, decided to take their ladies out on a double date during what photographers refer to as “the golden hour,” dusk when the sunlight just seems magical.
The duo picked a nearby restaurant, mapped out the clearest route and tamed the roads of Barrington Hills, Illinois, in their twin pearlescent yellow supercars as the sun set over the suburb 40 miles northwest of Chicago.
Pedestrians gawked, drivers peered out their windows and kids popped their heads out of vehicles on the freeway to get a glimpseas they powered toward the steakhouse where people stood in awe of two of the most iconic sport cars parked out front— Lamborghinis.
“You almost feel like a mini-celebrity. Wherever you go people are coming up, their kids are coming over and screaming,” said Colombik, owner of a 2017 Lamborghini Huracán . “When you’re on the expressway, people roll their window down and extend their body out of the car to film.”
Some aren’t satisfied with standing outside. They want a closer view.
“People have even asked to get inside for a photo,” said Aharon, owner of a 2006 Lamborghini Gallardo (pronounced gay-YAR-doe), one of the Italian automakers most successful models ever.
Lambos, thoroughbreds of the automotive world, are relatively rare. Italy’s Automobili Lamborghini sold a record 3,815 of them in 2017. A majority, 1,095, were sold in the U.S.
So, how did the friends find themselves owning similar Lamborghinis?
For both of them, it was a lifelong dream and a stroke of luck.
“I’ve been a car fan since I was a little boy and I always kept my eye on the Lamborghini. I always wanted to own one. It was one of my dreams,” said Aharon. He owns a real estate and construction company.
When Colombik pulled up in a yellow one two years ago, Aharon was wowed by its vibrancy.
And a year later, a local dealer had a used one with under 2,000 miles on it. “The dealer said he found one with only 200 miles per year. It was a great find, so I went for it,” Aharon said.
Colombik said his Huracán, a model that serves as the Gallardo’s successor, is a “well mannered and highly sophisticated” supercar that he acquired after about 20 years of sports car trade-ins.
“I traded-in a Corvette for an Acura NSX in the early 90s. I bought a Lotus about five years later. Then I got a Ferrari F430 in 2007 which I thought was really great, but I still had the burning desire to own a Lamborghini.”
So he bought a used one that only had 597 miles.
Their advice to Lamborghini dreamers out there — buy used.
“I always get my cars used and still under factory warranty to save on price. Cars don’t usually go up in value, they go down, so you try to get someone else to take the depreciation hit,” said Colombik. “Make sure you go through a very reputable source though.”
Used or not, they both agree that Lamborghinis aren’t everyday driving vehicles.
“It’s the car for a weekend,” said Aharon. “It’s not that comfortable to drive for 10 hours a day. It’s pretty low to the ground, and you must constantly watch out for construction and speed bumps.”
Colombik, standing 6-foot-3, said the Huracán, with its 5.3-inches of ground clearance, is spacious enough for him to fit in, but it took him some time to get used to driving so low to the pavement.
“But, once you perfect your technique of getting in and out, there’s more than enough room,” Colombik said.
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