Good Car, No Bull; Gallardo brings Lamborghini supercar-dom closer to you.(Auto File)

With the introduction of the Gallardo (guy-ARRR-doh), Automobili Lamborghini moves a giant step up from its traditional boutique supercar ultra-niche and closer to real carmaker status. It helps that Audi now owns Lamborghini and seems to be doing all the right and best things a benevolent superowner should do to a niche supercar maker. Audi's help-monetary, managerial and technological-has been a boon to the little Sant'Agata manufacturer. And the addition of a smaller, "more affordable'' car to the lineup has made sales skyrocket.

In the short five months the Gallardo has been available in the United States, it has outsold the Murcielago by about three to one. Apparently price does matter, even to those kicking tires up here in this lofty corner of the market.

While the mondo-honkin' V12-powered Murcielago stickers at $282,000 before you start piling on gas-guzzler, luxury and other taxes, as well as a $1,300 destination charge, the humble V10 Gallardo is "only'' $165,900 pre-taxes and delivery. It's close to half the price, but a lot closer to all the performance. That's a bargain.

But the Gallardo can stand alone on its own formidable merits. Not only does it look unmistakably like a supercar, with lines that make young children squeal and old men smile, it behaves like one, too. The 5.0-liter V10 puts out 492 hp and 376 lb-ft of torque, delivered to both the front and rear axles via all-wheel drive. And the front and rear double-wishbone suspension is well matched to handle all that power. The rear differential is limited slip and the front traction is controlled via individual brakes, so there is very little in the way of wheelspin and there are very few corners you can't conquer.

The single biggest obstacle to us truly loving this little Lambo is that E-gear transmission. We can only guess the F1-loving Europeans are so impressed with technology like this that they toss out all practicality in embracing a system similar to "what Schumacher drives.'' On a racetrack, paddle-operated sequential manual gearboxes are well ...