Lamborghini streets ahead.

(From Canberra Times)

F OR AS long as motorcars have been around, the passion we Australians hold for our four- wheel chariots has known no bounds.

For the past century, we have bought and loved the finest vehicles the world has produced and many of the most mouth-watering examples can still be found here.

Right now, well-heeled Australian car fanciers have a smorgasbord of motoring delights from which to choose - especially in the $400,000 price bracket.

What a terrible problem to have, choosing between offerings such as the wonderful Bentley Continental GT, the Aston Martin DB9 and Lamborghini's new Gallardo (pronounced galyardo), that is named after a fighting bull.

In the past, some Lamborghinis, such as the iconic Miura, were not exactly at home tooling around town between trendy coffee shops. Flat out on European freeways or autobahns was where they belonged.

But all this has changed with the Gallardo - a high- technology rocketship on wheels that is at home in the narrow streets of Rome or Paddington as it is on country roads or even the racetrack.