First Drive (Kinda): 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni... with Valentino Balboni!

2010 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni – Click above for high-res image gallery

It was eleven in the morning on a typical Thursday when my phone rang. "How'd you like to drive the Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni in Beverly Hills at 3:00 pm... with Valentino Balboni?" Aside from screaming "YES!!!" at the top of my lungs, all sorts of thoughts started to crowd my brain. What should I wear? Should I shave? Do I address him as Valentino? Mr. Balboni? Your majesty? And most of all, am I worthy? Normally at car events, you wind up talking to a bunch of MBA-types and, no offense, but really, who cares? You drink too much, brag too much, dress how you like – it simply doesn't matter. But this was Valentino Balboni. Respect is demanded. Then I got a text message from Drew Phillips, our resident ace photographer. "No flip flops." Right.

It's believed that Valentino Balboni has driven 80% of all Lamborghinis ever made.

In case you're not sure what all the drama is about, Valentino Balboni spent four decades as a test driver for Lamborghini. In fact, for several of those years he was the test driver. Not only has Balboni been at the helm of every prototype Lamborghini since 1973, but most of their production cars got a quick lap around the streets of Sant'Agata with Valentino at the helm, just to make sure they were up to Lamborghini snuff. Still not clear as to why the man's such a big deal? It's believed that Valentino Balboni has driven 80% of all Lamborghinis ever made.

Balboni was instrumental in the development of the Gallardo, Lamborghini's most successful model of all time with over 9,000 sold. Lamborghini has just released a very special and very limited edition of the Gallardo, dubbed the LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, after their own living legend. Just 250 will be produced and all are rear-wheel drive – a first for Lamborghini in nearly a decade. But how did this car come to be? I was lucky enough to spend ninety minutes in a Lamborghini Valentino Balboni with Valentino Balboni asking him exactly that. Plus a whole lot more – click on the jump to read all about it.