We all heard about the thousands of cars – many of them luxury vehicles – that literally went up in flames on a ship at sea before it sank 13 days later.
The vehicles were aboard a large cargo vessel 250 miles off the coast of Portugal when a fire broke out in March of 2022.
As firefighters attempted to extinguish the flames, the ship’s 22-person crew was rescued.
Mercifully, no humans were hurt. But about 4,000 cars were lost. And it’s still a mystery what, exactly, caused the fire.
Among those cars that were lost were the last of the Lamborghini Aventadors.
The V-12 Aventador Ultimaes were the last of their kind due to the fact that the Italian automaker is actively transitioning its lineup to 100 percent hybrid/electric powertrains over the next few years.
It would have been a sad ending for the luxurious supercar. They were the last in production, meaning a handful of excited buyers would have had to give up their dream of owning that particular Aventador.
But not anymore.
Lamborghini has saved the day, announcing that it will restart production of the supercar in order to replace those that were lost at sea.
“We put our heads together, and luckily, we are able to replace those cars, so there will be no loss for our customers in the U.S. due to the sunken ship. This is good news,” CEO Stephan Winkelmann told the media during a recent news conference.
He said the automaker has worked out a way to fill the orders along with those of 70 other Lamborghini vehicles that were on the ship.
“The Aventador was tricky, but we made it.”
Roughly 4,000 cars from Volkswagen-owned brands were on the ship Felicity Ace – including not only the Lamborghini but Bentley, Porsche, and Audi models as well. The ship was on its way from Germany to Rhode Island.
The car brands are working with dealerships and customers to replace the lost vehicles and find solutions for each buyer, Cameron Batten, chief communications officer for Volkswagen Group of America, told the media.
Replacing the Aventadors won’t be easy, Winkelmann said, due to the fact that there’s a shortage of wiring harnesses manufactured in the Ukraine that has made it necessary to switch to other suppliers for the needed component.
Production of the Aventador Ultimae had been limited to 350 coupes as well as 250 convertibles.
The sinking of the Felicity Ace comes at a time when the auto industry is already suffering from a number of pandemic-related supply chain issues.
Lamborghini said it will build 15 examples of its final variant, the Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimate, which were among the 85 Lamborghinis lost when the ship sank. The other Lamborghinis lost, such as the Urus, are still in production.
“This was the edition that was closing the production of the Aventador, and there were 15 on board of the ship,” Winkelmann told the media.
“Luckily, we are able to replace those cars, so there will be no loss for our customers in the US due to the sunken ship.”
The Aventador Ultimae is hand-assembled and also the last gas-powered V-12 in the Lamborghini lineup.
So what do you do if the car you ordered burned on the ship?
Technically, the vehicles belong to the automaker until the car is delivered to the customer – so personal insurance is not an issue.
Instead, commercial insurance for vehicle manufacturers and the cargo company would come into play.
Volkswagen Group maintains vendor relationships for shipping cars, not for each individual VW brand, a spokesperson for VW said recently.
So now your options are to resubmit the order for the vehicle, maintain that deposit, and wait. Depending on the car you ordered it could be several months before it is delivered but we think it’s worth the wait.
Be sure to check out our latest Lamborghini cars.
