2009 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder

Can there be many carmakers that evoke a reaction like Lamborghini? Sure, Ferrari is universally popular, but Lamborghini goes a step beyond the Prancing Horse in terms of pure flamboyance and, some would say, lunacy.

The Gallardo is a prime example. Now six years old, its design hasn’t aged a bit – it’s still sharp, cutting and instantly recognisable, and still turns heads.

That’s because, to this reviewer’s mind, it looks awesome. The Spyder version, with its canvas folding roof, is every bit as crazy on the eye as its coupe sibling, and manages to convey dynamicism, exuberance and aggressiveness, roof up or roof down, even while standing still.

Step inside, however, and it’s a mixed bag. Keeping in mind that this is a car that costs 820,000AED, the quality of the cockpit is somewhat disappointing. Sure, everything is nicely laid out and the instrument binnacle looks classy, but the swathes of black plastic along the bottom on the outside of the gauges don't look great.

The binnacle, dash and doors are covered in leather, as are the seats, which, by the way, are excellent and look very cool, with two little supports holding up the headrest on either side and Lamborghini badging etched in. They’re very supportive, fully electrically adjustable and  proper sports seats with big bolsters on the side to hold you in place.

One major gripe is that some of the interior gear is lifted directly from Lamborghini’s parent company, Audi. It's lifted straight from an A3 or an A4 and it doesn't sit well. It's even got the same red lighting as the Audi cars, which isn't terribly impressive when you're spending so much on an Italian supercar.

There are some very odd choices of location for some of the controls. The wing mirror controls are right in the middle, where you’d expect to find a gear stick, and again is an Audi piece of kit. Then where you'd normally expect to find the lights or the mirror adjusters on a normal car, to the left of the steering column, is the button for reverse.

The centre console, where the rest of the gearbox controls are, doesn't seem particularly well screwed down and wobbles if you fiddle with the controls too vigorously. Additionally, on our test car, the windows made a horrendous squeaking noise when we put them up or down.

There are some nice touches in the cabin though. All the dials are marked in Italian – benzina, acqua, temp olio, press olio, batteria, etc. I'm not too keen on the big silver Lamborghini badge on the dash in front of the passenger, however. Trust me, you don't need reminding what kind of car you're in.

This being the Spyder edition of the Gallardo, it has a retractable soft top, which is operated by a button on the centre console. It's not the most graceful of ballets, it all seems a little haphazard in the way that all the components creep into place and there's a couple of other features in the car that don't feel quite as quality as they should be. Especially when you're paying 80,000AED more than the coupe version of the same car.

Where the Gallardo Spyder makes up for these aesthetic displeasures is when you take it out on the road. Instantly, you don’t care about its shortcomings. Firstly, and most obviously, it sounds absolutely fantastic. I can't think of another car, with the possible exception of the Maserati Granturismo S, that sounds as good as this at full chat. You turn the key to start it up and it barks loudly at you, settling into a raspy snarl that sends shivers up your spine if you're in any way petrolheaded.

Despite that intimidating chorus though, you could use this car quite happily every day. It's very easy to drive at low speeds – just stick it into auto and kick the go or stop pedals. It does have the turning circle of a cruise liner, which can make parking and U-turns a bit tricky, and visibility is not great, especially with the roof up. Our car had an optional rear view camera on it, which I would have struggled without.