Although it’s probably difficult for most people to think of a nearly $200,000 automobile as “affordable,” that’s the position the Lamborghini Gallardo finds itself in within the Lambo product lineup.

In a similar vein you wouldn’t use a racehorse to hack out, and you wouldn’t use a pearl-handled butter knife to pick a lock. So it’s faintly ridiculous to suppose a supercar can co-exist in the real world alongside young men from Kazakhstan in Nissan Laurels and even younger men from Albania on pizza-delivery mopeds.

A five-litre V10 with around 520bhp and 376lb ft of torque mean that the Gallardo has the go to match the show; 0-62mph in just 3.9 seconds and a close enough 197mph top speed. Even better is the fact that these figures are achievable reliably thanks to that four-wheel drive system and strong mechanicals.

Lamborghini’s market ambitions dictated an ambitious car. This is a durable and lovable long-term sports car, backed by a three-year warranty. It is also a $165,900 object of not inconsiderable lust, one whose allure no photograph can properly depict. Yet the car on these pages makes one thing clear: After years in the wilderness, Lamborghini is back.