The Murciélago has been in Lamborghini's 16 United States dealerships since December 2001. Since then, 200 have been sold. When a dealer places an order, the car is air-freighted from Italy in a sealed container and can be disrupting American schoolchildren in as few as 10 days. There are two options only: pearlescent paint ($2500) and a nav system ($3500). Lamborghinis are famous for being as fragile as spring ice, so it was of some concern that our test car showed 15,500 miles—as much mule as bull. "It's survived 35 road tests," asserted Lamborghini tech adviser Ken McCay, who is not Italian. "You're the only guys who broke it [last summer, when a universal joint pulled free in the shift linkage]." We broke it this time, too, when the whole shift lever snapped off at the root. The car came with the license "AL 147 ," a reference to "Automobili Lamborghini engineering project No. 147." Maybe project No. 148 will be devoted to shift-linkage reinforcement.