Estimate: £55000 - £70000

Sold: £75000

It is no surprise that Rod Stewart, a keen collector of important sportscars, also spotted the potential of this particular Lamborghini. From his very early days in the Birmingham-based R&B group, Jimmy Powell & the Five Dimensions, Rod Stewart was not afraid of hard work and, quite rightly, his talent was soon recognised. Not only with the other artists he came into contact with but also with his pears and fans. Stewart went on to join the Small Faces with Ron Wood as well as signing a solo deal recording the smash hit album, Every Picture Tells a Story. With the Jeff Beck Group, Stewart began his climb to stardom. He and the former Yardbird guitarist pioneered the heavy blues-rock team of a virtuoso guitarist and a dynamic, sexy lead vocalist that became the standard blueprint for heavy metal. The Jeff Beck Group toured both the US and the UK several times in 1968 and 1969, gaining a dedicated following. With more records released, it became increasingly obvious that his career would be better served focusing entirely upon his solo work. Many high profile collaborations took place in the ensuing years but Rods Stewart’s success has been mainly as a solo artist. The list of albums is extensive but with over 250,000,000 sold worldwide and over 62 hit singles, the figures speak for themselves.

The Lamborghini Gallardo is named after a famous breed of fighting bull and designed as a direct competitor to the Ferrari 360 and F430. Designed by Luc Donckerwolke, who won the 2003 red dot design award for the design of both the 2004 Gallardo and 2002 Murciélago, it offers two choices of transmissions, a conventional six-speed manual transmission and an advanced six-speed electro-hydraulically controlled ‘semi-automatic single-clutch sequential manual’, which Lamborghini abbreviates to "E-gear”. The "E-gear” allows the driver to make shifts much faster than a manual transmission and shifts up and down via paddles behind the steering wheel.

It also has a rear-biased all-wheel drive system which differentiates it from its rear-wheel drive competitors. Unlike the Countach, Diablo, and Murciélago models, the Gallardo does not have scissor doors. One of the many mechanical departures from previous models. The Gallardo is widely known as the first Lamborghini with equal amounts of style and substance largely due to the impact a decent clutch has had on its performance. The electrics work, the soft-top retracts with a flick of a switch and the overall package is one of reliability and quality. Two words often conspicuous by their absence when reading previous supercar descriptions.

So well built are modern Lamborghini Gallardo’s that Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, journalist and non-eco mentalist wrote the following but, perhaps more telling, was actually moved to sell his Ford GT and buy one!

"Ferraris are serious cars for serious people who drive around wearing a serious expression. The Gallardo can do serious, too. It has Audi electrics and Audi engineering. But as you career towards the next bend on a wave of extraordinary sound, half blinded by your own upholstery, you’ll be making the noise of a howler monkey and wishing you were naked.”

The baby blue example straight from Rod Stewarts garage today is as new. Originally bought from Lamborghini Edinburgh, it is, as you would expect, stored within a temperature controlled environment. The extras include Callisto rims, the uprated E-Gear gearbox, branding package and satellite navigation and TV. Originally costing £149,500, this extremely fine example has had little use with just 2243 miles recorded. It comes complete with the Lamborghini history file and wallet, V5C and original sales invoice.

Do you think I’m sexy? Damn right.