When Lamborghini brought us the Veneno earlier this year in Geneva, the four-of-a-kind, multi-million dollar alien creation was pre-purchased by three well-heeled buyers, with the fourth calling Lamborghini's museum its home. The gaudy supercar was formed in celebration of the mad Italian automaker's 50th birthday. And that, we presumed, would be the end of the story.

But as these leaked photographs show, a topless Veneno is preparing for its inauguration, and according to Top Gear, it will be priced at a staggering $5.3 million.

With nine being built, the Veneno Roadster will still be rare, but you get the impression the level of demand for the Veneno has been stronger than originally expected, leading Lamborghini to consider the roadster version. And with 740 hp unleashed from its 6.5-liter V-12, and a 0-62 mph time of 2.9 seconds, meshed with a top speed of 220 mph, it's hardly surprising that the richest of the rich are clamoring for this ostentatious look-at-me-and-I'll-kill-you machine.

 

 

What makes the all-wheel drive Veneno so expensive, notwithstanding its uniqueness, is its abundant use of carbon fiber, including in much of the interior, keeping the weight of the sizable supercar down to a sensible 3,285 lbs. But if our Top Gear friends are correct, quite how the Roadster warrants such a price hike over its $4 million roofed brother is beyond me. Convertibles usually cost more, but the Veneno Roadster is no convertible. In fact, it has no roof whatsoever; if it rains, your only option is to depress the gas harder and outrun the droplets (shouldn't be too difficult). And the open-air sound of the screaming V-12 would surely be worth that minor inconvenience.