... sixth element, just hours before the official opening of the 2010 Paris Motor Show.
The Italian supercar company was widely predicted to unveil the successor to its Murcielago flagship - most likely as the Jota - in the French capital but has instead gone down the show car route.
The Sesto Elemento could still become a production car but Lamborghini is not confirming anything beyond its show car.
It says it weighs in at just 999 kilograms thanks to an almost-total reliance on carbon fibre - carbon is the sixth element on the periodic table - and uses a V10 engine and all-wheel drive to produce a 0-100km/h sprint in a sensational 2.5 seconds with a top speed well beyond 300km/h.
"What the figures cannot convey... are the Sesto Elemento’s razor-sharp handling, its voracious turn-in and its huge braking power," says Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.
"Extreme lightweight engineering, combined with extreme performance results in extreme driving fun. We put all of our technological competence into one stunning form."
Development of the lightweight Lamborghini begins with a carbon fibre monocoque chassis and the car also uses carbon fibre-reinforced plastic for its entire front frame, exterior panels and crash boxes.
The layout of the car is standard supercar, with a mid-mounted engine and radiators ahead of the front wheels, but the body shape is stealth-fighter edgy and left unpainted to highlight its carbon construction.
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