Lamborghini Aventador Roadster: Italian model drops its top (pictures)

Take the 700 horsepower Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4. Now remove the roof and you've got the latest model to be unveiled by the Italian automaker, the Aventador Roadster.

Because only a small portion of the "roof" of the vehicle covers the passenger compartment (and because the V12 engine sits where most vehicles would stow a retractable roof, Lamborghini has chosen to use a two-piece carbon fiber roof that must be removed by hand and stowed in the storage space beneath the Aventador's hood.

Where the Aventador coupe displays its V12 engine beneath a large, louvered glass window, the Roadster adds a metal "spinal column" to add back the chassis rigidity lost by removing the roof. The engine is still viewable through a pair of hexagonal openings.

Engine output is the same as the fixed roof model's 700 horsepower and 507 pound-feet of torque and still flows to all four wheels via the 7-speed automatic transmission and 4WD system.

The Roadster only weighs 111 pounds more than the coupe and its top speed is still estimated at 217 mph.

The silly scissor doors that are a hallmark of the flagship Lamborghini model are also still intact, despite the lack of a roof.

Azzuro Thetis, new, metallic blue color, has been added to the Aventador's range of colors--although, I prefer the matte black that the coupe is often seen wearing. A new style of wheel also debuts on the Roadster.

A single central exhaust punctuates the Aventador's rear end.

Long and low are the two words that spring to mind when viewing the Aventador Roadster in profile.

Despite having a simple roof mechanism, the Aventador manages to be extremely visually complex.

The Aventador's interior has also been revised with a new interior color.