Lamborghini Sesto Elemento is feather-light heavyweight

Lamborghini has unveiled the Sesto Elemento, a lightweight, all-carbon fibre concept car that serves as the blueprint for the next-generation Murcielago.

The name Sesto Elemento, Italian for 'sixth element', was chosen because carbon is the sixth element on the periodic table, and it sounds like a sequel to Crave's favourite movie ever. Consequently, the car is built almost entirely of the stuff. It has a carbon-fibre monocoque (the car's load-bearing frame), carbon-fibre front subframe (the bit that supports the engine), carbon-fibre wheels, carbon-fibre suspension and carbon-fibre crumplezones.

Want more carbon fibre? Not a problem -- Lamborghini's also used the stuff to create the steering, the exhaust and, of couse, the hyper-angular body panels -- 60 per cent of which is actually one single piece of carbon fibre. They probably got some sort of discount for buying in bulk.

Unsurprisingly, the car is exceptionally light. According to Lamborghini, the Sesto Elemento tips the scales at a mere 999kg, a whopping 651kg less than the original Murcielago. That's a weight difference equivalent to a couple of sadistic sumo wrestlers riding a hugely unfortunate horse.

The car's extreme lightness translates to extreme performance. Its 570bhp V10 engine promises a 0-62mph time of just 2.5 seconds, which is the same brutal level of acceleration as a Bugatti Veyron. Keep the throttle planted to the carbon-fibre floor and it'll headbutt the horizon at a pretty respectable 200mph, presumably before floating off into the air like a Malteser.

Sadly there's not much to see in the way of cabin tech -- probably because nobody's worked out how to build a carbon-fibre sat-nav.

The Sesto Elemento isn't for sale, but we're told its design techniques will filter down to the company's entire range, meaning the successor to the Murcielago will definitely get the same treatment.

Have a gander through our photo gallery above and let us know what you reckon in the comments below.