The Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato is ludicrous, a millionaire’s gewgaw designed to ship on a use case that appears barely possible: off-road supercar.

But it’s additionally essentially the most enjoyable I’ve had in any new automotive of 2023, which is why it seems right here.

Not, crucially, simply on free surfaces. I did get to expertise the Sterrato in desert sand once I drove it for the primary time within the US in June, however most of my time with it was spent on street.

Which is the place you’d anticipate it to be most closely compromised, provided that it sits 44mm taller than the standard Huracán and rides on what are principally bespoke off-road BF Goodrich tyres that look higher suited to a pick-up truck.

But the Sterrato’s gentler character is its superpower, an implicit reminder that as top-end efficiency vehicles have grown grippier and faster, so the alternatives to take advantage of them in the actual world have diminished to close nothingness in most elements of the world.

The Sterrato has adequate traction to keep away from feeling wayward on Tarmac, however its limits are nonetheless low sufficient to be genuinely accessible, and extremely progressive once they arrive.

This is a 602bhp supercar that’s just about as pleasant on the restrict as a Mazda MX-5, a Toyota GR86 or – the automotive it actually jogs my memory of – an Ariel Nomad.

Even within the unlikely surroundings of a correct racetrack, the Sterrato stays composed when pushed into lurid oversteer.