The Lamborghini Urus has become about as rare in Dubai as sand. You can't swing a gold-plated cat without hitting one. So what do you do when your quarter-million-dollar super-SUV is as common as a Toyota Corolla? You spend ANOTHER $70,000 on paint that changes color, of course! Because nothing says "I have more money than sense" quite like spending the equivalent of a decent family car on what is essentially very expensive makeup. This particular example comes dressed in a color-shifting paint that looks purple from some angles and orange when the sunlight hits it. It's striking, I'll give them that. About as subtle as a punch in the face from Mike Tyson, but striking nonetheless. What lurks beneath the expensive makeup Underneath all that shimmering, color-changing madness sits the latest iteration of Lamborghini's cash cow. The Urus SE isn't just a pretty face with expensive cosmetics – it's actually got some serious hardware under the bonnet. The heart of the beast is a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine, which churns out a healthy 612 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. But that's not all, oh no, because this is 2025 and everything has to be electrified, even massive SUVs that weigh as much as a small moon. So Lamborghini has bolted on an electric powertrain that delivers an additional 189 horsepower and 356 lb-ft of torque. Add it all together and you get a frankly ridiculous 789 horsepower and 701 lb-ft of torque. That's enough to tear the face off most supercars, let alone other SUVs on the school run. All this grunt gets to the ground through an 8-speed automatic transmission and a four-wheel drive system, which means you can deploy all that power without immediately wrapping yourself around a palm tree. And because we live in environmentally conscious times, there's a 25.9 kWh battery that gives you an electric-only range of 37 miles. Just enough to silently creep up to the nightclub entrance before firing up that V8 to make sure everyone knows you've arrived. The price of standing out in Dubai The standard Urus SE will set you back around $250,000 before you've added a single option. Then you can add on that $70,000 paint job – money that could have bought you a perfectly decent Porsche Cayman, or a very nice Mercedes, or an absolutely spectacular holiday around the world. But that's not the point, is it? In a place like Dubai, where gold-wrapped Bentleys and diamond-encrusted Rolls-Royces are practically commonplace, you need to go the extra mile to stand out. And if that means spending the GDP of a small village on special paint, then so be it. What's truly mind-boggling is that this isn't even the most expensive option you can add to a car these days. Some manufacturers offer paint with actual diamond dust mixed in, or bodywork covered in real gold. There are carbon fiber options that cost more than the average annual salary. It's a world gone mad. But in the land of excess, nothing succeeds like excess. And this Urus SE, with its magical color-changing coat, is the automotive equivalent of a peacock in mating season – impossible to ignore, even if you might question its taste. Is it worth it? Well, that's a bit like asking if a gold-plated toilet seat is worth it. Of course it isn't. But if you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it anyway. And for those who can, the very fact that it costs $70,000 is precisely what makes it desirable. After all, what's the point of having obscene amounts of money if you can't spend it in equally obscene ways? And on that bombshell, it's time to end. If you need me, I'll be driving my sensibly-priced hatchback, thankful that I don't have to worry about where to park a quarter-million-dollar SUV with paint that costs more than my entire car collection.
