Emotions are a significant aspect of supercar ownership and first manifest themselves on that fateful day when you finally give in to your childhood urge to do something REALLY STUPID (assuming all the other things you'd formally done were merely MODERATELY STUPID).

So, a flashback, then.

I'd originally visited Lamborghini Manchester, back in August 2004, with a view to "having a harmless nose about". On reflection, this was clearly a naïve idea, and one on a par with the notion of wandering around Amsterdam's red light district "to take in the evening air". It's technically possible, but has a grim sense of inevitability about it.

My advice to anyone considering the same (showroom visit, that is) is to take a friend with you who'll stop you doing anything silly. Better still, take an enemy. That way there's absolutely no chance that you'll receive any encouragement whatsoever. I committed the fatal error of taking a fellow petrol head, who went giddy at the sight of penned Bulls, and made 'a child in a sweet shop' seem like a Trappist monk by comparison. It didn't help that he kept telling the sales staff that I was "itching for a new car". Thanks. Nothing like giving the game away to bring out the hungry sales monkey!

The sight of a pearlescent yellow Gallardo under halogen lights was a powerful draw. A finely chiselled, tightly wrapped package of thinly disguised potency. Overhangs were minimal, the stance was squat but not bulky, and the snout was classic Sant' Agata 'shovel nose'. I'd seen the Gallardo in the press many times but in the flesh it was, well… arresting. My heart went into palpitations. I didn't notice immediately because my wallet had suddenly grabbed my attention by going into seizure.

The following day I was back (minus Judas Iscariot) to have another look, completely failing to spot the salesman rubbing his hands together and muttering "resistance is futile" under his breath.

A look at the options list (a very short list, as the Gallardo is well equipped) told me all I needed to know. List price for a Gallardo was £117,000. Four ticks on the options box (SatNav, on-board computer, pearlescent yellow paint and E-gear sequential paddle shift 'box ) brought the grand total to a smidge over £130K. Good job the list wasn't very long, then!

I went for the SatNav, not because I can't work a roadmap but because the standard music system didn't match the 21st Century look of the rest of the car. It had a slot for feeding CDs into the multi-changer (fair enough) and below that a slot for (get this) AUDIO CASSETTES! Quite aside from being the equivalent of the USS Enterprise being fitted with an 8 Track, where the hell were you supposed to find room to store a load of tapes in a mid-engined supercar? The SatNav allows for the reading of SD cards (which can carry 6CDs worth of MP3 music each) and, being about the size of postage stamps, are a lot easier to accommodate in the car.

The idea behind having the on-board computer was, surprisingly, also motivated by the need for in-car entertainment. Let me explain. One of its many functions is to give real-time fuel consumption (note deliberate use of the word "consumption" and not "economy"). This has proved hilarious on many occasions since. Not least when, at 180mph, the read-out indicated 3.7mpg and when I lifted off the throttle it shot up to 82mpg! As I said, it's as much for entertainment value as anything else.

The desire for yellow (or Giallo Midas for Italo-philes) was a 'no brainer' for me. For many, a Lamborghini should be in a silly colour, and a yellow Lambo is like Racing Green on an Aston or Silver on a Rolls. It just works.

The decision for E-gear over 'flappy stick' is a contentious one for some, and a very personal choice. One isn't better than the other, but they are very different. I find a good paddle shift works well with this sort of car and, again, fits the profile of a thoroughly modern vehicle. Being fortunate enough to live away from large built up areas, I don't spend too much time stuck in slow moving traffic (which is a paddle shift's Achilles heel). A side benefit of E-gear is that when servicing is due, the service technician can plug his laptop into the car and interrogate the gear box to find out how the clutch is wearing. With the (cable operated) manual set up, the only way to determine clutch wear is to get at the plates and examine them. A time consuming job (technical speak for 'expensive'), and one that might not have even been necessary. It is, of course "one more thing to go wrong" in the opinion of those of "the glass is half empty" persuasion, but modern cars are already so complex that adding one more gizmo hardly warrants a second thought in my view.

So there it was. Choices made, order form signed and non-refundable deposit paid. All in about 24 hours. Eek!

That was the easy bit. Waiting the 9 months until April 2005 for delivery was nerve-wracking. What if the internal combustion engine is outlawed before I get the chance to drive my Gallardo? Could reality live up to expectation? Will a bright yellow supercar make me look like an over-achiever, with tiny genitalia and no friends?

It's funny how your life can change in 24 hours.

As things turned out, the Gallardo has easily lived up to it's showroom promise and has only given drama when asked for.

In my next journal I'll endeavour to put some 'meat on the bones' with regard to daily use, explain why the weak link in a paddle-shift system is the operator and how to infect your SatNav with a virus (oh, the shame… the shame!).

Now… where did I leave my p***s enlarger?