Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann again raised that possibility recently.

“A third model would fit Lamborghini very well,” Winkelmann, 45, told Bloomberg. “A four-door car would be a very feasible approach.”

Lamborghini most recently considered the concept of a four-door with the Estoque sedan, a prototype revealed at the 2008 Paris motor show. But since then, the Italian company has been mum about the car's fate, except for a statement last year indicating that no decision had been made either way for production. AutoWeek named it the Best in Show in Paris.

The Estoque is a four-door supercar with a 500-hp V10 borrowed from the Gallardo running with all-wheel drive and a lightweight chassis.

Lamborghini, the iconic 47-year-old dream maker, has never produced a sedan. It did make a four-seat coupe, called the Espada, though that was discontinued in 1978. The Estoque would be a dramatic departure for the brand lionized by icons such as the Miura, the Countach and the Reventón.

But modern realities have been harsher for Lamborghini, and it hasn't completely rebounded from the global economic meltdown. Revenue fell 2.6 percent through the first six months, and sales were down 18 percent. Last year, sales plummeted 41 percent, though figures in China more than tripled, which is Lambo's second-biggest market after the United States. Sales in other Asian countries grew as well.

Winklemann has admitted that this is a transitional year for the storied company.

In addition to a potential sedan, Lamborghini is also investing heavily in carbon-fiber technology, and it showed the Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera at the Geneva motor show this year.

Lamborghini historically has fought Ferrari for sales around the world, but now McLaren has jumped into the fray as well. Diverging from its historical base of lightweight, high-powered supercars would be a landmark step for Lamborghini and position it to fight Porsche, Aston Martin and Maserati, which all offer top-shelf four-doors.

Traditionalists have twice panned Porsche--which, like Lamborghini, is also owner by German giant Volkswagen--for producing the Cayenne SUV and now the Panamera. Alternately, those vehicles have bolstered the company's finances, enabling it to continue making sports cars.
Will that model work for Lamborghini?