Who hasn’t dreamed about becoming an instant millionaire, where a throw of the dice or a random selection of numbers can change your life forever? The few million at play in our local Lotto is small change though compared to the instant wealth one can win in America and Europe.

Imagine for a moment your name is Ugo Verni. You’re a 40-something penniless Italian bricklayer living in the tiny medieval village of Bagnone in Tuscany and in August you spent two euros buying lottery tickets at the local bar.

The last time the jackpot was won was on January 31, and it’s rolled over 87 times. It’s now worth 147 million euros – that’s R1.64 billion to you and me. Guess what Ugo, you’ve just won Europe’s largest lottery ever!

So Mr. Verni, once you’ve recovered from the hangover, we’d like to invite you down to Cape Town to drive four of the finest automobiles money can buy. Yes, three of them are Italian, but there’s a new kid on the block that might just have the measure of the new Ferrari California, the Maserati Gran Turismo S and the Lamborghini Superlegarra. It’s German and it’s the new Audi R8 V10. But is it good enough to lure Italy’s wealthiest labourer away from the best his mother country can offer?
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