Founder Feruccio Laborghini’s story, however, starts with much less certainty.
Not much is known, and what is known is not widely believed, about the childhood or early adulthood of Lamborghini who was born in 1916 to viticulturists in Renazzo di Cento, in northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. All we can say for sure is that he loved machines and served in the Italian royal air force during World War II.
In the years after World War II, Lamborghini went into the tractor-building business and, by the mid-1950s, his company—Lamborghini Trattori SpA—became one of the largest agricultural equipment makers in Italy. The success of one enterprise led him to other businesses and brought him wealth that helped him indulge in his passion for cars.
In a 1991 interview with a British motoring magazine, Lamborghini recalled that his first car was a Fiat Topolino. Almost immediately he began tuning the car for better performance. Later, with his tractors selling well, he bought cars made by Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Maserati and, finally, Ferrari. Such was his love for Ferrari that soon after he bought his first in 1958, every other car he owned was relegated to his garage. Lamborghini loved his Ferrari. Except for one niggling problem: his car had a recurring problem with its clutch.
So one day Feruccio Lamborghini went to meet Enzo Ferrari and make his complaint known. Ferrari dismissed him with some disdain. The tractor tycoon quoted him as saying: “Lamborghini, you may be able to drive a tractor but you will never be able to handle a Ferrari properly.”
The outraged Lamborghini decided that if he wanted a great sports car, with a great clutch, he had to make one himself. And along the way if his cars ruffled Ferrari’s feathers, all the better. He started working on this project in late 1962 and, by May the next year, formed the namesake company—Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini—buying a large plot of land in Sant’Agata Bolognese, about 25km from Bologna. The company’s logo was the bull, inspired by the founder’s star sign. Lamborghini hired Giotto Bizzarrini, who had designed some of Ferrari’s most recent engines, and engineers Giampaolo Dallara and Giampaolo Stanzani.
The 50th anniversary
2013 marks the 50th year of the house of the bull launching its first car. And Lamborghini has elaborate plans for the celebrations. The Grande Giro Lamborghini 50° Anniversario, which is Lamborghini’s 50th Anniversary Grand Tour, is expected to be the biggest Lamborghini rally in history, covering more than 1,200km of Italian roadways with hundreds of Lamborghinis.
The company also plans to celebrate the occasion in a number of countries throughout 2013. Many industry insiders also suspect that the occasion will be marked by a new launch. Details remain deliciously vague.
Auto enthusiasts will agree that the celebrations are entirely justified. The company’s refusal to give up is a tribute to the quality that comes with the badge, and to its turbulent origins.
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