The Lamborghini is perhaps the most distinct vehicle every created and on that is every bit as fast as it looks. In this article, we take a look at the history of the Lamborghini.
The history of Lamborghini begins in the early 1960s in one of the oddest manners. The company, officially known as Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., was started by the Italian industrialist Ferruccio Lamborghini. Why was this an auspicious beginning? Ferruccio had made his money not in cars, but in manufacturing tractors! In fact, the story of how Lamborghini ended up a sports car company is legendary.
Ferruccio was a very successful businessman. He also enjoyed fine things including automobiles. He purchased an expensive Ferrari. Although he found the performance excellent, the car kept having clutch issues. He traveled to the company and had a conversation with none other than the famous Enzo Ferrari. Ferruccio was reported told the problem was not the car, but his poor driving ability.
At this point, you can imagine what happened. A furious Ferruccio Lamborghini decided to convert one of his smaller tractor factories in the car design facility. The first car produced was the 350GT. It was powered by a front engine V-12 much as the Ferraris of the time:
The 350GT was a success. Lamborghini was able to develop more cars. Suddenly, Ferrari was not the only company on the block building fine Italian cars. It had a competitor and all because Enzo Ferrari had been rude to Ferruccio Lamborghini!
Lamborghini introduced the first version of its trademark car – the Countache – in 1971. The name comes from the sound an Italian makes when surprised, which was often what you heard when people saw it for the first time. As you can see below, the car looked like a rocket. It was. Powered by the 4 and 5 liter V-12 engines, it was loud and fast
The Countache was released in one form or another up until the late 1980s. The car was a benefit and detraction for the company. It was dynamic looking, but it was actually a very poor drive at high speeds. The problem wasn’t the power, but the aerodynamics. Despite its appearance, the car had poor aerodynamics and was very unstable in the triple digits. This gave the car and company a reputation of being all looks and no performance.
In 1978, Lamborghini went bankrupt after years of rough sales and high fuel prices. Ferruccio had already sold out. The company was now run the Mimran brothers from Switzerland. In one of the oddest transactions in the auto industry, it was sold to Chrysler in 1987. In 1991, the Diablo became the new standard for the car and it was a huge success. It was the first Lamborghini to exceed 200 mph and remained the primary model till 2001. The Diablo looked similar to the Countache, but performed much better.
Today, Lamborghini is located in the small Italian village of Sant'Agata Bolognese. It is near the City of Bologna. Audi continues to own the company and is, in turn, owned by Volkswagen. The change to Audi ownership has been good for the company as it has brought along better reliability and workmanship.
The history of Lamborghini is a unique one for a car manufacturer. From a start in a tractor building to one of the more beautiful cars on the road, the history is definitely one of rags to riches and the future looks very bright.
