Lamborghini is the premier sports car manufacturer. Known for their loud, fast and wild-looking cars, their signature wedge shape is easily recognizable and most people that just
earned a bit of money to be able to afford an expensive car usually tend to buy a Lamborghini. However, the supercar manufacturer has a much more humble background.
Ferruccio Lamborghini was born in 1916 in the town of Renazzo to grape farmers. His mechanical know-how led him to enter the tractor-manufacturing business.
Lamborghini Trattori was established in 1948 and quickly became an important manufacturer in Italy post-WWII. Like most wealthy Italians in the 1950s, Lamborghini owned a few Ferraris. {While he said the Ferraris were good, he said that they were too rough to be driven on the road} and were more like repurposed track cars. The cars were very unreliable and when they burnt through their clutches, the car would be taken to the factory in Maranello where it would be worked on for several hours. Lamborghini expressed his dissatisfaction to Enzo Ferrari, who dismissed his complaints. Lamborghini felt he could build better cars than Ferrari, with better ride quality and comfort, while making triple the profit selling tractors by selling exotic cars.
The first-ever Lamborghini was the Lamborghini 350GT, made for the 1963 model year. It
featured a Bizzarrini designed 3.5L V12 making 284 PS. The engine itself was capable of 365 PS, but with a dry-sump oil system and a redline of 9800 RPM, Lamborghini asked the engine to be detuned to make the engine more “well-mannered”. When the car debuted, the automotive press gave it a warm response. The 350GT was in production for 2 years with a total of 120 cars sold. Each car was sold at a loss to keep the prices competitive with Ferrari’s.
In 1965, the V12 was enlarged to 3.9L and improved to make 324PS, and it was first installed in the 400GT, which was a 350GT with a larger engine. In the 1965 Turin Autoshow, the rolling chassis of the Muira was featured with a transversely mid-mounted engine. In the 1966 Geneva Motorshow, the body of the Muira was revealed. The engine, however, did not fit properly in the bay, and according to lore, Lamborghini filled up the engine bay with bricks as ballast. Nevertheless, the prototype impressed showgoers. The Muira’s iconic styling and design caused it to become the standard for an exotic car and still remains so to this day.
From the late 1960s to 1972, Lamborghini continued to make more powerful versions of the Muira and a brand-new 4-seater car, the Jarama, the Islero, the Jalpa, and the Urraco, till Ferruccio sold control off his company to Georges-Henri Rossetti, a wealthy Swiss businessman, and one of Ferruccio’s friends.
Despite the sale of the company, the newest Lamborghini was out by 1971 - the Countach. The Countach is undoubtedly the most iconic Lamborghini ever made. Known for its wedge shape, its silhouette is easily recognisable and is still put to use to this day. In 1977, at the Geneva Autoshow, Lamborghini unveiled its first military vehicle, the Cheetah, which was powered by a rear-mounted Chrysler V8. In 1978 the company went bankrupt and was taken under the control of the Swiss brothers, Jean-Claude and Patrick Mimran.
Under their control, the failed Jalpa was resurrected as the Silhouette, which was supposed to be a more affordable version of the Countach, the research for the Cheetah continued, and the Countach LP 5000 Quattrovalvole was released which featured a staggering 449 HP. The research of the Cheetah eventually caused the release of the LM002 sports utility vehicle which was unofficially called the “Rambo Lambo”.
In 1987, the company was sold yet again but this time it was to a larger automaker - Chrysler. The acquisition allowed Lamborghini to play an important role in the development of the V10 engine of Dodge’s new sports car, the Viper. In 1990, the Lamborghini Diablo was unveiled to the world. {The Diablo was the fastest production car at the time} with a top
speed of 202mph (325kmph). For the first time, the company was making a considerable profit. From 1994 to 1997, Lamborghini traded hands from Chrysler, an Indonesian company called MegaTech, to a Malaysian company.
Eventually, in 1998, Audi bought Lamborghini and still owns it to this day. Under their control, the Murcielago was released in 2002 and represented the rebirth of the company. It was updated in 2005 with 631HP. It would be the first Lamborghini to feature a non-manual transmission, the E-Gear. Ever since then, Lamborghini’s good luck seems to be on the rise with the release of the Gallardo, the Aventador, the Huracan, a few concept cars, and the Urus.
Regardless of Lamborghini’s financially shaky past, it has always been pushing out the most exciting, exotic and eccentric road cars. With Audi’s acquisition, their financial woes seem behind them. The Terzo Millenio concept proves that Lamborghini are the innovators of the car world and their rise from a tractor company to an exotic supercar company is truly remarkable.
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