Automotive History Lamborghini
Who would of thought that out of a clutch failure and an elitist attitude would emerge a premiere Italian Sports Car, the Lamborghini.
As told by Ferruccio Lamborghini son, his father experienced a problem with the clutch on his new Ferrari. Upon complaining to Enzo Ferrari about the issue, he was promptly told to go back to driving his own tractors. Lamborghini was a renowned builder of quality tractors at the time, and Ferrari felt that the plowed fields was where his level of driving skill was best suited.
An indignant Lamborghini disassembled the Ferrari on his own. Discovering the supplier of the clutch was the same supplier that provided clutch plates for his tractor factory, it was a simple correction to upgrade the clutch. This cured the problem with his Ferrari and he swore at that time to beat Ferrari at his own game by producing a higher quality sports car.
We have the arrogant attitude of Enzo Ferrari to thank for providing the drive that took Ferruccio Lamborghini to the top of his field in the development of a top shelf sports car that any enthusiast would be extremely proud to own.
The prototype Lamborghini 350GTV was unveiled at the 1963 Turin Auto Show, followed shortly by a redesigned production model the 30GT, that quickly sold 130 copies.
Followed by the 400GT the company grew and amassed enough capital to create the first super car. The Lamborghini Miura was first displayed as a completed car at the 1966 Geneva Car Show. With 761 total sold, the Miura placed the company solidly amongst the elite group known as exotic supercar manufacturers.
Lamborghini's tractor business took a hard shot in 1972 when a large order for tractors from South Americas was canceled, after he had upgraded his factory to produce them. The oil crisis of the 70's continued to hurt sales of his sports cars, and in 1978 Lamborghini was forced into Bankruptcy.
In 1987 Chrysler bought out Lamborghini and with their financial backing the Diablo was brought to market. Diablo's were manufactured between 1990 and 2001. A South American company produces a Diablo based car yet today under special arrangement with the current owners of the company Audi.
The brand changed hands a couple more times and now is owned by Audi, a German car company.
Lamborghini famous for exotic, extremely fast sports cars, also builds off road vehicles. The LM002, as stated by Road and Track Magazine, with it's 5.2 liter V12 engine will pass anything on the road - except a gas station.
