Founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini, born April
28, 1916 in a small Italian farming village,
Renazzo di Cento, Ferrara. Even as a small
child Lamborghini displayed a keen aptitude
for anything mechanical. During World War
2 he was drafted into the Italian services
where he repaired vehicles.
After the war
he started out building tractors, then in
1963 he founded the Lamborghini Automobili
company - primarily because of his dissatisfaction
with his recently acquired Ferrari. Lamborghini
used his birth sign, Taurus the bull, as a
symbol for his cars, with most models being
given names relating to the bull.
The first
production Lamborghini was the 1964 350 GT,
followed by the 400 GT and the 400 GT 2+2.
These cars made Lamborghini famous, but it
was the Miura that made it legendary. The
successors, Countach and the Espada, kept
the company alive during some very troubling
times.
In 1973 Ferruccio sold all of his companies
and retired to his vineyard in Italy's Umbria
province. He produced a red wine called Colli
del Trasimento, known as "Blood of the Miura".
He died on February 20, 1993 at the age of
77. Also see Lamborghini Heritage
1972 - 1977
The Urraco was an ambitious project, Ferruccio Lamborghini
wanting to move over 2,000 units each year, thus turning
Lamborghini into an Italian success story like their nemesis
Porsche. While the theory was good, the timing was completely
wrong, with the 1970's energy crisis putting pay to this
adventurous project. More>>
1982 - 1988
Evolving from the Urraco, the Lamborghini Jalpa was the
cheapest from the marque during the 80's, and was intended
to compete with the likes of the Ferrari 308 and 328GTB.
More>>
1990 - 1998
The Lamborghini Diablo was launched in 1990 as successor
to the legendary Countach, and it went on to survive
for 11 years during which time some 2884 cars were built.
Interestingly, the name Diablo means "Devil" in Spanish
(not Italian).More>>
