This looks like the three cylinder, air-cooled diesel Lamborghini tractor that I once worked on in NW Kenya. Injector pump seal leaking, dumping fuel into the crankcase.
Posted on 04/30/2016 11:44:40 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Automotive history may be rife with tales of revenge and one-upmanship, but no one can top the story of Ferruccio Lamborghini, founder of one of the most outrageous performance car companies in the world, who would’ve turned 100 this week. In 1948, he founded Lamborghini Tractori SpA, and by the mid-’50s, Lamborghini had risen from humble roots to become a wealthy industrialist, expanding into air conditioners and oil heaters — and building an impressive car collection for himself.
By the end of the decade, he had fallen for Ferrari’s beautiful 250GT, buying several. But their lack of durability and comfort frustrated him, and routine mechanical issues soon became unacceptable. He attempted to call Enzo Ferrari to set up a face-to-face meeting to discuss the car’s problems; after all, they were both successful Southern Italian industrialists, it would be a meeting of equals. Instead, Ferrari refused to speak with him and, according to legend, told aides that he didn’t need advice from a tractor builder.
Lamborghini was incensed, and immediately shifted his focus to building the greatest grand touring cars in the world. They would be beautiful, fast, and comfortable, and most importantly, beat Ferrari at its own game. At the 1963 Turin Motor Show, the company debuted its 350 GTV prototype, and would enter production at the 350 GT the next year. In 1966, it would debut the Miura (generally acknowledged as the world’s first supercar), and the rest, as they say, is history.
But the triumph of the Miura almost never happened. Lamborghini himself was highly skeptical of the car, and believed that they would be lucky to find 25 buyers. Of course, he was wrong, and the Miura set the template for every great Lamborghini to come since.
(Excerpt) Read more at cheatsheet.com ...
This looks like the three cylinder, air-cooled diesel Lamborghini tractor that I once worked on in NW Kenya. Injector pump seal leaking, dumping fuel into the crankcase.
How dare you besmirch the most inspiring super car of my generation; the Countach was a dream for many that I knew - I have been lucky enough to get behind the wheel of two different ones and I, being 6’ tall, fit very comfortably.
Holy zombie thread !
Yeah, the countach is a shop project. The Jarama is way better.
These are opinions. And 6’ isn’t that far from 5’8” - I’m just some dude who used to work on them, I’m not giving them R&T reviews here with facts and specs. Just saying it was a terribly built car.
I wouldn’t kick one out of bed but I wouldn’t spend my money on it. There are few Lambos I would buy - The Jalpa and the Jarama, and that’s about it. In the Ferrari league I would buy a number of them - the BB512 at the top of the list, the Daytona, the 355 and 458 (Yeah, I know.. also junk but I just can’t seem to get them off my mind).
If only Ted Kennedy had that car.....
I will give you that it was by no means the most refined vehicle in that class, first-hand it was a beast to handle at speed - very unforgiving. My reasoning for it is that it was the first to truly go down the space-age styling road; that in itself makes it a special one.
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