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.
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I don’t know which I like more, the Lamborghini Miura or the Maserati Bora.
Well, they are gorgeous.
wow. Beautiful
The 1968 cars are real dogs
bttt
;)
Aesthetically, the Miura is probably the best looking car ever to me. The Espada grow on me more and more as time passes by though.
The photo of the Jarama was taken at a strange angle. The Jarama is my favorite - but I’ve only been in 3 Lamborghinis in my life - all old.
The Countach is a high school shop project. Sloppy to say the least. Visibility (Out the front, but the interior was white) is horrible, the seats are made for one person who sits 5’8” and keeps the seat in that position (The seats didn’t work for anyone)
The Jalpa was exquisite. But even at the time I recall thinking that the Porsche 928 and the Toyota Supra of the time were far better buys, and far superior cars (For being a car). The Jalpa didn’t even corner like I thought it would.
But the Jarama. Ahh.. the Jarama. The interior was inspiring, the seating was comfortable without even touching an adjustment and the steering and balance were bar-none until my current BMW 3 series. For a handbuilt car it had no rattles, the panels fit and the stitching was without flaw.
And it started everyday.
They're both up north. Stopped by the Ferrari factory in the 90s in Modena. Did I miss anything?
The Bora, while very beautiful overall, has those odd rear quarter windows. The Miura doesn't seem to have a bad viewing angle - it's gorgeous all around.
The Miura is one of the best designs ever:
Yeah, beautiful.
Looks like a Lotus scaled for real humans.
Back in the late 90’s I knew several folks who worked at an exotic car dealership. Some of the salesmen used to personally order the latest model Lambos up to two years in advance. By the time those cars were at the delivery stage demand was crazy and their value had increased 25%+.
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