When many people hear the word “Lamborghini” they may think of luxury, class or lavishness, but they most likely do not think of tractors. The Lamborghini popular today began with Ferruccio Lamborghini’s first motorized endeavor: tractor manufacturing.
While the official history of the Lamborghini begins in 1963, the beginning of this famous style of car dates back to the birth of its creator, Ferruccio Lamborghini, who was born in Italy in 1916. During World War II, he became illustrious for his deft and creative abilities to rebuild derelict cars, trucks and motorcycles that had broken down during the war. Lamborghini enjoyed a great deal of success and wealth with his tractor business, but he failed to stop at that, despite protests from those who thought car making would not reach much profit for Lamborghini. After becoming frustrated with the clutch of a Ferrari 250 GT, Lamborghini took matters in to his own hands, vowing to develop something better. He developed the Lamborghini “350 GTV” prototype which became the template for all future Lamborghinis.
The full name is Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A but it is colloquially and commonly referred to as a Lamborghini. To this day, Lamborghini car assembly continues to take place in the automaker’s historical home in Sant’Agata Bolognese. The location of the assembly was adjacent to the office building making it an opportune spot for the management to consciously and consistently monitor the production of cars. One of the striking features of the company was the hands-on nature of Ferruccio Lamborghini himself. The official Lamborghini website asserts that Ferruccio “would often roll up his shirtsleeves and go to work on the cars personally when he saw something that wasn’t done the way he wanted.” This practicality is best illustrated in the 1964 350 GT that saw almost immediate success, and this hands-on application continued with the production of the 400 GT, which was a four-litre model featuring the very first gearbox designed in-shop by Ferruccio Lamborghini himself.
The sleek design of this car makes it well-known and widely acclaimed for being incomparably aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Some of the most drool-worthy concept cars include the following: Lamborghini Embolado Concept; Lamborghini Furia Concept; Lamborghini RatUn Concept; Lamborghini Ankonian Concept; Lamborghini Reventon Roadster; and Lamborghini Cachazo Concept. In the midst of the 1973 world financial downturn and oil crisis, the company began to experience tribulations including bankruptcy and the plunging of sales. From the mid 1970s to the late 1990s Automobili Lamborghini felt the harsh burden of instability and low productivity, despite coming under the corporate overlay of the Chrysler Corporation in 1987. However, light began to shine at the end of the slightly disappointing tunnel. In 1998, a subsidiary of the Volkswagon Group, Audi, took ownership which led to a skyrocket in sales of these luxury vehicles. While the world economic crisis affected sales of luxury cars worldwide, Lamborghini did not experience too grave of a sales downturn. Models like Lamborghini Gallardo, the Aventador, or collectibles like the Miura, and the Diablo, keep seeing their prices soaring, specially when they’re kept in pristine conditions.
The following images show a collection of some of these Lamborghini most iconic models.