Automobili Lamborghini cars S.p.A. is the Italian company responsible for some of the most amazing supercars we’ve ever seen in the world. Founded in 1963, Automobili Lamborghini kick-started its foray into car production with the release of the 350 GT in 1964. Built as a grand tourer, the 350 GT is the company’s first production vehicle, and its success ascertained Automobili Lamborghini’s aim to compete with rival manufacturer Ferrari.
The company would later produce the 400 GT before launching its most iconic car of the '60s, the Miura.
Automobili Lamborghini has since produced several amazing supercars, and it currently remains a top-tier automotive company under the ownership of the Volkswagen Group, producing insane cars like the Aventador, Huracán, and Urus. However, this company wouldn’t even exist without the vision and doggedness of legendary Italian inventor and industrialist, Ferrucci Lamborghini. Best known for creating the Lamborghini automotive marque, yet, the man transcends the car brand. Let’s tell you more about this genius of mechanics, Ferruccio Lamborghini.
10 Born A Catholic
Ferruccio Lamborghini was born to Antonio and Evelina Lamborghini on 28 April 1916. His parents were grounded in the business of farming as viticulturists, and they resided in house 22 in Renazzo di Cento, in the Province of Ferrara, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy.
Notably, the Lamborghini family were Roman Catholics. Hence, they baptized their newly born baby as a Roman Catholic on the 2nd of May, four days after Lamborghini’s birth, as seen on his baptismal certificate.
9 Loves Mechanics
Growing up, Lamborghini was more interested in the workings of farming machinery than the farming process itself. While he was being groomed by his parents with the necessary skills needed to take over the family’s farming business when he comes of age, Lamborghini however had other ideas, as he was only interested in mechanics.
His keen interest in mechanics had to be harnessed somehow. Hence, Lamborghini enrolled and studied an industry-related course at the Fratelli Taddia Technical Institute near Bologna.
8 Served In The Italian Royal Air Force
World War II, a global war that involved a vast majority of the world’s countries, raged on from 1939 to 1945. The war was fought with over 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries, including Italy.
Hence, most fighting countries deployed their best hands into the field to serve in any capacity they could. Therefore, Lamborghini was drafted into the Italian Royal Air Force in 1940 where he served as a mechanic.
7 Was A Prisoner Of War
Lamborghini served as a mechanic during his time in the Military. He was posted to the Italian garrison on the island of Rhodes, which had become a territory of the Kingdom of Italy since 1911 after the Italo-Turkish War.
At his duty, Lamborghini was later made the supervisor of the vehicle maintenance unit. However, it wasn’t a completely smooth sail for the Italian, as he was taken prisoner by the British forces after they overran the island in 1945. He would however return home the following year.
6 Has Two Children
After the war, Lamborghini returned home, and then he decided to get married. He got married to Clelia Monti and the marriage produced Tonino, Lamborghini’s first child, in 1947. Unfortunately, Clelia Monti tragically died while giving birth to the child.
Subsequently, Lamborghini married Anna Borgatti, but the couple later divorced. Afterward, Lamborghini would then father a second child at the age of 58. The child came about from his union with his third wife, Maria Theresa Cane, and the child is named Patrizia.
5 Manufactured Tractors
Lamborghini has a solid knowledge of the mechanical intricacies of machines. Hence, in 1948, he launched the Lamborghini Trattori, an Italian agricultural machinery firm, in Cento. Some of the company’s first tractors were produced from discarded war materials.
In 1951, the company produced the “L 33,” which became the first production tractor built entirely by Lamborghini. A huge commercial success soon followed. However, in 1973, Lamborghini Trattori was sold to Società Accomandita Motori Endotermici (S.A.M.E), another Italian agricultural machinery manufacturer.
4 Fascinated By Bullfights
Humans are fascinated by different things. For Lamborghini, bullfighting is one such thing, and it later became an integral part of his identity. Lamborghini loves bullfighting contests and to gain better insight into the adventure, he visited Don Eduardo Miura’s bull ranch in Seville in 1962.
Back then, Don Miura was well known for breeding Spanish fighting bulls, and the visit left Lamborghini so impressed he adopted the raging bull stance as the emblem for the car company he later formed.
3 Had A Spat With Ferrari
Ferrari cars have always been some of the best in the world. However, Lamborghini discovered some imperfections with the clutch and decided to have a chat with Enzo Ferrari about it. Lamborghini was made to wait for quite some time and when he finally met Ferrari, Lamborghini told him his car was rubbish.
Infuriated, Ferrari retorted that Lamborghini might be able to drive a tractor, but he couldn’t properly handle a Ferrari. The two icons never spoke to each other ever again after the exchange.
2 He Retired Into Making Wines
Lamborghini’s companies suffered varying degrees of financial difficulties in the 1970s. Lamborghini Trattori ran into deep trouble when its South African importer and the new Bolivian government canceled all their orders in 1971. Also, the 1973 oil crisis negatively affected the sales of high-performance cars.
All these combined to make Lamborghini very disillusioned. Hence, he left the automobile manufacturing business and later exited the entire industrial world, retiring into his massive estate called “La Fiorita.” There, he returned to farming, hunting, and making wines.
1 Suffered Heart Attack
Lamborghini lived a fulfilled life. He took bold steps and flourished in several unfamiliar business terrains. However, on February 5, 1993, Lamborghini suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. He was treated from then on until 20 February of the same year, when the Silvestrini Hospital in Perugia where he was being treated pronounced him dead.
An icon in the world of automotive production and industrial business, Lamborghini was 76 years old when he died, and his remain was laid to rest at the cemetery of Renazzo.