A tribute
Ferruccio Lamborghini
1916 — 1993
Son of Emilian winegrowers, gifted mechanic, builder of tractors, then of cars that made the whole world dream. He ended his life where he began it: among the vines.
1916 · Renazzo di Cento, Emilia
A son of the land
Ferruccio is born on 28 April 1916 into a family of winegrowers on the Emilian plain, north of Bologna.
The fields only half interest him: it's the machines that hold his attention. He takes them apart, repairs them, understands them. He goes on to study mechanics in Bologna.
1940 · Rhodes, Aegean Sea
Mechanics put to the test
Drafted into the Italian Royal Air Force, he is sent as a mechanic to the garrison on Rhodes, where he ends up running the vehicle maintenance workshop.
Far from everything, with few spare parts, he learns to keep running what should no longer run. A schooling that never leaves him.
1947 · Cento
Tractors born of the war
Back in Italy, he turns military surplus into farm machinery. His first tractor, the Carioca, combines truck engines and salvaged parts.
A mechanic's trick: it starts on petrol, then switches to much cheaper diesel. By 1948, Lamborghini Trattori is a real factory.
1959 · Emilia
Fire and air
The tractors thrive. Ferruccio founds Lamborghini Bruciatori, which makes heating burners, then air-conditioning systems.
The industrialist has arrived. Only one thing is missing: the car he dreams of.
1963 · Sant'Agata Bolognese
The perfect car, or nothing
He founds Automobili Lamborghini and builds a brand-new factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese. His goal: a grand tourer, fast yet civilised, without flaws.
In October, the 350 GTV prototype is unveiled at the Turin Motor Show, with a 3.5-litre V12 designed by Giotto Bizzarrini.
Legend has it that it all started with a faulty clutch on his sports car, and a carmaker who turned him away. Ferruccio told the story himself; its details are still debated.
1966 · Geneva Motor Show
The bull enters the ring
The Miura causes a sensation: mid-mounted engine, lines by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, chassis by Gian Paolo Dallara. It is often called the first modern supercar.
Its name comes from the bulls of Don Eduardo Miura's ranch in Seville, which Ferruccio had visited. Born on 28 April, he was himself a Taurus.
1974 · Lake Trasimeno, Umbria
Back to the land
Hard years arrive. He sells his tractor business in 1972, then his shares in the carmaker, the last of them in 1974.
He retires to La Fiorita, on the shores of Lake Trasimeno, and returns to what his parents did: growing vines.
1993 · Renazzo
What remains
Ferruccio Lamborghini dies on 20 February 1993 in Perugia, aged 76. He rests in Renazzo, where it all began.
At his funeral, a procession of cars and tractors goes with him: two sides of one passion for things that move forward.
4
companies founded
tractors, burners, automobiles, hydraulics
V12
cylinders from the very first car
a 3.5-litre V12, Turin Motor Show 1963
76
years of a life
from Renazzo back to Renazzo
Grazie,Ferruccio.
For the land he never left, for the machines he made better, and for the nerve to want the perfect car.