What You Need to Know- Lamborghini

Lamborghini started as a tractor manufacture (and still is) but over time has gone from an upstart of the supercar world to one of the pillars of the type that all others are compared to. But Lamborghini has led a long life from failing to be taken seriously to American and Singaporean ownership, F1 engine supplier and now one of the VW groups luxury brands alongside Bentley. Here's what you need to know.

Year Founded: 1963

Founder: Ferruccio Lamborghini

Important People:

Ferruccio Lamborghini- The man who started it all. Having expanded Lamborghini from just tractors to air conditioning units as well. He used his wealth to buy a Ferrari which proved to be unreliable and it was then he decided to start making cars to rival Enzo's own. He later retreated to his vineyard in later life after selling his stakes in the company

Bob Wallace- A New Zealand racer and mechanic who worked on Maserati's and Ferrari's before acting as Lamborghini's "trouble shooter" on the 350GT as well as being the chief test driver until 1975, he also made highly tuned versions of the Miura and Jarama.

Valentino Balboni- Lambo's second test driver, he retired in 2009 having had a hand in all Lamborghini's from the Countach to the Gallardo working for 40 years and later served as a consultant. His service was honoured with the Gallardo LP550-2 Balboni special edition in 2009.

Important Cars:

350GT- Contrary to popular belief, this was the first ever Lamborghini and it's body was built by Touring in Milan

Miura P400- Whilst there had been mid-engined race cars and one or two companies had tried to make a mid-engined car work, the Miura was the first to catch on and show the benefits of the layout. 

Countach LP400- The original dream car, it still attracts attention like no other car and was continuing to push boundaries of design and packaging alongside De Tomaso where Ferrari stuck to tradition.

Diablo- A big step forward from the Countach and was later sanitised by Audi but was still big, loud and very fast with a variety of models across it's tenure including the 4-wheel drive VT, Roadster and high performance SE30, SV and GT.

Murcielago- A much easier to manage car than the Diablo but lost none of it’s charisma or appeal and struck a good balance between the Lambo's old and new and has aged very well.

Gallardo-The first entry level Lambo since the 80s Jalpa. Was way ahead of the competition and managed to stay relevant until the end of it’s life in 2015 and was the best selling model of all time.

Huracan Sterrato- Whilst the Huracan was a bit tame when it first launched in 2014, over time it became more exciting and striking, and the Sterrato is the craziest car Lambo has made yet. Raised suspension, toughened body panels and the standard 5.2 litre V10 makes this a supercar that can go almost anywhere.

Reveluto- Having experimented with hybrid power in the forgettable Sian, The Reveluto refines the concept to create a 1000 BHP hypercar that hides it's weight with ease.

Ones to Forget:

Jalpa- Lambo's attempt at an entry level V8 supercar taking over from the Urraco. 

Countach QVX- Built in tandem with Spice Engineering, the QVX used a modified Countach V12 but financial issues meant it only raced once at the 1986 500km of Kyalami and finished 5th with Tiff Needell at the wheel.

Lambo 291- Whilst Lamborghini was an engine supplier for F1 for a few years, they became a full factory team for 1991 but ultimately failed to qualify for all but 6 of the 16 races and scored no points.

Reventon- The first of Lambo's limited run hypercars which despite it's aggressive fighter jet looks was nothing more than a stock Murcielago LP640 with a new body that cost more than a Veyron.

SC63 LMDh- The sight of a Lamborghini prototype battling with Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota et al at Le Mans, Daytona etc sounds great but considering how poorly the car performed, it's no wonder the program was axed this year.

High Point: The 80s was arguably Lamborghini's period as the dream car maker, the Countach has become a cultural icon since and will always be associated with the decade as the ultimate supercar thanks to not only the Cannonball Run movies but also the iconic posters.

Low Point: The 1970s were a difficult period for Lamborghini, financial issues came from not only global financial crisis but also several orders of tractors for South Africa and Bolivia being cancelled resulting in Ferruccio having to sell off the tractor arm of Lamborghini and then his stakes in the Lamborghini car company in 1974 following the Oil Crisis in 1973 where sales naturally dropped and dropped even more due to political unrest in late 70s Italy eventually leading to bankruptcy in'78.

 

Fun Trivia:

Horacio Pagani worked at Lamborghini and also proved the benefits of carbon fibre in the one-off Countach Evoluzione.

Despite the Diablo SV having more power, it was actually cheaper than a standard Diablo.

Various Lamborghinis get their names from different languages and sources: Murcielago (bat in Spanish), Espada & Estoque (swords), Islero (breed of bull)

Colonel Gadaffi had wanted the Lamborghini LM002 to be part of his army as a pursuit vehicle, but the Italian government decided against providing the cars.