50 Years at Full Throttle

By Bill McLauchlan

Yesterday I mentioned that the Buick Regal’s 40th birthday was something of a low-key event, overpowered by the celebrations marking the conception of several other higher profile brands.

Well, there’s another significant addition to this year’s birthday celebrants that also passed virtually without fanfare. That, folks, is the birth of the legendary Lamborghini, the Italian supercar builder born to be Ferrari’s nemesis on October 30, 1963.

It all began when Ferruccio Lamborghini got more than a little ticked off by Enzo’s caustic comment that, as a maker of farm tractors, his understanding of high-speed driving would have a decidedly agricultural approach. His response was like Annie Oakley’s: “Anything you can do, I can do better”. He decided to show Ferrari a thing or two about building a proper high-performance car.

Glossed over in Ferrari lore these days is the fact that back then Enzo’s own road-going gran turismo cars possessed wonderfully engines but were no more effective than ordinary sedans at putting that power onto the road. Truth be told, their build quality and finish weren’t too impressive either.

So, Lamborghini had the drive, the money and a new factory under construction in Sant’ Agata in Bologna. Then he formed a top-flight engineering and production team to initiate the gestation of his love child, and a talented group it was. Engine designer Giotto Bizzarrini, who would go on to build his own cars later, was one of several talented technical people who left Ferrari in 1961 following a bitter dispute with Enzo – but not before he had a hand in developing the fantastic Ferrari 250 GTO. Giampaolo Dallara, an aeronautical engineer brought a brain brimming with chassis ideas. Today, Dallara’s own company is recognized as the premier race car constructor, period. Paolo Stanzani, recruited at Dallara’s suggestion, handled production and Bob Wallace, a Kiwi ex-race mechanic took care of the test driver/development role.

The original 350 GTV prototype's ravishing lines looked too radical for Ferruccio Lamborghini's plans.

The first Lamborghini to be conceived, delivered at the Turin Auto Show in November 1963, was the prototype 350 GTV, a sensuous Franco Scaglione-styled coupe with a muscular 360 horsepower, 3.5-litre, 4-cam V12 tucked under this baby’s bonnet.
But the boss thought its styling and power were too radical for the business types, lawyers and doctors Lamborghini saw as his potential buyers. So its lines became less radical, the engine detuned slightly and the resulting production car was displayed the following spring at the Geneva Motor Show as the 350 GT.

A bigger engine resulted in it becoming the 400 GT and then, with a pair of small rear seats, it evolved into the 400 GT 2+2.

As well-engineered and carefully finished cars, they helped redefine the luxury high-performance market. But it was the arrival of the iconic Miura that really put Lamborghini on the map and the company’s future looked bright. That is until the first oil crisis hit in the early ’70s and troubled times slowed sales and Ferruccio subsequently sold a controlling interest in his company to a Swiss businessman. A brush with bankruptcy then came to pass and his remaining stake soon was sold as well.

Lambo's latest prototype, the 750 horsepower, $4 million Veneno.

Another ownership switch occurred in 1987 when Chrysler, under Lee Iacocca’s leadership bought the company. It was then taken over by a Malaysian/Indonesian investment group in 1994 before finally returning to European ownership when Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, took control in 1998. Now, with the VW Group’s financial and technical resources to draw upon, the prospects look good for Lamborghini to settle into comfortable and productive middle age.