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If you like sports car chances are you had at least one poster of Lamborghini hanging on your bedroom wall when you were a kid. Here are 12 interesting facts about the legendary Italian sports car maker.
1.The first Lamborghinis were… tractors.
After World War II, Feruccio Lamborghini started a busyness making tractors from reconfigured surplus military machines. Lamborghini tractors are still produced today and very popular, although Lamborghini Trattori is no longer affiliated with Automobili Lamborghini.
2. We need to thank Enzo Ferrari for the very existence of Lamborghini.
Feruccio was a big fan of sports cars and owned a Ferrari 250 GT. However, there were a few things about his Ferrari he didn’t like much, especially its troublesome clutch that often needed repairing. He turned directly to Enzo about the problem but it didn’t go very well. Enzo was known for his fiery temper and he basically told Feruccio to stick with making tractors and leave the car making to those who know how to do it. Feruccio took this as a challenge and decided to show Ferrari how it should be done. The rest is history.
3. Most Lamborghinis are named after bulls.
Everything about Lamborghini is somehow related to bulls – from the iconic logo to the names of most of the cars – but why? One reason is that Feruccio Lamborghini was born on 28th April under the astrological sign of Taurus. Except for that he was a big fan of Spanish bullfighting. He was so impressed by the art of bullfighting that he decided to name all his sports car after famous fighting bulls.
4. Lamborghini and Pirelli.
The partnership between Lamborghini and the Italian wheel manufacturer Pirelli dates back to 1963, the year in which Feruccio asked Pirelli to equip the very first vehicle to come out of his newly found car-manufacturing firm: the Lamborghini 350 GTV. To this day each and every Lamborghini is equipped with Pirelli tires. In 2014 the Italian luxury car manufacturer even created the Aventador LP 700-4 Pirelli Edition to celebrate the historical collaboration between the two firms.
5. Driving a super fast sports car on snow and ice is a big no no, right? Wrong!
At the Lamborghini Winter Academy you can master driving 5-700 hp Lambos in the Alps. In the winter. Sounds like fun, eh? It’s not cheap, though, the ‘Avanzato’ two-day course will set you back $6000 (expert tuition and fancy hotel accommodation included) but if you don’t mind parting with some cash in exchange for an adrenaline rush give them a call 😉
6. Superstars love Lamborghini.
In the late 1960s if you didn’t own a Miura you were nobody. As Franc Sinatra famously said “You buy a Ferrari when you want to be somebody. You buy a Lamborghini when you are somebody”.
7. The most expensive Lamborghini you can buy (or probably can’t) right now is Lamborghini Veneno Roadster.
The price starts at the whooping $4.5 million and certainly doesn’t stop there. The hypercar is based on Aventador and comes with a 750-hp (559-kW) 6.5-liter V12 and a top speed of 221 mph (355 kmh). It accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.9 seconds. Power is delivered to all four wheels via Lambo’s 7-speed “ISR” transmission. This slick gearbox is capable of shifting gears almost as quickly as transmissions used in Formula 1 race cars.
8. The story of Lamborghini wasn’t always a success story.
The company went through several owners (including Chrysler, Malaysian and Indonesian investers) and financial crises in 1980s and early 1990s. Since 1998, Volkswagen Group has controlled Lamborghini through its subdivision Audi. This is undoubtedly a union that has benefited both companies and Lamborghini has flourished ever since.
9. Today the CEO of Automobili Lamborghini is Stefano Domenicali.
He was born in Imola on May 11, 1965. He studied Economics at the University of Bologna and began his professional career in the finance department of Ferrari. Between 1992 and 1994, he was race director at Mugello and was involved in MotoGP, DTM and other racing series. In 1995 he was appointed head of personnel in Ferrari’s sporting department and was involved with sponsorship liaison, before being promoted to Team Manager in December 1996. He was appointed the head of personnel in the sporting department of Ferrari in 1995 and was then promoted to team manager in 1996. Between 2008 and 2014 he was the team principal of Ferrari Formula One team. In October 2014, Domenicali was hired by Audi, and on 15 March 2016 he was appointed CEO at Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., succeeding Stephan Winkelmann.
10. The first Lambo had no engine.
When 350GTV was launched at the Turin Motor Show in 1963 it wasn’t exactly finished. During assembly, the workers discovered that the body panels would not fit around the engine. Since Feruccio had no further plans for the 350 GTV beyond being a show car, he had the engine bay ballasted with bricks and the car went on display in Turin without an engine under its hood. The incomplete show car also lacked brake calipers, foot pedals and windshield wipers.
11. Both the Italian and Dubai police use Lamborghinis.
The Italian police has a few special versions used to transport donated blood and organs. The Dubai police have a fleet of exotic super sports car, including Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4. Those super cars are often misinterpreted to be used for hot pursuit while in reality they are a means to attract tourists.
12. The inspiration for Aventador’s design comes from stealth aircraft and bugs.
According to chief Lamborghini designer Perini the inspiration for the Aventador came from an F22, an F35, the B2, and “those shiny green jagged-leg beetles that smell bad when you step on them.”
