LAMBORGHINI

THE LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini, is an Italian manufacturer of sports cars, based in the small Italian village of Sant'Agata Bolognese, near Bologna. The company was founded in 1963 by businessman Ferruccio Lamborghini, who owned a successful tractor factory, Lamborghini Trattori.

Founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini, Lamborghini started out as a tractor-building company in the Italian village of Sant'Agata Bolognese, between Bologna and Modena. However, Ferruccio Lamborghini's priorities changed when he went to meet Enzo Ferrari at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy, to complain about the quality of the clutch in his Ferrari 250[. Ferruccio received a dismissive answer from Ferrari, who said to Lamborghini that "the problem is not with the car, but rather, the driver," and suggested he look after his tractors leaving sport cars to others. A resentful Lamborghini returned to his factory, and after dismounting the transmission from the defective Ferrari, discovered that it was built with the very same transmission used in his own tractors. Encouraged by the discovery, Ferruccio Lamborghini called upon the talents of Giotto Bizzarrini, Gian Paolo Dallara, Franco Scaglione and Bob Wallace, who worked on what Ferruccio envisioned as his grand tourer to rival Ferrari. The result would eventual become the GTV prototype. The following year, Lamborghini would debut the 350GT.

The 350GT was followed by the 400GT. Profits from the 400GT and its predecessor gave the company ample capital to design its first sports car, the Lamborghini Miura. The chassis of the new Miura was introduced by Ferruccio himself at the November 1965 Turin Auto Show. The car's engine was transversely mounted. The styling was executed by Marcello Gandini in less than a year. The completed car was displayed at the March 1966 Geneva Auto Show. The car's name was taken from the famed fighting-bull trainer, Don Eduardo Miura. One hundred and eleven Miuras were sold in 1967. Seven hundred and sixty-one were made in total. The Miura propelled the company into the small world of exotic car manufacturers.
The Espada, a four-seat car based on the Marzal concept car, was developed alongside of the Miura. The name Espada means sword in Spanish, and referred to the sword used by the matador in bullfighting. Using the 4-litre V12 in a conventional front engine layout, the low-slung touring car could attain a top speed of approximately 150 mph (240 km/h). An interesting feature of the Espada was a glass taillight panel that used the same taillights as the contemporary Fiat 124 Coupé. The Espada received minor improvements over its production, resulting in three distinct series.

In 1971, Lamborghini produced the LP500 Countach prototype. The Countach was named after an Italian dialect term uttered in surprise by Nuccio Bertone upon seeing the car for the first time. The production LP400 Countach was introduced three years later. The prototype was the first car to sport Lamborghini's now-traditional scissor doors, along with vertically mounted rear air intakes. The Countach's V12 engine initially had the same 4-litre capacity as the Miura, but this was enlarged to five litres upon the introduction of the LP500S Countach in 1982. The Countach was one of the first cars to use the Pirelli "P-Zero" tires. Lamborghini's test driver would often demonstrate the Countach's abilities to journalists. A detail noted by journalists was the manner in which a Countach was reversed; the driver would raise the door and sit on the door sill.

The company suffered a major setback in 1972 when a massive tractor order from a South American nation was canceled. In preparation of the order, Lamborghini had made upgrades to its factories to accommodate the increase in demand. Financial complications forced Ferruccio to sell part of his share of the tractor factory to Fiat. The tractor business was eventually acquired by SAME (now Same Deutz-Fahr). Lamborghini tractors are still sold today, as part of the SAME Deutz-Fahr Group.

Eventually, the automobile division became self-sufficient and profitable. Lamborghini, however, sold all his remaining stock in the company to a Swiss investor and left the automotive industry.The 1970s oil crisis plagued sales of high performance cars. In 1978, Lamborghini declared bankruptcy. An Italian court was appointed to find a buyer, and the Swiss-based Mimran brothers took over the company in 1984, after managing the company for four years while it was in receivership. The company remained solvent under Mimran's control, selling the Countach, the Jalpa, and the LM002 during this time.

In a surprise move, the company was bought by the Chrysler Corporation in 1987 with the acquisition being driven by Lee Iacocca, Chrysler's chairman at the time. Lamborghini was then working on the Countach's successor, the Diablo. The basic design of the Diablo was by Marcello Gandini, who designed the Miura and the Countach while at Bertone. The design was further developed by Chrysler, which brought its resources, including design input, pollution controls, and new manufacturing techniques, into this development.

In January 1994, poor economic circumstances and the political climate at Chrysler forced them to sell Lamborghini to Megatech, an Indonesian investment group headed by Tommy Suharto, the youngest son of Indonesian President Suharto. A new management team was installed at the company headquarters headed by ex-Lotus Group Chief Executive Mike Kimberley and including ex-McLaren Cars head of sales, Nigel Gordon-Stewart who became International Sales and Marketing Director. Kimberley was, at the time, the only candidate acceptable to Chrysler as the new President of Lamborghini under the Megatech ownership as he was well known to senior Chrysler management from his previous senior roles at Lotus and General Motors.
Under the new management, Lamborghini began a renaissance in the world markets, with a complete revision of its international dealer network and the implementation of highly proactive marketing strategies. Sales increased from 101 in 1993 to 301 in 1994 and 414 in 1995. Large stocks of cars held by the dealers were sold through aggressive marketing programmes and new models introduced to create a shortage of product in the market reinforcing the exclusive image and premium value of Lamborghini product.
The Lamborghini Diablo SV (Sport Veloce) was launched in 1995. Inspired by the Lamborghini Miura SV, the Diablo SV featured a more powerful 525bhp V12 engine featuring variable cam timing technology (MMEC) developed by Lamborghini. The Diablo SV became the best selling version of the Diablo.

The Lamborghini Diablo SVR was also introduced in 1996 and used to compete in the one-make racing series developed by Stephane Rattel and sponsored by Lease Plan.
Megatech sold the company in 1997 as a result of changing circumstances in Indonesia and therefore an inability to fund the future business plan produced by Kimberley's team.Lamborghini was bought by Audi AG, who had gained interest in the Italian company after being one of several major manufacturers approached as possible technical suppliers for major components for future Lamborghini models. After a complex series of transactions, Audi AG became the sole owner of Automobili Lamborghini. Lamborghini's latest owner once again greatly influenced the design of its cars, including the Murcielago. Audi's vast technical resources helped produce one of Lamborghini's most sophisticated cars to date.