28/4/1916 - 20/2/1993
Record updated 28-Apr-20
Ferruccio Lamborghini was an Italian industrialist. In 1963, he created Automobili Lamborghini, a maker of high-end sports cars in Sant'Agata Bolognese.
Ferruccio Lamborghini was born in a small village in Renazzo di Cento, province of Ferrara.
A wealthy tractor manufacturer before and after World War II, Lamborghini once owned a Ferrari. He soon noticed that some of the clutch components were the same as the ones he used on his tractors. He approached Enzo Ferrari with his criticism, and Ferrari, brushing him off as a simple tractor manufacturer, refused to listen. Lamborghini then vowed revenge and setup his own rival sports car manufacturer near the Ferrari factory. His first car, the Lamborghini 350GT, was superior in every respect that Lamborghini had criticised in his own Ferrari. His third model, the Miura, was a ground-breaking and legendary car in the mould of Ferrari's 250 GTO and 365 GTB/4 Daytona.
The crest of the company, a bull, was taken from Lamborghini's zodiac sign, Taurus. The Miura was named after a trainer of fighting bulls, Don Eduardo Miura. The famous Countach was named after a local Italian colloquialism, after someone saw the design and exclamed: "Countach!"
Ferruccio Lamborghini was an enthusiastic owner of sports cars, including a Ferrari. The standard tale goes that he took this car back to the Ferrari factory when its clutch failed. Enzo Ferrari refused to meet him, saying that 'A tractor manufacturer could never be expected to understand high-bred sports cars'. So, after fixing the clutch with surprising ease, he decided to go into business, building the perfect GT (Grand Touring) car. (Another version of the tale holds that Ferruccio was incensed when he found out that the bum clutch on his Ferrari was the exact same model that he used on his tractors, only far more expensive.)
Lamborghini died in Perugia in 1993.
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