Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly known as Lamborghini, is
a subsidiary of Audi AG. It is a manufacturer of high performance
sports cars based in the small Italian village of Sant'Agata
Bolognese, near Bologna. The company was founded in 1963 by
Ferruccio Lamborghini (April 28, 1916 - February 20, 1993) as a
spin-off from his very successful tractor factory, Lamborghini
Trattori S.p.A..
Lamborghini President and CEO is Mr Stephan Winkelmann
Ferruccio Lamborghini was an enthusiastic owner of sports cars,
including a Ferrari. There are several versions of why Lamborghini
started his own company, all of them involving a conflict between
himself and Enzo Ferrari. The most common version, as told by
Lamborghini's son [1], is that Ferruccio Lamborghini went to meet
Enzo Ferrari at the Ferrari factory to complain about the quality
of the clutch in Lamborghini's Ferrari 250 GT. Enzo Ferrari sent
him away telling him to go and drive tractors because he was not
able to drive cars. Lamborghini went back to his factory, had his
Ferrari's clutch dismantled and realized that the clutch
manufacturer was the same who supplied the clutches for his
tractors. In his warehouse he found a spare part which he thought
suitable, and when it was installed the problem was solved.
Featuring bodies designed by Franco Scaglione, Touring of Milan,
Zagato, Mario Marazzi, Bertone, ItalDesign, Marcello Gandini and
Luc Donckerwolke, Lamborghini's cars are not only amongst the most
expensive and powerful road-going vehicles made, but are also
considered by many to be amongst the most stunning and impressive
in appearance. Contrary to a frequent misunderstanding, Ferruccio
himself never was a bullfighting supporter but loved bulls and was
a Taurus, which explains why most models have a name somehow
related to bulls.
The Lamborghini tractor business, started in 1947, was acquired by
SAME (now Same Deutz-Fahr) in 1971, after Ferrucio had lost
interest in tractors in the late 1960s. The Lamborghini tractors
are still sold today, as part of the SAME Deutz-Fahr
Group.
