Lamborghini was founded in 1963 by Ferruccio
Lamborghini, a son of winemakers who made a fortune in the construction of
tractors. A fortune that allowed him to afford good number of sports cars,
including a Ferrari. It is precisely the imperfect quality of them and the icy
reception given by Enzo Ferrari to his critics that the Piedmontese decided to
engage in the business the sports car. The first Lamborghini, the 350GTV is
presented at the Turin salon in 1963. His signed V12 engine Giotto Bizzarini
and by Gian Paolo Dallara chassis make unanimity, less its design, signed
Franco Scaglione. The car is therefore dressed by Touring, and then launched at
the salon de Geneva 1964. It was replaced in 1966 by the 400GT 2 2 but it is
truly with Miura, designed on the sly and on their overtime by a handful of
employees of Ferrucio Lamborghini, the mark will enter full foot in the elite
of the auto manufacturers. With its line to breathtaking and its V12 engine in
a central position, the Lamborghini Miura has 10 years in advance...
particularly on Ferrari! Launched in 1968, the Miura was joined the following
year by the Espada, a coupe 2 2 motor before that will be a great success, then
by the Jarama, shortened version of the latter. In 1973, Lamborghini expands
down with the Urraco, a 2 2 to more affordable V8 engine, designed to compete
with the Dino 246 and Porsche 911. But the crisis of the beginning of the 1970s
breaks this momentum, and Ferrucio was obliged to cede 51 percent of his
company in 1972, and then the balance two years later and he retired. And if
the Miura is finally replaced by the impressive Countach, the status of the
mark continues to worsen: Lamborghini rate a contract for a 4 x 4, named
"Cheetah", destined for the U.S. Army, then fails to develop the BMW
M1. In 1978, the firm filed balance sheet and resumed by the Mimran brothers,
Swiss entrepreneurs. Under their influence, the Countach is amended so that it
can be marketed in the United States, the plant is renovated and new talents
are recruited. The Cheetah project is revived and leads to the production of
the Lamborghini LM002 in 1986. The following year, the Mimran brothers resell
the manufacturer, now recipient, the American Chrysler.
The U.S. giant injects $ 50 million into Lamborghini and nourishes big ambitions forthe Italian manufacturer, but interferes with the development of the Diablo, successorto the Countach, which accumulates at the time a significant delay. But the
influenceof Chrysler allows to
establish the U.S. network of Lamborghini, and when the Diablois marketed in 1990, it
is a great success. But short-lived: sales collapsed in 1992, andChrysler sells the brand to an Indonesian conglomerate, which is
unable to restructureLamborghini. It
is however at this time the 'baby Lambo' project, which will
lead to theGallardo is launched. But it
is the Audi German who will
draw the chestnuts of fire, bytaking
advantage of the Asian crisis to resume Lamborghini in 1998. The constructor isrestructured once again and launches Murcielago and Gallardo. Sales took
off Finally,while profitability is
improving, thanks to limited as the Reventon or Sesto Elementoseries. Now sustainably profitable, Lamborghini has about 850 employees andproduces less than 3,000 vehicles per year.
