Dream of sandcastles and kick sand in the face of Ferrari, whose muscle-bound cars were already legends on the raceways, on the roads, in the motoring mags.
This is how Ferruccio Lamborghini chose to begin his journey into sports-car history. A proud and driven Taurus, Lamborghini paved his own legendary road, creating his own roar in the Po Valley and in lands far beyond Emilia-Romagna. Today, his cars - with names as muscular and sensuous as their bodies and powerplants - pound roads and autobahns and superhighways from Africa to Asia and Arizona. His speedy Miura S, sculpted two decades-plus ago, will still stop people at the front door of any luxury resort in Scottsdale - every bit as much as a womping Murcielago, today's alpha bull from the Italian carmaker.
"Lamborghini is not just a car," says Ros De Giaxa, general manager of Motorsports of Scottsdale/Lamborghini of Scottsdale. "Most people who want one, who come into our dealership to buy one, know this. They know they want a Lamborghini and not just some high- performance sports car their brother-in-law has."
They know that Lamborghini is a life attitude just as much as it is an attitude toward the road. Lamborghini is high-g finesse. It's confidence, yes, but with a little hubris: cocky pride this side of cardinal sin. Lamborghini is vivacity and joie de vivre. Lamborghini is a ride on a prized bull as much committed to challenging you as you are to controlling and mastering it.
Tractors to Gran Turismo
Born in 1916 in the midst of WorldWar I, Lamborghini began manufacturing tractors after WorldWar II, driving himself to a fortune in this and other businesses before he was 50. Tractor wealthy, he loved speed, nevertheless, acquiring Gran Turismo vehicles such as Ferraris and Maseratis, and shifting them through the roads of the "golden triangle" linking Sant'Agata, Modena and Maranello - magical towns that tingle car aficionados everywhere.
In the often-told story, his friend, Enzo Ferrari, told his neighbor that he only knew how to drive tractors, not masterpieces: Just generating |
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millions of lira a year in income didn't entitle you a seat at the gearbox of the world's finest sports car. Money doesn't convert immediately to moxie or manhood.
Not ready to take a back seat, even to the Master himself, Lamborghini mused atop one of his tractors, then the wily mechanic pulled the parts out and found that he could use some of these on his own sports car. He would eliminate the Ferrari flaws and create a perfect GT tourer - powerful enough for the track, tractable enough for the street. The venture could make money, too: It needn't be madness, either, yet another tale told about a wealthy man navigated by sound and fury into brick walls.
His friends did think he was mad: Felliniesque, worthy of business circus sideshows. Take on Ferrari? Rather: Retire and drive a Ferrari, his angelic friends counseled at one ear. Cruise with the money in drive; don't shift yourself to bankruptcy and creditors. But on the right ear, the devilish whisper of entrepreneurship kept on: Create your own super sportscars, cars to inspire awed shudders and shutters in Turin and in Geneva, that would run on the great tracks of the world with the same ferocity as Ferrari, Aston Martin, Jaguar. Show them. |
