Ferruccio Lamborghini Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI ( / ˌ l æ m b ər ˈ ɡ iː n i / LAM -bər- GHEE -nee , Italian: [ferˈruttʃo lamborˈɡiːni] ; 28 April 1916 – 20 February 1993) was an Italian car designer and business leader who started Lamborghini Trattori in 1948 and Automobili Lamborghini in 1963. Automobili Lamborghini is a company that makes high-end sports cars in Sant'Agata Bolognese.

He was born to grape farmers in Renazzo, which is part of the Cento municipality in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. His knowledge about machines led him to start a tractor manufacturing business in 1948. He founded Lamborghini Trattori, which became an important maker of farming equipment during Italy’s economic growth after World War II. In 1959, he started another company, Lamborghini Bruciatori, which made oil burners and later began producing air conditioning parts.

In 1963, he created Automobili Lamborghini. He also started a fourth company, Lamborghini Oleodinamica, in 1969. By the late 1970s, he sold many of his business interests and retired to a property in Umbria, where he focused on making wine.

Early life

Ferruccio Lamborghini was born on April 28, 1916, to Antonio and Evelina Lamborghini, who were wine growers. He was born in house number 22 in Renazzo di Cento, in the Province of Ferrara, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. According to his birth certificate, Ferruccio was baptized as a Roman Catholic four days later, on May 2.

As a young man, Lamborghini was more interested in farming machinery than in farming itself. Because of his interest in mechanics, he studied at the Fratelli Taddia technical institute near Bologna. In 1940, he was drafted into the Italian Royal Air Force, where he worked as a mechanic at an Italian military base on the island of Rhodes. This island had been part of the Kingdom of Italy since 1911, after the Italo-Turkish War. Lamborghini became the supervisor of the vehicle maintenance unit at the base and used this opportunity to practice his mechanical skills as a repair technician.

In July 1943, Italy removed Mussolini from power, and in early September, Italy signed an agreement with the Allies called the Armistice of Cassibile. This agreement led to the German Operation Achse, which aimed to disarm Italian forces before they could fight against Germany and Austria again, as they had in 1915. During the Battle of Rhodes, most Italian soldiers either fled or were captured by the Germans. Lamborghini escaped capture at first but later returned to his old workplace in civilian clothes. He worked odd jobs and, with permission from the German forces, opened a small vehicle repair shop.

When the British took control of Rhodes at the end of the war in 1945, Lamborghini was arrested as a collaborator and could not return to Italy until the next year. In 1946, he married Clelia Monti, a woman from Ferrara whom he had met in Rhodes during the war. They married in the church of Santa Maria in Vado in Ferrara. On October 13, 1947, their son Tonino was born, but Clelia died during childbirth. In 1948, Lamborghini met Annita Borgatti, a 24-year-old teacher and daughter of the owners of the Fontana Hotel in Cento. Annita helped him manage his businesses for over thirty years.

Lamborghini’s love for engines and machines led him to work in a company that repaired military vehicles. In 1946, as demand for tractors grew in Italy, Lamborghini used his repair experience to start a business making tractors. He bought leftover military vehicles from the war and converted them into agricultural machines.

After World War II, Lamborghini opened a garage in Pieve di Cento. He modified an old Fiat Topolino he had bought (the first of many cars he would own) and made tractors in his spare time. These were the first Lamborghini tractors he built. He used his mechanical skills to turn a simple city car into a powerful 750-cc open-top two-seater and entered it in the 1948 Mille Miglia race. His participation ended after 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) when he crashed the car into a restaurant in Fiano, Turin.

In 1947, Lamborghini noticed a growing need for tractors and industrial machines in post-war Italy. He used parts from military vehicle engines and differentials from ARAR centers to build the first of his "Carioca" tractors. These tractors were based on the six-cylinder engines of Morris trucks.

Because petrol in Italy was very expensive, Lamborghini designed a special fuel atomizer that allowed tractors to start with petrol and then switch to cheaper diesel fuel. After the success of the Carioca tractors, Lamborghini started his own company, Lamborghini Trattori, to make tractors.

In 1968, a Riva Aquarama Lamborghini boat (Hull #278) was registered and delivered to Lamborghini. It was the first and only boat to have two Lamborghini engines. The boat had special side railings for water-skiing and record attempts, and its engine compartment was modified to fit the engines. A special open exhaust system was added to meet Lamborghini’s requirements.

Lamborghini owned the boat for over 20 years until July 1988, when he sold it to Angelo Merli, a close friend.

As Lamborghini became wealthier, he began buying faster and more expensive cars than the small Fiats he had worked on as a young man. In the early 1950s, he owned cars like Alfa Romeos and Lancias. At one point, he had so many cars that he could use a different one every day of the week, including a Mercedes-Benz 300SL, a Jaguar E-Type coupé, and two Maserati 3500 GTs.

In 1958, Lamborghini traveled to Maranello to buy a Ferrari 250 GT, a two-seat coupé with a body designed by Pininfarina. He later owned several other Ferraris, including a Scaglietti-designed 250 GT SWB Berlinetta and a 250 GT 2+2 four-seater. Lamborghini believed Ferrari’s cars were good but too noisy and rough for proper road use. He thought they were track cars that had been poorly adapted for everyday driving.

Lamborghini found that Ferrari’s cars had weaker clutches and required frequent trips to Maranello for repairs. Technicians would take the car away for several hours to fix it, which annoyed Lamborghini. He had previously been unhappy with Ferrari’s customer service, which he considered poor. When he shared his concerns with Enzo Ferrari, he was ignored. After modifying one of his own Ferrari 250 GTs to outperform standard models, Lamborghini decided to start his own car manufacturing business. He aimed to build the perfect touring car with high performance, comfort, and quality. He also believed he could make more money by using tractor parts in high-performance cars.

Automobili Lamborghini

During the 1970s, Ferruccio Lamborghini’s companies faced financial challenges. In 1971, Lamborghini Trattori, which sold about half of its tractor production to other countries, had problems when its South African importer canceled all orders. In Bolivia, a new military government, which had recently taken power through a coup d’état, canceled a large tractor order that was ready to be shipped from Genoa. Because the company’s employees were part of a union and could not be fired, this put great pressure on Lamborghini Trattori. In 1972, Ferruccio sold his entire share of the company to a competitor in the tractor industry named SAME. Soon after, the entire Lamborghini group struggled financially. At the car company, development slowed as costs were reduced. Ferruccio began looking for buyers for Automobili and Trattori, and he met with Georges-Henri Rossetti, a wealthy Swiss businessman and friend. Ferruccio sold Rossetti 51% of the company for US$600,000, giving up control of the car company he had started. Ferruccio continued working at the Sant’Agata factory, while Rossetti rarely made decisions about Automobili’s operations.

The situation worsened: the 1973 oil crisis hurt sales of high-performance cars made by companies worldwide. Customers chose smaller, more practical vehicles that used less fuel. By 1974, Ferruccio no longer wanted to be involved in his car business. He ended all ties with the company and sold his remaining 49% share. The shares were bought by René Leimer, a friend of Georges-Henri Rossetti.

After leaving the car industry, Lamborghini continued working in other businesses, such as his heating and air conditioning company, Lamborghini Calor. In 1969, he started Lamborghini Oleodinamica S.p.A., a company that made hydraulic valves and equipment.

Later life

In 1974, Lamborghini left his industrial business and retired to a large estate called "La Fiorita" located on the shores of Lake Trasimeno in Castiglione del Lago, a town in the Umbria region of central Italy. He returned to farming, enjoyed hunting, and made his own wines. Lamborghini also designed a golf course and continued to manage other businesses.

Lamborghini had a child named Patrizia when he was 58 years old.

On February 20, 1993, at the age of 76, Lamborghini died at Silvestrini Hospital in Perugia after a heart attack that occurred 15 days earlier. He is buried at the cemetery in Renazzo.

Fascination with bullfighting

The world of bullfighting is an important part of Lamborghini's history. In 1962, Ferruccio Lamborghini visited the Seville ranch of Don Eduardo Miura, a famous breeder of Spanish fighting bulls. Lamborghini, who was born under the zodiac sign Taurus, was deeply impressed by the strong and impressive Miura bulls. He chose to use a powerful bull as the symbol for the car company he would later create.

After making two cars with names that combined letters and numbers, Lamborghini returned to the bull breeder for more inspiration. Don Eduardo felt proud when he learned that Ferruccio had named a car after his family and their bulls. The fourth Miura car was shown to him at his ranch in Seville.

Lamborghini continued to use bullfighting themes in his car names over the years. The Islero model was named after a Miura bull that killed a famous bullfighter named Manolete in 1947. The word Espada means "sword" in Spanish and is sometimes used to describe a bullfighter. The Jarama name had two meanings: it referred to a historic bullfighting region in Spain, but Ferruccio was worried people might confuse it with a famous motor racing track also named Jarama.

After naming the Urraco car after a bull breed, in 1974, Lamborghini broke his usual pattern by naming the Countach not for a bull, but for contacc, a word in the Piedmontese language that means "astonishment." It is said that Nuccio Bertone, a designer, exclaimed contacc in surprise when he first saw the Countach prototype, called "Project 112." Other cars that did not follow the bull tradition included the LM002 sport utility vehicle and the Silhouette.

The Jalpa, introduced in 1982, was named after a bull breed. The Diablo, launched in 1990, was named after a fierce bull owned by the Duke of Veragua, which fought a famous battle against "El Chicorro" in Madrid in 1869.

Even after Ferruccio's death, the tradition of naming cars after bulls or bullfighting continued. The Murciélago was named after a legendary bull that survived 28 sword strikes and was spared by "El Lagartijo" in 1879. The Gallardo was named after one of the five original groups of Spanish fighting bulls. The Reventón was named after a bull that defeated a young Mexican bullfighter, Félix Guzmán, in 1943. The Estoque concept car, introduced in 2008, was named after estoc, the sword used by bullfighters. The Aventador, which replaced the Murciélago in 2011, was named after a bull bred by the sons of Don Celestino Cuadri Vides. This bull was killed in a dramatic fight, and its left ear was given to the bullfighter as a symbol of good luck.

Legacy

Ferruccio Lamborghini's companies are still running today in some way. His son, Tonino, creates a line of clothing and accessories under the Tonino Lamborghini brand. He also designed the Town Life, a small electric car that was shown at the Bologna Motor Show in 1999. Ferruccio's daughter, Patrizia Lamborghini, manages the Lamborghini winery on his estate in Umbria. In 1995, Tonino opened a museum to honor his father's legacy, called the Centro Studi e Ricerche Ferruccio Lamborghini in Dosso (Ferrara). The museum moved to Argelato (Bologna) in 2014 and was renamed Museo Lamborghini.

• A Lamborghini 2200PS from 1951
• A C553 crawler from the 1970s
• A modern Lamborghini R6-150 tractor
• The car company that uses Lamborghini's name still makes sports cars (Huracán Tecnica shown).