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The Duality of Lamborghini: Ferruccio Before Ferrari

April 7, 2016

The Duality of Lamborghini: Ferruccio Before Ferrari

When one buys a Lamborghini, the car always falls under one of two different ideologies. To fully understand both, one needs to know the automaker’s history. The origin of the duality comes from the father of the company, Ferruccio Lamborghini. In regards to the aforementioned duality, the actual inception of the company, is largely irrelevant, but it is endearing enough for a mention. Born in 1916, he was born right in the middle of the first great war in Modena, Italy (if that sounds familiar congrats you are a car fanatic, that is where Ferrari headquarters is). Since birth, the young Lamborghini was fascinated by Motorworks. Thus, it was only a matter of time until he used his passion to attain his dreams. Ferruccio made his initial fortune (or whatever one would call a enough money to afford a Ferrari) by constructing tractors. The reason he was so successful at making tractors is because he was stationed on the remote island of Rhodes during the second global war. After joining the Air Force, Lamborghini was lucky to be stationed in the Rhodes island (not the state in New England). First, because that meant he was able to survive the war (being alive is always good), but also because it honed his craft. Because the island was so far off from anything in terms of supplies, any mechanical problem that arose in the island needed to be settled with the resources on the island, lest there be a huge delay in efficacy. That is where he became a master mechanic. Lamborghini became an expert at repurposing parts to suit his needs. If any of the machines or motors in use on the island became ailed in any way, he was the go-to repairman. He was so adept at using recycled parts from motorcycles and trucks to suit his needs, that Lamborghini became known as the Mechanical Wizard of Rhodes (that was not true, until just now that you are reading this). After the war he reversed his craft. Instead of using whatever parts he could get his hands on to fix military machinery, Lamborghini started to recycle military machinery to suit rampant agricultural needs. Basically, after a short bit as a motorcycle and automobile repair shop, he started making tractors out of trucks and old timey tanks. The second business went very well for him, because of his stint in the Air Force, he was already knew how easily parts could be interchanged between engines. Surely Lamborghini used his sparkling record to get a deal on the mechanical surplus. Because of his repurposing prowess, he was able to keep investments low, in terms of supplies. Eventually his tractor construction business became a booming success. At a certain point (1960), he was making over 400 tractors engines a week. It was at that time that Mr. Lamborghini decided to treat himself to a Ferrari 250 GT.

Unfortunately, Ferruccio was moderately disappointed by his 250 GT. So much so that he went directly to the factory in Modena to complain. It was there that Enzo Ferrari made the mistake of insulting the Mechanical Wizard of Modena.