Ferruccio Lamborghini was born on April 28, 1916, to viticulturists Antonio and Evelina Lamborghini, in house number 22 in Renazzo di Cento, a frazione of the comune of Cento, in the Province of Ferrara, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy.[1][2] According to his baptismal certificate, he was baptised four days later, on May 2.[3] The young Lamborghini was drawn to the farming machinery rather than the farming lifestyle itself, and he studied at the Fratelli Taddia technical institute near Bologna.[Notes 1] In 1940, he was drafted into the Regia Areonautica Royal Italian Air Force,[4][5] where he served as a mechanic at the Italian garrison on the island of Rhodes[Rodi] territory of the Kingdom of Italy since 1911, after the Italian -Turkish war, becoming the supervisor of the vehicle maintenance unit.[1][Notes 2] Lamborghini was taken prisoner when the island fell to the British at the end of the war in 1945, and was not able to return home until the next year.[6] He married, but his wife died in 1947 while giving birth to his first child, a boy named Antonio.[5]
After the war, Lamborghini opened a garage in Pieve di Cento. In his spare time, Lamborghini modified an old Fiat Topolino he had purchased, the first of many that he would own over the years.[7] He made use of his mechanical abilities to transform the homely city car into a roaring 750-cc open-top two-seater, and entered the car in the 1948 Mille Miglia. His participation ended after 700 miles (1,100 km) when he ran the car into the side of a restaurant in the town of Fiano, in Turin.[5] As a result, Lamborghini lost his enthusiasm for motor racing, a sentiment that would endure for many years to come.[8]
For years, Italy's industrial output had been dedicated to the war effort, neglecting the production of agricultural equipment that was desperately needed for Italy's postwar economic reconstruction.[8] Lamborghini built a tractor for his father using spare parts, including a six-cylinder Morris engine, a General Motors transmission, and a Ford differential.[5] Antonio's friends soon clamored for their own examples of Ferruccio's design. Working from a stock of surplus Morris engines[9] and leftover military hardware, Lamborghini went into business building tractors in 1948,[10] when he opened Lamborghini Trattori S.p.A. in his Pieve di Cento garage.[1][Notes 3]
Beginning with a model called the Carioca, by the mid-1950s, Lamborghini Trattori was producing over 1000 tractors per year;[5] over the course of the decade, Lamborghini became one of the largest agricultural equipment manufacturers in the country, with his black-and-white tractors becoming a familiar sight in Italy.[11] In 1959, Lamborghini opened a oil heater factory, Lamborghini Bruciatori S.p.A., using technology acquired on a visit to the United States. The company later began building air conditioning units, changing its name to Lamborghini Calor.[4][11][12][Notes 4] He also sought to move into the business of building helicopters, but failed to secure a license to do so from the Italian government.[1]
Lamborghini's increasing wealth allowed him to purchase faster, more expensive cars than the tiny Fiats he had tinkered with during his youth. He owned cars such as Alfa Romeos and Lancias during the early 1950s, and at one point, had enough cars to use a different one every day of the week, adding a Mercedes-Benz 300SL, a Jaguar E-Type coupé, and two Maserati 3500GTs.[7] Of the latter, Lamborghini said, "Adolfo Orsi, then the owner of Maserati, was a man I had a lot of respect for: he had started life as a poor boy, like myself. But I did not like his cars much. They felt heavy and did not really go very fast."[7]
In 1958, Lamborghini traveled to Maranello to buy a Ferrari 250GT, a two-seat coupé with a body designed by coachbuilder Pininfarina. He went on to own several more over the years, including a Scaglietti-designed 250 SWB Berlinetta and a 250GT 2+2 four-seater.[7] Lamborghini thought Ferrari's cars were good,[7] but too noisy and rough to be proper road cars, categorizing them as repurposed track cars with poorly-built interiors.[11]
During the 1970s, Ferruccio Lamborghini's companies began to run into financial difficulties. In 1971, Lamborghini Trattori, which exported around half of its production of tractors, ran into trouble when its South African importer cancelled all its orders. In Bolivia, the new military government, which had recently staged a successful coup d'état, cancelled a large order of tractors that was being prepared for shipment in Genoa. Trattori's unionised employees could not be laid off, putting immense strain on the company. In 1972, Lamborghini sold his entire holding in the company to rival tractor builder SAME.[10][14]
Soon, the entire Lamborghini group found itself in financial trouble. Development at the automaker slowed as costs were cut. Ferruccio Lamborghini began courting buyers for Automobili and Trattori, entering negotiations with Georges-Henri Rossetti, a wealthy Swiss businessman and friend.[15] Ferruccio sold Rossetti 51% of the company for US$600,000, thereby relinquishing control of the automaker he had founded. He continued to work at the Sant'Agata factory; Rossetti rarely involved himself in Automobili's affairs.[14]
The situation did not improve: the 1973 oil crisis plagued sales of high performance cars of manufacturers from around the world. Consumers flocked to smaller, more practical modes of transportation with better fuel economy. By 1974, Ferruccio had become disenchanted with his car business. He severed all connections with the cars that bore his name, selling his remaining 49% stake in the automaker. The shares were acquired by René Leimer, a friend of Georges-Henri Rossetti.[1][16]
After departing the automobile manufacturing business, Lamborghini continued his business activities in other areas, including his heating and air conditioning company, Lamborghini Calor. In 1980, he founded Lamborghini Oleodinamica S.p.A., a manufacturer of hydraulic valves and equipment.[
Lamborghini retired to a 750-acre (3.0 km2) estate on the shores of Lake Trasimeno, in the frazione of Panicarola in Castiglione del Lago, a town in the province of Perugia in the Umbria region of central Italy.[18] Returning to his farming roots, he delighted in hunting and producing his own wines, and even designed his own golf course,[19] all the while continuing to manage several business interests.[7] Ferruccio remarried, and at age 58, fathered a child, Patrizia, with his second wife, Maria Teresa. He died at the Silvestrini Hospital in Perugia, on February 20, 1993, at the age of 76, from a heart attack.[5][20][21] Lamborghini is buried at the Monumental Cemetery of the Certosa di Bologna monastery.[2
The world of bullfighting is a key part of Lamborghini's identity.[23][24][25] In 1962, Ferruccio Lamborghini visited the Seville ranch of Don Eduardo Miura, a renowned breeder of Spanish fighting bulls. Lamborghini, a Taurus himself, was so impressed by the majestic Miura animals that he decided to adopt a raging bull as the emblem for the auto company he would soon found.[26]
After producing two cars with alphanumeric designations, Lamborghini once again turned to the bull breeder for inspiration. Don Eduardo was filled with pride when he learned that Ferruccio had named a car for his family and their line of bulls; the fourth Miura to be produced was unveiled to him at his ranch in Seville.[26][27]
The automaker would continue to draw upon the bullfighting connection in future years. The Islero was named for the Miura bull that killed the famed bullfighter Manolete in 1947. Espada is the Spanish word for sword, sometimes used to refer to the bullfighter himself. The Jarama's name carried a special double meaning; intended to refer only to the historic bullfighting region in Spain, Ferruccio was concerned about confusion with the also historic Jarama motor racing track.[28]
After christening the Urraco after a bull breed, in 1974, Lamborghini broke from tradition, naming the Countach not for a bull, but for countach! (pronounced [kunˈtɑʃ](
listen)), an exclamation of astonishment used by Piedmontese men upon sighting a beautiful woman.[29] Legend has it that stylist Nuccio Bertone uttered the word in surprise when he first laid eyes on the Countach prototype, "Project 112". The LM002 sport utility vehicle and the Silhouette were other exceptions to the tradition.The Jalpa of 1982 was named for a bull breed; Diablo, for the Duke of Veragua's ferocious bull famous for fighting an epic battle against "El Chicorro" in Madrid in 1869;[30] Murciélago, the legendary bull whose life was spared by "El Lagartijo" for his performance in 1879; Gallardo, named for one of the five ancestral castes of the Spanish fighting bull breed;[31] and Reventón, the bull that defeated young Mexican torero Félix Guzmán in 1943. The Estoque concept of 2008 was named for the estoc, the sword traditionally used by matadors during bullfights.[32]
All of Ferruccio Lamborghini's companies continue to operate today in one form or another. His son Tonino designs a series of designer clothing and accessories under his full name.[33] His daughter, Patrizia runs the Lamborghini winery at his Umbria estate. A museum that honors his legacy, the Centro Studi e Ricerche Ferruccio Lamborghini, opened in 2001.[34]
フェルッチオ・ランボルギーニ（Ferruccio Lamborghini, 1916年4月28日 - 1993年2月20日）はイタリアの自動車メーカーアウトモビリ・ランボルギーニSPA（現ランボルギーニ）の設立者。
1916年4月28日、ボローニャ市近くのレナッツォ(フェラーラ県チェント市内)の裕福な農家に生まれる。 家業には興味を持たず、幼いころから機械好きで工科大学に進学。卒業後の1939年に徴兵され整備兵となる。1944年に捕虜となり1946年帰国。退役後は軍放出のトラックを元にトラクターの製造販売を行う。1949年にランボルギーニトラットリーチ社を設立。1963年、アウトモビリ・ランボルギーニSPAを設立し自動車の製造販売に乗り出す。ボリビアのクーデターにからむトラクター売買契約のキャンセルから資金難に陥り、1971年ランボルギーニトラットリーチ社を売却。アウトモビリ・ランボルギーニSPAの株の51%を手放し再建を図るも1972年に訪れたオイルショックにより、1974年に残りの49%も手放し自動車業界から引退。晩年はワイン作りやバラの栽培に情熱を傾けていた。1993年2月20日死去。典型的なイタリアーノで親分肌のフェルッチオを慕う者は、いまだに多いといわれている。
俗説 [編集]
フェルッチオが自動車製造に進出するきっかけになった事件として、以下のような話が伝わっている。トラクターの製造販売で財を成したフェルッチオは、当時のイタリア成金の例に漏れずフェラーリを 購入。そのフェラーリが故障した際に、送られてきたパーツがランボルギーニトラットリーチ社で使っていた部品と同じ上に（クラッチだと言われている）、 10倍の値段が付いていた事に激怒。フェラーリに乗り込み苦情を言ったが、成金の戯言と鼻であしらわれ、自身で自動車の製造販売に乗り出す事を決意したの だ。
良く知られている彼のモットー；
- 「（前略）…私は、多くのグラン・トゥリズモの中に、いくつかの欠点を見いだした。暑すぎたり、乗り心地が悪かったり、十分に速くなかったり、仕 上げが完全でなかったりするのだ。今や私は欠点のないグラン・トゥリズモを造りたい。技術的な化け物ではなく、正常で、非常に常識的で、しかも完璧なクル マを。」
- （他には、この部品をこの値段で買う顧客がいるならいい商売になる、と思いカービジネスを思い立ったという現実的な説もある）
事実の程は定かではないが、彼が若い頃から熱心なカーマニアで、一時はチューニングカーガレージの経営にまで手を染めていた点や、当時のフェラー リ・ストラダーレの品質は決して高くなかった点、フェラーリの販売台数が年間5000台近い規模に膨らんでいた点などを考えれば、全くの的外れとも言えな いであろう。「レースには出ない」と言う社是も、単なる車好きではない、実業家としてのフェルッチオからすれば当然だったのかも知れない。
2003年頃、日本の自動車雑誌「GENROQ」（三栄書房）の企画で、漫画家の池沢さとしがランボルギーニ夫人の元へ取材に赴いた際には、フェルッチオがエンツォにあしらわれたという俗説は、事実とは異なると夫人は否定している。[1] 彼女によると、フェルッチオがフェラーリのオーナーとなり、実際に使用して見た結果、その品質に疑問を持った点までは事実だが、工業機械メーカーのオーナーらしく、彼の考えた改善案を書簡としてエンツォ・フェラーリに送ったが、採用は丁重に断られた。[2]そ のため、高級GTの利益率が意外と高いこともあわせて、それならせっかくなので自分で商売としてやってみよう、と一発奮起してチャレンジした、というのが 真相だそうである。 また、フェルッチオは、俗説から非常に短気というイメージが強いが、夫人によると、短気ではあるものの、暴力的な性質は全く無く、単にチャレンジングで性 急な性格だっただけだそうである。
関連項目 [編集]
脚注 [編集]
- ^ ちなみに、取材場所は、ランボルギーニ家の経営する農場だったが、ランボルギーニ夫人は、白いLP400(当然MT仕様)を自分で運転して現れた。
- ^ 俗説では、エンツォ本人が直接フェルッチオをバカにしたように語られるが、フェラーリとて、必要ならば、出荷先の要望により、現地の法規に応じた仕様変更や、特別な顧客の要望にあわせた仕様での制作も行っているので、いくら何でも無下に断るとは考えがたい。
外部リンク [編集]
- フルッチオ・ランボルギーニ（日本ランボルギーニ・オーナーズ・クラブ）
Ferruccio Lamborghini (Cento, 28 de abril de 1916 - Perugia, 20 de febrero de 1993) fue un fabricante italiano de tractores y automóviles deportivos, fundador de la marca Lamborghini.
Ferruccio Lamborghini nació el 28 de abril de 1916 en el pequeño pueblo de Cento, en la provincia de Ferrara. Fue un rico fabricante de tractores, máquinas de aire acondicionado y sistemas de unidades calentadoras. Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Lamborghini era un propietario de coches deportivos, incluyendo un Ferrari. Ferruccio notó que algunos componentes del embrague eran los mismos que usaban sus tractores, asimismo estaba sufriendo complicaciones de fiabilidad con su Ferrari. Un día fue a ver a Enzo Ferrari para reclamarle por los problemas técnicos de sus coches. Ferrari insultó a Lamborghini, diciendo que un fabricante de tractores no podía criticar a su empresa. Y afrentado por la reacción de Ferrari, Lamborghini decidió "construir un coche mejor que un Ferrari" y demostrar que los supercoches no deberían de ser tan temperamentales como los Ferraris.
Para alcanzar su objetivo, Ferruccio fundó su propia fábrica de coches deportivos cerca de la fábrica de Ferrari, y contrató a los ex-ingenieros de Ferrari Gianpaolo Dallara y Robert Wallace para diseñar y desarrollar sus coches. Su primer coche de producción, el Lamborghini 350 GT, era superior en todo lo que Lamborghini había criticado en su Ferrari. Su tercer modelo, el Lamborghini Miura, era un coche innovador y legendario que comenzó el género de los autos superdeportivos con el motor en el eje trasero. Lamborghini ha desarrollado muchos diseños únicos que describen a los italianos como los mejores diseñando coches: Lujosos, atractivos y seguros. En 1972, Lamborghini realizó fuertes inversiones para el aumento de la capacidad de su fábrica de tractores para atender un pedido hecho por una nación sudamericana. Cuando el pedido fue cancelado, las pérdidas de Lamborghini lo forzaron a vender parte de su fábrica.
También en 1972, Georges-Henri Rossetti se hizo compañero de Lamborghini en el negocio de los coches deportivos. Ferruccio Lamborghini vendió parte de Lamborghini Automobili a René Leimer un año más tarde. Entonces se retiró y se dedicó a la vida de agricultor, viviendo en un viñedo que había comprado antes.
Ferruccio Lamborghini murió en Perugia en 1993 a la edad de 76 años. Su hijo Tonino diseña una serie de ropa y accesorios bajo su nombre.
Como fabricante de automóviles deportivos, Ferruccio Lamborghini era único en su trabajo. Mientras otros fabricantes de coches deportivos procuraron demostrar la velocidad, la fiabilidad, y la superioridad técnica de sus coches por la participación (y con esperanza de la victoria) en los motores de carreras, Lamborghini declaró claramente que su empresa no participaría o apoyaría los motores de carreras. Esto estaba en el contraste directo para la política de Ferrari, donde el objetivo principal de sus coches de producción era el de generar el ingreso para financiar su participación en las carreras. La política de Lamborghini causó tensión entre él y sus ex-ingenieros de Ferrari, que apoyaban a Ferrari en las carreras. Varios de ellos comenzaron a desarrollar un coche con el motor en el eje trasero y con el potencial de un motor de carreras. Lamborghini descubrió el proyecto en la etapa de prototipo, finalmente les permitió seguir con el proyecto, pero insistió en que no hubiera ningunas versiones de carreras construidas, este proyecto fue el Lamborghini Miura.
El símbolo de la empresa, un toro, fue tomado del signo zodiacal de Ferruccio Lamborghini, el Tauro. El Lamborghini Miura fue llamado así por el criador de toros español, Eduardo Miura. El Lamborghini Islero fue llamado así por el toro de Eduardo Miura que mató el 28 de agosto de 1947 al célebre torero Español Manolete (su nombre verdadero fue Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez). El Lamborghini Espada, se llamó así por el arma de los toreros, también es usado coloquialmente por los toreros refiriéndose a sí mismos como los esgrimidores, que pueden ser vistos en viejos carteles de corridas de toros. El nombre del Lamborghini Jarama tenía una ambigüedad interesante: Jarama es un área renombrada tanto para la tauromaquia como para un circuito de coches de carreras, con localización en España.
No se sabe si el nombre de Countach es un equivalente verbal a un aullido de lobo en italiano, el Lamborghini Countach fue el último modelo desarrollado bajo la propiedad de Ferruccio Lamborghini, y rompió esta tradición, el nombre no tiene ninguna base en la tauromaquia. Los posteriores propietarios de la empresa volvieron a esta tradición, nombrando al modelo de 1990 como Lamborghini Diablo (nombrado así por el toro Diablo), el Lamborghini Murciélago (nombrado así por el famoso toro Murciélago, que contribuyó a una de las razas de Eduardo Miura) y el Lamborghini Gallardo (una casta de toro que era un elemento de las especies de la ganadería de Eduardo Miura).
Ferruccio Lamborghini (Renazzo, 28 aprile 1916 – Perugia, 20 febbraio 1993) è stato un imprenditore italiano fondatore della casa automobilistica che porta il suo nome: la Lamborghini.
Figlio di agricoltori, lascia le scuole elementari e la sua passione per i motori e per le macchine lo porta a Bologna, dove lavora in una azienda che revisiona automezzi dell'esercito.
Durante la seconda guerra mondiale, trova l'opportunità di sperimentare le sue doti meccaniche come tecnico riparatore presso l'Aeronautica Militare Italiana (base militare di Rodi).
Nel 1948, a Cento, fonda la Lamborghini Trattori (l'origine del logo aziendale è legata alla data di nascita di Ferruccio Lamborghini: nel calendario zodiacale infatti il 28 aprile cade sotto il segno del Toro, inoltre egli amava la corrida).
Solo tre anni dopo la guerra, l'azienda Lamborghini era capace di progettare e costruire da sola i suoi trattori e già nel corso degli anni cinquanta e sessanta la Lamborghini Trattori diventa una delle più importanti aziende costruttrici di macchine agricole in Italia.
Seguì la produzione di bruciatori a nafta e di condizionatori finché, nel 1959, la passione e la competenza tecnica del fondatore del nuovo marchio si spinsero fino a concepire la produzione di elicotteri. Il governo però non concesse l'autorizzazione a tale attività e la Lamborghini ripiegò sulla produzione di vetture sportive.
Questa, secondo la nota leggenda, peraltro confermata dallo stesso Ferruccio, fu la molla che fece scattare la sua decisione di fondare il settore automobili della Lamborghini, allo scopo di costruire una vettura sportiva secondo i suoi canoni.
Quando Ferrari seppe delle intenzioni di Lamborghini disse ad un suo collaboratore: "Abbiamo perso uno dei nostri migliori clienti" non credendo troppo sull'effettiva capacità di Lamborghini di poter fare concorrenza alla Ferrari.
Dopo soli sei mesi la nuova Lamborghini "350 GT", disegnata da Franco Scaglione, era pronta per il salone dell'automobile di Torino del 1963. Per la prima "Lambo" il progetto del motore (un 12 cilindri di 3500 cc.) fu affidato a Giotto Bizzarrini, che fino a poco tempo prima aveva contribuito alla nascita delle più blasonate auto del Cavallino come la Testa Rossa del 1957 e la 250 GTO. Ma è nel 1966 con la Miura che rivoluziona le auto sportive:motore sempre 12 cilindri ma portato a 4000 cc. e disposto in posizione centrale-trasversale con cambio in blocco con il basamento. La Miura ottiene un successo clamoroso e sarà prodotta fino al 1973.
Nel 1972,in seguito alla crisi petrolifera ed industriale e quando Ferruccio ebbe la certezza che il figlio Tonino non aveva interesse a vendere automobili, iniziò a pensare di ritirarsi e vendette tutta la sua azienda a Georges-Henri Rossetti, un industriale svizzero, e si ritirò nel suo vigneto in Umbria, dedicandosi alla produzione di vino. La sua tenuta, Tenuta Patrizia Lamborghini, è un' Azienda Agricola con annesso Agriturismo, campi da tennis, un campo da golf a 9 buche e una piscina olimpionica. Fra la sua produzione di vino, famoso era il vino rosso chiamato Colli del Trasimeno, conosciuto da tutti come Sangue di Miura. Oggi la produzione del vino è la maggiore attività dell'Azienda, nelle mani della figlia Patrizia Lamborghini che, nel corso degli anni, affidandosi ad esperti enologi, ha proseguito gli ideali del padre e produce tre vini premiati di grande qualità: "Campoleone" , "Trescone" e "Torami".
Il figlio Tonino invece, partendo dal famoso logo, crea un brand del lusso attivo in diversi settori.
Ferruccio morì nella sua tenuta all'età di 76 anni.
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