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Lamborghini

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Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly known as Lamborghini, is a manufacturer of high performance sports cars based in the small Italian village of Sant'Agata Bolognese, near Bologna. The company was founded in 1963 by Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–1993) as a spin-off from his very successful tractor factory, Lamborghini Trattori S.p.A..

The official automobili Lamborghini logo
File:Lamborghinilogo.jpg
Lamborghini logo symbol
2004 Lamborghini Gallardo
2004 Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster

Ferruccio Lamborghini was an enthusiastic owner of sports cars, including a Ferrari. There are several versions of why Lamborghini started his company, all of them involving a conflict between himself and Enzo Ferrari. The most likely version, one that has been corroborated several times, is that Ferruccio Lamborghini met Enzo Ferrari at a party, and, naturally, the talk drifted to sports cars. Lamborghini pointed out a few things in Ferrari's designs which he did not agree with. Ferrari, a notorious hothead, got apoplectic. "If you don't like the way I build my cars, why don't you go build one in that tractor factory of yours."

Featuring bodies designed by Franco Scaglione, Touring of Milan, Zagato, Mario Marazzi, Bertone, ItalDesign, Marcello Gandini and Luc Donckerwolke, Lamborghini's cars are not only amongst the most expensive and powerful road-going vehicles made, but are also considered by many to be amongst the most stunning and impressive in appearance. Contrary to a frequent misunderstanding, Ferruccio himself never was a bullfighting supporter but loved Bulls and was a Taurus, which explains why most models have a name somehow related to bulls.

Models

Lamborghini's products include the 350GTV (1963), 350GT (1964), 400GT (1965), Miura (1966), Flying Star II (1966), Marzal (1966), Espada (1968), Islero (1968), Jarama (1970), Countach (1974), Bravo (1974), Silhouette (1976), Jalpa (1982), LM002 (1986), Diablo (1990), Cala (1995), Murciélago (2001) and the Gallardo (2003). Although Lamborghini has continuously shown engineering expertise with the more civil models such as 350GT, 400GT, Espada, Jarama, Jalpa and Gallardo, it is the outrageous supercars that have established the Lamborghini name and look with the public. The Miura, the Countach, the Diablo, and the Murciélago continue to be the most desired sportscars of all of their peers.

The current (2006) range consists of the Murciélago, the Murciélago Roadster and the smaller, less expensive Gallardo and Gallardo Spyder. All are very fast, mid-engined 2-seaters with four-wheel-drive as standard. The styling is largely the work of Belgian designer Luc Donckerwolke. Future models may include a revived Miura supercar to rival the Ferrari Enzo, a rear-wheel-drive version of the Gallardo and possibly an SUV in the spirit of the LM002. Future Lamborghini models will be penned by Walter de’Silva, who designed the 2006 Miura concept car and who replaces Luc Donckerwolke as head of Centro Stile Lamborghini, Lamborghini's in-house design department.

Model List

Vehicle Year Engine Displacement
350GT 1964-1967 Lamborghini V12 3464 cc
400GT 1965-1968 Lamborghini V12 3929 cc
Miura 1966-1973 Lamborghini V12 3929 cc
Espada 1968-1978 Lamborghini V12 3929 cc
Islero 1968-1970 Lamborghini V12 3929 cc
Jarama 1970-1978 Lamborghini V12 3929 cc
Urraco 1970-1979 Lamborghini V8 2463 cc/2996 cc/1994 cc
Countach 1974-1989 Lamborghini V12 3929 cc/4754 cc/5167 cc
Silhouette 1976-1977 Lamborghini V8 2996 cc
Jalpa 1982-1989 Lamborghini V8 3485 cc
LM002 1986-1992 Lamborghini V12 5167 cc
Diablo 1990-2001 Lamborghini V12 5707 cc/5992 cc
Murciélago 2001-Present Lamborghini V12 6192 cc
Gallardo 2003-Present Lamborghini V10 4961 cc

Ownership

Lamborghini has had a number of owners, as shown in this simplified list:

Foreign operations

Automovil Lamborghini de Latin America ( www.e-lamborghini.com ) was set up by a Jorge Antonio Fernandez Garcia in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1994, It is officially licensed to produce two handbuilt variants of the Diablo called the Eros and the Coatl. They were first produced in 2001 and are available only in Latin America since 2003.

See also

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