Ferruccio Lamborghini was born under Taurus, the sign of the bull. If you believe what professional astrologers say, that means the Lambo founder would have been prone to petty jealousy and possessiveness. If true, that goes some way to explaining why the agricultural machinery company owner set up a sports car outfit in the first place. Popular legend has it that Ferruccio was unhappy with his Ferrari and complained about it to the men at the Prancing Horse; yet at Modena, Enzo Ferrari gave him short shrift, and mocked the tractors which Ferruccio's company produced. 'Sod you', Lamborghini thought, (only in Italian), and went back to his Sant'Agata factory to conceive his own supercar company, vowing to put one over on Ferrari. Over the years, Lamborghini - as well as making the odd tractor - has made some of the world's most outrageous supercars. The Muira (as seen on the opening sequence of The Italian Job), the sharply styled Countach and, later still, the Diablo were all inconceivably desirable, even if - in terms of sales volumes, objective product comparison and company good fortune - they didn't quite enjoy the success of some Ferraris. For all too long, Lamborghini has been a one-product company, rolling from management crisis to take-over crisis, none of its owners quite knowing what to do or where to take the company. They were also short of cash to achieve their ambitions. However, Lamborghini now has the best chance it has ever had of stealing the Prancing Horse's thunder. Under the auspices of Audi, and with the financial backing of the mighty Volkswagen empire, Lamborghini has arguably never been in a better position. The Murcielago was launched to acclaim in 2001; picking up from where the Diablo left off; it was outrageous and frighteningly quick, but could also promise a little extra (Audi-enforced) reliability and quality. And now, for the first time since the Jalpa, Lamborghini is again a two-model manufacturer, with the introduction of the Gallardo. It takes its name, appropriately, from one of the five main breeds of fighting bull, and is pronounced 'ga-yàrdo.' The Gallardo is likely to reach the UK by late summer, and though prices haven't yet been set, expect it to cost around £100,000, a similar figure to Ferrari's 360 Modena, its nearest competitor. |
