An Insult Resulted in the Lamborghini Vs Ferrari Rivalry

ferrari vs Lamb

Enzo Ferrari insulted Ferruccio Lamborghini when the latter had suggested some improvements to the Ferrari cars, thus…..

In 1963, Despite his success as a tractor maker, Ferruccio Lamborghini was dissatisfied with his choice of Ferrari. The clutch was too easy to disengage, in his opinion. He took a drive up to Maranello, a nearby town, and visited Enzo Ferrari.

The encounter was brief, but it would alter the course of history for supercars. It exemplified everything wrong about dealing with consumers. He also made some suggestions for easy fixes that Mr Ferrari may do to extend the life of the clutch.

To Mr Lamborghini’s dismay, It was difficult for Enzo Ferrari to take criticism. He didn’t even bother to listen to Ferruccio’s suggestion before shooting it down with the immortal words:

“Let me make cars. You stick to making tractors.”

As for Ferruccio, he got behind the wheel and headed for home. Furious. His ideas had been met with the worst possible rejection rather than praise. Taking that insult was extremely painful. It turned out that he was an engineer, too. The top Italian farmers used his tractors.

As he was returning home, he made a choice that would change the course of his life forever. Besides racecars, he would construct sports automobiles. Furthermore, they would be superior to Enzo Ferrari’s cars in terms of speed and quality. Lamborghini as we know it today was finally created.

On October 30, 1963, Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini S.p.A. was formally established. About 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Cento, in the municipality of Sant’Agata Bolognese, Ferruccio Lamborghini bought a 46,000 square metre (500,000 square foot) property at Via Modena, 12. This place was close to the centre of Italy’s car industry, where there were plenty of trained workers and modern infrastructure. After negotiating a favourable financial arrangement with the city’s communist leadership, Lamborghini decided to build its plant there because the city promised to pay 19% interest on the company’s earnings when they are placed in the bank and not tax the profits.

In little time at all, work had begun. The first production model of the automobile was released after just four months.

How did Lamborghini manage to complete a vehicle in only four months? Something significant had occurred in Maranello two years before. Five men walked into Enzo Ferrari’s office in Maranello. Each of them would be important to the future of Ferruccio Lamborghini. Chief engineer Carlo Chiti and famed development manager Giotto Bizzarrini were among the team members.

They didn’t like that Enzo Ferrari’s wife, Laura, was influencing crucial managerial choices at the business. They did not want any interference from her.

A furious Enzo Ferrari exploded. Instead of reprimanding his wife, he sacked five crucial employees. These five individuals promptly established Autostar, a rival company in the Bologna area that specialised in the creation of racing and sports vehicles.

Lamborghini went to them. The five former Ferrari key individuals would help to swiftly build a vehicle for Lamborghini.

The team that created the first Lamborghini was led by Italian Gian Paolo Dallara, who had previously designed chassis for Ferrari and Maserati. Other members of the team included recent college grad Paolo Stanzani and New Zealander Bob Wallace, who was well-respected at Maserati for his keen sense of chassis handling, excellent feedback and development skills. For the body, Ferruccio Lamborghini went with Franco Scaglione, a relatively unknown designer at the time who was chosen over more established studios like Vignale, Ghia, Bertone, and Pininfarina.

Due to poor reception, the original 350GTV design by Franco Scaglione had to be rethought. Lamborghini created the 350GT and had it ready for the 1963 Turin Motor Show by October. But because of a long fight between Lamborghini and engine designer Giotto Bizzarrini, the prototype car didn’t have a working engine in time for the presentation. Legend has it that Ferruccio Lamborghini filled the engine compartment with bricks to give the vehicle a proper height off the ground before putting it on show in Turin and that he kept the bonnet covered to keep the absence of an engine a secret.

Source – https://dyler.com/blog/243/lamborghini-350-gtv-not-such-a-raging-bull

Carrozzeria Touring of Milan redesigned the 350GT and a new chassis was built. In order to meet manufacturing requirements, Bizzarrini’s V12 engine would be down-tuned from 365 PS to 284. The finished product made its début at the 1964 Geneva Motor Show, where it received further rave accolades from the media. By the end of the year, 13 vehicles had been built for clients; Lamborghini sold each car at a loss to remain competitive with Ferrari’s pricing. There were a total of 120 350GTs sold throughout the course of two more years of manufacturing.

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