The farm boy who made fast decisions
Ferruccio Lamborghini’s progression from tractors to supercars is well known. But what’s not so well understood is how much the two overlapped — and how quickly he exited both businesses.
Ferruccio came from a farming family and understood how important agriculture would be in post-WWII Italy. His first tractors were built using leftover military engines, but by the late 1950s, Lamborghini Trattori was building 1500 a year and the brand was highly regarded for the power and quality of its products. Around 80 per cent of parts were produced in-house.
That same focus on quality was the reason for his dissatisfaction with the Ferrari road cars he owned; he found the vehicles and customer care below-par. So in 1963 Automobili Lamborghini was founded, to show the Prancing Horse what was what.
Lamborghini Trattori (the tractor business people, are you still with us?) grew to around 5000 units per year by the end of the 1960s.
But by the 1970s both ventures were in trouble. Major Trattori export orders were cancelled, putting the company on its knees. It was sold to SAME in 1972.
The 1973 oil crisis also hit the supercar market hard and Ferruccio decided to get out, fast. By 1974, Lamborghini no longer had a stake in vehicles that bore his name.
He decided to be very Italian and retire to an estate in Umbria, hunting, playing golf (on a course he designed) and making his own wine.