How Ferrari Motivated This Former Prisoner To Invent Lamborghini

as of 2021 the net worth of lamborghini is estimated to be around 12 billion a new lamborghini sports car starts at a little over two hundred thousand dollars in a well-kept classic lambo can be worth several millions of dollars not too shabby but did you know that the inventor of this fancy car brand once went to prison and one of his biggest motivators was an insult that the founder of ferrari dished out to him keep watching to find out more about this unusual story growing up in a family of farmers in the formative years of

the 20th century there is no way that anyone could have foreseen how his story would unfold born on his family estate in renato in the north of bologna ferruccio lamborghini grew up in a grape farmer family however the young boy had always had a passion for fast cars and motorcycles being drawn more towards farming machines than farming itself he soon realized that he did not wish to follow in his father's footsteps he felt a natural affinity with the machinery and wanted to pursue that instead he took a course in industrial technology at the fratelli tadia

institute near bologna and graduated in 1940 just in time to enter the italian army during world war ii ferruccio was scooped up in the draft and worked for the italian air force he took the skills he learned during his mechanical engineering study into the italian raf and worked as a mechanic he soon became known as a wizard at mechanical improvisation and fixing engines but in 1945 he was held as a prisoner of war by the british they put him to work too when he got home one year later ferruccio had to figure out what he

would do next with all of the hands-on experience that he had gathered over the past years he had quite some options the work he had done provided him an intricate knowledge of both farm tractors and military vehicles so it seemed quite obvious to him that he should find a way to bring those two worlds together initially he started tinkering with cars but in 1947 lamborghini trattori the italian ward for tractors was born ironically this was also the year when ferrari was founded something that will be discussed later in this video why tractors you may wonder

well after his service in the air force the young businessman noticed a shortage of agricultural equipment for farmers this is why he began buying and repurposing surplus military vehicles and detractors and selling them under the lamborghini trattoria company name it did not take long before his venture took off in the beginning ferruccio was building on average one tractor a month but business was booming and his tractor production grew from the making of one tractor per week to more than four a week and soon his company was making 200 tractors per year more success and growth

followed and the company opened a new tractor factory in 1956 with the new factory the production of the outstanding lamborghini brand tractors would be increased even more by 1960 his business had become so extremely successful that he was able to expand it to manufacturing oil burning heaters and air conditioning units for buildings it turned him from the path of respected tractor manufacturer into a wealthy industrialist and started him down the path of becoming one of the household names throughout italy while ferruccio's tractor business had been very successful his real worth came when he diversified into

heating and air conditioning and as sales grew so did the cash in his bank account it allowed him to buy some of the most sought-after and best looking cars in the world such as a mercedes-benz 300sl an e-type jaguar and two maserati 3500 gts his love for cars was immense but like many great engineering minds he had a critical life for each vehicle he owned he was constantly searching for the perfect car and one day he traveled to maranello to buy a pininfarina designed ferrari 250 gt this is where the tale of the automotive feud

of the century begins ferrari versus lamborghini at the time ferruccio enjoyed his 250 gt so much that he bought many more ferraris over the next few years but just like he critiqued the other car manufacturers he had quite a few constructive but critical tips for ferrari as well at one point he was quoted as saying ferrari was a good car but that they were noisy and rough and once he even called them repurposed track cars with poorly built interiors however this was only the beginning throughout its history ferraris have been a symbol of power luxury

speed and wealth and some see them as the highest quality cars in the world it is one of the most influential brands in the world and over time it has produced some of the most expensive cars in history it is therefore not surprising that successful entertainers entrepreneurs and business people enjoy owning and driving them however ferruccio did not seem to be too convinced in fact he was quite unhappy with his ferrari 250 gt and even went to see enzo ferrari to voice his displeasure that is when things went sour thanks to his profitable business ferruccio

was able to continuously accumulate expensive luxury cars at one point he bought two ferraris a black one for his wife and a white one for himself every time important customers came to visit his tractor company to sign contracts he would take them to the restaurant in his fancy ferrari but while he liked to put on a show some say that he wasn't a particularly good driver and because of this he regularly burned the clutch after many expensive trips to the ferrari factory he decided he had had enough frustrated by the recurring clutch problems he had

one of his own tractor mechanics look at the problem and that is when he made a shocking discovery after disassembling the engine and transmission the mechanic noted that the clutch on the car was exactly the same clutch that was used in ferruccio's tractors while it was a commercially available clutch that was fitted to many of the top-end sports cars of the days this discovery did not sit well at all with the wealthy tractor maker knowing he was paying 100 times as much for the clutch every time he went in to get his car fixed was

like a stab in the heart he could not understand why someone would use a subpar clutch in such a luxury vehicle in fact it upset the disgruntled ferrari owner so much that he not only replaced the ferrari clutch with a clutch from his tractor company but he also decided to pay a visit to the ferrari factory and present his findings with the founder of the company enzo ferrari it was the first encounter that would later ignite into the great lamborghini ferrari feud many versions of the story have been retold from the meeting of enzo and

ferruccio naturally with a story that has been told and retold thousands of times over the decades the history has taken on a life of its own undoubtedly with each retelling there will be a mix of truth and myth as the protagonists of the story have long passed away all we can do is rely on one man who claims to know the real story as he heard it first hand from the mouth of ferruccio himself valentino balboni valentino balboni is an automotive royalty and a true cult figure in the car world a 40-year employee of lamborghini

he started his career as an apprentice mechanic but finished as the company's chief test driver having worked directly for ferruccio valentino insists he has the real story this is how it went the supposed opening line of the conversation was you built your beautiful cars with my tractor parts an agitated enzo ferrari responded with the words to the effect of you are a tractor driver a farmer you shouldn't complain about driving my cars because they are the best cars in the world enzo basically made sure to remind ferruccio that he is a tractor maker and should

stick to building farming equipment and let ferrari take care of the car business of course this only enraged ferruccio even more and in return he said correct i am a farmer but i'll show you how to make a sports car and i'll do it by myself to show you how a good one should be there's some speculation on where precisely this confrontation took place but valentino insists this was the actual exchange between the two however others note that valentino wasn't associated with lamborghini until 1968 well after the founding of the company so according to them

he most likely didn't actually see this conversation take place and the statement should be considered nothing more than hearsay nonetheless the lamborghini versus ferrari history is fascinating in the 20th century there have been many great rivalries microsoft versus apple coca-cola versus pepsi burger king vs mcdonald's and adidas vs puma but ferrari vs lamborghini was a clash of two proud italian men who refused to give in at all as with many great rivalries there is more that unites the two men than divides them both were from the emilia romagna region of northern italy both grew up

with an interest in mechanics and both went on to make some of the world's most memorable and famous cars these details make the story even more interesting some call it the feud between the prancing horse against the raging bull the racing driver against the tractor maker and while we may never know what was said exactly one thing was clear whatever happened that day the meeting between the two businessmen didn't go over well insults were exchanged feelings got hurt and a rivalry was born ferruccio was so furious that he made it his goal to build the

best sports car in the world and show ferrari who is the best would he succeed with money saved up from a successful tractor business and his encounter with enzo ferrari fresh in his mind ferruccio decided to get going in may 1963 he officially founded his own motor car company the automobile lamborghini he founded the factory in the small town of santagata bolognese it was a carefully selected location in the small town between modena and bologna the ultra-modern plant had plenty of space to grow and his tractor and heating factory were not too far away it

was also in the middle of the terra dimotari aka engine country which was home to the factories of ferrari maserati and ducati and now it was home to lamborghini as well the impatient ferruccio exerted considerable pressure during the creation of the factory and after just a year it was already complete although a highly qualified source of skilled workers from the sports car industry existed the wage level was low because the region was otherwise relatively structurally weak ferruccio gave the municipality an employment guarantee for his workers and in return he received a long-term interest free loan

he immediately began recruiting the best team he could find and even hired several ferrari x employees including giato bitzerini franco scoglioni and jean paulo dalara the task was clear to create a luxurious and powerful gt that would reach at least 240 kilometer per hour on the aurostrade de soleil the famous italian motorway which connects milan with naples the result was the lamborghini 350 gt and the rest is history born on april 28 1916 ferruccio was born under the zodiac sign taurus he truly loved the symbol and saw in it an expression of his forward urging

and impetuous character when he began to manufacture cars under his own name it therefore seemed obvious that the charging bull would become its badge the theme also permeated the lamborghini model names and those of islaro miura espada and uraco all have bull or bull fighting associations at the time many people criticized ferruccio for building a sports car that would compete directly with such a powerful brand as ferrari after all he was already a successful businessman and quite wealthy from his tractor company he had also successfully moved into other manufacturing ventures such as air conditioning systems

why would he begin building cars well as we all know sometimes motivation can come in mysterious forms in this case it was in the form of a mean insult that ferruccio probably never forgot while he confessed that he never actually invented anything or rather would simply copy and try to improve on others work his legacy has continued to this day over the years the brand has seen financial difficulties from time to time eventually becoming a part of the audi ag and recognized as automobile ferruccio lamborghini spa but the fact remains that lamborghini is still a

sought-after luxury car brand that not many can afford this was the story of how a skilled mechanic and former prisoner ignited a rivalry by critiquing the maker of his luxury sports car this feud is a testament to the determination of hard-working dedicated and proud pioneers and the rivalry pushed each iconic company to greatness and led to the production of some of the most beautiful and high-performing automobiles in history have you ever been motivated by a healthy rivalry with a competitor share your story in the comments and if you enjoyed this video then make sure to

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