ferruccio lamborghini was a prisoner of
war when he returned to italy he opened
a small garage and converted military
equipment into farming tractors
his timely venture turned him into a
millionaire and later the inventor of
the most talked about luxury sports car
[Music]
lamborghini
it all started with being told he was
just a farmer from enzo ferrari in 1916
ferruccio was born on a farm in the
rural town of renatso in northern italy
his parents grew grapes to make wine for
a living and raised him amongst their
vineyards
they taught him to roll up his sleeves
and have the drive to make quality
products
ferruccio took their lessons to heart
but not in the way that they had hoped
for
or imagined he was more interested in
fixing their tractors
than learning how to manage the farm
along with being disappointing
it was considered risky to stray from
the family's business
still ferruccio chose to explore his
passion and studied mechanics at the
fratelli tatia technical institute
to his father's dismay ferruccio never
looked back after graduating
he started training with a master
blacksmith who shared all of his iron
working and welding secrets
but it wasn't enough to impress a major
factory that he had his eyes set on
kava yiririki in bologna at the time
the factory worked on maintaining the
italian army's vehicles
head strong and stubborn ferruccio
persisted and managed to convince the
owner to hire him
when he turned 18 he left and returned
to his hometown renato
there he opened a workshop with his
longtime friend
marino filippini it wasn't until years
later that he would discover it was the
first step towards turning his passion
into an empire
but first he would have to escape the
clutches of his captors
when the second world war hit ferruccio
was torn away from his carefree life
he was drafted by the royal italian air
force and was assigned to work as a
mechanic at the garrison in rhodes
island greece
three years later italy surrendered
armistice with italy
has been concluded afterwards the german
forces took over the garrison and
evicted the italians
ferruccio decided to stay and ask for
permission to open his own workshop
two years later the allied forces
arrived they took everyone in the
garrison as prisoners including
ferruccio
when they discovered his technical
aptitude they got him to work on fixing
their vehicles
one year later they allowed him to leave
ferruccio's early years back home were
far from blissful
his wife clelia passed away while giving
birth to their only child to nino
afterwards ferruccio kept himself busy
at his workshop
where he mostly fixed pre-war vehicles
lorries and tractors
but one day he received an urgent
request from his father that changed the
course of his life
i need a new tractor ferruccio's father
requested
it was then that ferruccio was struck
with a realization
italy desperately needed to increase its
agricultural production to recover from
the war
but it needed better equipment to make
that possible
armed with experience in working with
allied and access vehicles
ferruccio brought leftover military
equipment and used them to make
new tractors they were built with an old
british morris engine and modified to
run on cheap diesel instead of expensive
petrol
they were said to be more affordable and
innovative than anything
anyone had seen before later ferruccio
started a new company called
lamborghini tractors while his tractors
were in demand he needed more capital
for production
so his father used his farm as
collateral for a loan
the risk ferruccio and his father took
paid in more ways than both of them
could have imagined
soon after the company became one of the
largest manufacturers of its kind in
italy
ferruccio celebrated his success with
good food fine wine
and fast cars he even started to collect
jaguars mercedes maseratis and ferraris
but none of them completely satisfied
him he was particularly disappointed
with his ferrari 250 gt
[Music]
since the clutch would always break down
one day
he brought the ferrari to his mechanic
for repairs ferruccio discovered that
the clutch was identical to the one
fitted onto one of his tractors this did
not sit well for him since he paid 10
euros for the clutch his tractor used
and paid ferrari a thousand euros for
the same part
later he decided to tell enzo ferrari
but the imperfections he found in his
cars
along with the clutches needing frequent
repairs they were considered too noisy
and rough on the road
enzo brushed ferruccio off and insisted
the problem wasn't with the car
but with him you're a tractor driver
a farmer you shouldn't complain about my
cars they're the best in the world
yes i'm a farmer but i'll show you how a
sports car should be
that day ferruccio went home determined
to prove what he was capable of
many called his conquest crazy and
believed he would squander his fortune
still ferruccio forged the head and
started a new company under his name
he hired three of ferrari's ex-employees
and bought a large plot of land to build
a factory
in just nine months ferruccio completed
his first sports car featuring his
astrological sign as the emblem
the lamborghini 350 gt it was considered
a technical masterpiece and included a
v12
engine five-speed transmission
four-wheel disc brakes
and four-wheel independent suspension it
was unveiled for the first time at the
turin motor show and praised by
customers and critics
ferruccio proved to enzo and his
doubters that he wasn't just a farmer
but also a mechanical genius
capable of building superior cars it was
a sophisticated car
that just had a lot of class and was
easy to operate
over the next few years ferruccio's
tractor and sports car businesses
flourish
this leadership style led to his team
building the 400 gt
and a secret project the miura p400 it
was developed as a street race car and
was the first in history to be made with
a rear mid
engine layout it was kept a secret from
ferruccio since he was against the idea
of building race cars
several years before he entered a
prestigious race and crashed into the
side of a restaurant
when ferruccio found out he decided not
to scrap the idea
it turned out to be one of the best
decisions he ever made
the miura became known as the world's
first supercar
and its rear mid engine layout became
the standard for all high performance
cars
from then on lamborghini trattori
continued its successful streak and
debuted more celebrated models
the espada the islero the harama
the uruko and the kuntach they were said
to be superior to other sports cars
since they didn't use anyone else's
parts
and the kuntash was said to be the most
written about car in history
unfortunately ferruccio's success came
to a halt after facing a series of
events beyond his control
a deal to supply bolivia with 5 000
tractors was cancelled after the country
faced the coup
the loss forced ferruccio to sell his
tractor company and 51
of his automobile lamborghini shares
later
the global stock market experienced a
dramatic crash and the oa peck
started an oil embargo it led to
increased fuel prices and threw the
automative industry into a crisis but we
know with the
shortage of gasoline that it talks about
in washington
it's affecting the employment not only
in maryland but in our nation
ferruccio did his best to keep his
businesses alive and manage to find
buyers for his unsold tractors still
he decided to retire early and sold the
remaining 49 percent of his automobility
lamborghini shares
but he did keep a heating company that
he owned and gave it to his son tonino
later tonino pivoted towards building a
successful fashion
and luxury business under the family
name meanwhile
the new owners of automobile lamborghini
tried to revive its brand but failed
afterwards the company was forced into
liquidation
a few years later the italian government
sold it for three million dollars to two
french billionaires
they hoped to renovate the old
lamborghini facilities and hire new
engineers
but they ran out of money and sold the
company to chrysler
chrysler made plans to import the brand
into the us but failed to make a profit
so they sold the company to an
indonesian conglomerate
while they had more luck in making sales
it wasn't enough to weather the
financial crisis in asia
it was then that audi bought the company
and recognized the need for
greater attention to processes and
product quality under their leadership
lamborghini was able to meet the
challenges of the 21st century
and take back its place in the market
with the release of the gallardo
huracan and the urus suv concept
sales jumped across the world especially
in the u.s
in 2019 lamborghini reported record
sales and is now valued at 11 billion
this is the story of how a farmer and
prisoner of war
turned his tractor business into sports
car empire
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