Yahoo Autos Lamborghini Supercars Exist Because of a 10-Lira Tractor Clutch
"I will tell you exactly the story [based on] listening to Ferruccio Lamborghini personally telling this story, how it happened," says Valentino Balboni, promising us a direct line to Lamborghini's origins as a carmaker. The company's longtime test driver worked directly with founder Ferruccio Lamborghini and has firsthand knowledge about the rivalry between his former boss and the mighty Enzo Ferrari.
The infamous disagreement between two industrial titans was rooted in Lamborghini-built tractors, of all places.
That's because, before he became famous for owning one of the world's most recognizable supercar companies, Ferruccio Lamborghini made his fortune in the tractor business. If you want one, they're still built to this day.
"When he became a wealthy industrialist, he bought two Ferraris: a white one for him, and a black one for his wife," recalls Valentino Balboni. "Every time important customers used to come to the tractor company to sign contracts, he would take them to the restaurant while driving the Ferrari."
Balboni admits, with a chuckle, that Lamborghini liked to "make a show" but was generally not a very good driver. "He was always burning the clutch," says Balboni. That meant repeated trips to the nearby Ferrari factory to replace it. After the third or fourth visit, Lamborghini decided to have the clutch replaced at his own tractor company, by his own head mechanic.
After disassembling the Ferrari engine and transmission, Lamborghini's mechanic discovered that the clutch fitted on the Ferrari was identical to the clutch fitted onto one of Lamborghini's own small tractors.
"It was a commercial clutch, fitted on Maseratis, Ferraris, and all the sports cars of those days," Balboni explains. It also happened to be fitted onto a certain type of Lamborghini tractor. This did not sit well with Lamborghini, the disgruntled Ferrari owner.
"Ferruccio Lamborghini . . . he started yelling, he was so mad because he said, 'I pay for my tractor 10 lire [for this part], and I paid Ferrari 1000 lire for the same part.' So, one day, when he met Enzo Ferrari, the two started talking. During the discussion, Ferruccio Lamborghini had the bad idea to tell Enzo Ferrari, 'You build your beautiful cars with my tractor parts.' "
We'll take a moment here for a dramatic pause and inhalation of breath since, as you well know, Balboni's story is not going to lead to a hearty laugh and a slap on the back from Il Commendatore, the notoriously proud Enzo Ferrari. If fireworks are what you want, consider Ferrari's fuse well and truly lit by Lamborghini. Balboni continues:
"Enzo Ferrari told him: 'You are a tractor driver, you are a farmer. You shouldn't complain driving my cars because they're the best cars in the world.' " This only infuriated Lamborghini, who became equally agitated and animated.
"Lamborghini told him, 'Oh, yes, I am a farmer! I'll show you how to make a sports car and I will do a sports car by myself . . . to show you how a sports car has to be.'
"This is the real story," says Balboni. "He told it a hundred times." Balboni's friend, the tractor mechanic, recalled the same story, with the very same details right down to the last lira. While the setting for this fiery confrontation is often reported to have been in Enzo Ferrari's office in Maranello, the reality might not be that dramatic.
"No, no. As far as I know, it was not in Enzo Ferrari's office," says Balboni. He says the two men knew each other beforehand, and the far more likely setting was an automobile or engineering show of some sort-although the exact location escapes his memory and might be lost to history. The company's own historians say the carmaking arm was founded in 1962 and produced a prototype displayed at auto shows in 1963.
What's without a doubt, however, is that Ferruccio Lamborghini's comparison between his tractors and Enzo Ferrari's sports cars sparked a rivalry that has now stretched for more than five fiery decades since the first Lamborghini 350GTs were delivered to customers in 1964.
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