We already have a pretty precise idea of what a
brand’s identity is being built upon. It takes shape in the purpose around the
making of cars, in the brand’s history and its racing pedigree, especially for
a brands making cars as performing as Ferrari or Porsche.
However,
Lamborghini does not have a racing pedigree as prestigious as its rivals. It
never won a major racing championship, made an unsuccessful attempt as an
engine manufacturer in Formula 1 in the early 1990s[1].
So how come Lamborghini makes people dream as much as its neighbor from
Maranello?
Firstly,
we can find the answer in its history. Lamborghini was founded and guided
during its first years by one charismatic man: Ferruccio Lamborghini. He may not
be as well-known as Enzo Ferrari of, but he also is a self-made man. Ferruccio
Lamborghini first founded Lamborghini as a tractor company in 1948. Quickly, he
became a successful businessman and eventually managed in 1963 to realize his
dream: building his own sports cars[2].
Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916-1993)
He
quickly targeted Ferrari as his arch rival, gathering around him well known
engineers as Gianpaolo Dallara or designers like Francesco Scaglione from
Bertone. The first car they produced, the 350GT did not meet the expected
success[3].
But 5 years later, in 1968, the Miura went even further in terms of aggressive
design, performance and style. It is considered as one of the very first
“supercars”².
The Lamborghini Miura
The
following years were bitter for Ferruccio Lamborghini. The oil shock puts the
company in trouble because its cars were not made with fuel consumption concerns
in mind. He sold the first 51% of the company to a Swiss businessman, and the
further 49% in 1974 to René Leimer[4].The
company was then administrated by different people because of financial
difficulties (despite the new Countach to replace the Miura) until Chrysler bought
Lamborghini in 1987. The American company invested $50 million and created a
motorsport division, mainly to make F1 engines, while the Diablo was being
designed to replace the Countach4.
The Countach (foreground) and the Diablo SV
However,
Chrysler sold the company in 1994 as the sales dropped and the F1 program proved
to be a failure; to an Indonesian company: MegaTech. MegaTech then sold the
company once again because of the Asian crisis in 1998 to Audi[5].
All
the different owners have kept a tradition that is part of the brand’s
identity. Lamborghini is linked to the bullfighting world[6].
The Miura was named after a famous fighting bull bred. Some concept-cars, like
the Estoque or the Espada were also named after bullfighting-related terms.
Murcielago is the name of a famous bull in bullfighting history, so is Reventon.
The logo of the brand itself is raging bull4.
The Raging Bull
Audi’s
takeover of the company is a big milestone in Lamborghini’s history. It provided
the stability necessary for Lamborghini to produce a replacement for the Diablo:
the Murcielago. It even allowed the company to produce a second car in its range:
the Gallardo. It is a smaller and “cheaper” car, with “only” a V10 engine.
Lamborghini also started using 4-wheel drive systems derived from the Audi
Quattro system.
The Murcielago (left) and the Gallardo
Audi
owning Lamborghini is also a reproach made to the brand by the most radical petrol
heads. In the Aventador test for BBC’s Top Gear, Richard Hammond explains that
the Aventador does not feel like a
V12 Lamborghini, like its ancestors. It does not feel dangerous and difficult
to drive. It is easy, despite the power and the performance, just like “a big
Audi”, he says.
Top Gear's Richard Hammond tests the Aventador
It
is important to note that all Lamborghini have always been built for maximum
performance. Compromise is not a word used in Sant’Agata, which means for
example that the suspension, the steering and the clutch used to be very hard. It
was part of the “folklore”. Today, with power steering, 4-wheel drive, traction
control and plenty of other technological devices, some, like Hammond, would
argue that Lamborghini lost part of its identity with more accessible cars.
On
the other hand, we would argue that Lamborghini actually just keeps doing what
it always did, no matter the owner: build cars as extreme as the current technology
allows it. This is the part of Lamborghini’s identity we have been looking for
to replace the racing pedigree Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes or Audi have. The
brand is actually very close to its mascot, the bull: raging head down,
regardless the opposition. Ferrari is the elegant Prancing Horse, Lamborghini
the dreaded raging bull.
[4] David Jolliffe,
Tony Willard, Lamborghini: Forty Years, MotorBooks/MBI
Publishing Company, 2004, (ISBN 978-0760319456)
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