Name drops -
Ferruccio Lamborghini
Gianpaolo Dallara - in 1963, engineer Dallara was offered an
opportunity to work with Lamborghini. He played an important role in
creating the Miura. Dallara performed his job as a true enthusiast, and
Lamborghini described him as "tireless and extraordinarily brilliant,
but utterly unaware of the business aspect of our adventure. The fact
that a crankshaft required a day's work at the forge, for example, did
not faze him at all". "Creator of the Miura" e of "Mr. Wolf's
special Countach"
Giotto Bizzarrini - left Ferrari and joined the young team of
Automobili Lamborghini in 1963. He designed and built the first
legendary Lamborghini V12 engine. It did not take him much time to
develop and finish this engine, which delivered an incredible 400 hp at
11000 rpm. However, Lamborghini wanted the engine to be suitable for a
GT, so it was detuned to 280 hp at 7000 rpm. Bizzarrini disliked this,
and left the company as soon as the engine testing was finished.
Franco Scaglione - this designer drew the Lamborghini 350 GTV,
the first car to bear Ferruccio Lamborghini's name. Lamborghini once
revealed why he chose Scaglione: "Well, in the early 1960's there was
quite a number of designers and stylists to choose from. But Scaglione
arrived at my place in a big shiny Mercedes, immaculately dressed and
accompanied by a breathtakingly beautiful secretary". Your car will be
ready in a week, "he told me. So I gave him the job". Scaglione was
asked to draw an Italian version of the Jaguar E-type. Lamborghini
owned an early model of the E-type and told: "It was a very attractive
car and I really liked being seen in it!"
Paolo Stanzani - Stanzani was one of the pioneers of Automobili
Lamborghini. He was in Ferruccio's original team in 1963, and the
founder describes him like this: "Stanzani was a great
engineer, but one who watched the pennies. He shaved always
expertly - wherever he could shave". Stanzani contributed greatly in
the engineering of the Miura, and was in charge of the team that
developed the Countach , "Creator of the Miura and of many other
models" and Lamborghini manager during the Ferruccio Lamborghini era.
Marcello Gandini - will always be connected to Lamborghini for
his car designs. The Miura, the Marzal, the Espada, the Jarama, the
Urraco, the Countach and the Diablo are all creatures of art drawn by
Gandini. He caused a sensation in 1965 with the Miura, a daring and
stunning design. This car was Gandini's ticket to the hall of fame of
car designers. Then, six years later, the Countach entered this world
like an alien - never before had there been a car like this! It is hard
to imagine that any car will ever surpass its appearance. In 1990,
Gandini blessed the world with the Diablo. His position in sports car
design is second to none.
Ubaldo Sgarzi - sales manager, joined Lamborghini's team in
early 1964 and stayed with the company until early 1994, after having
worked there for 30 years. He lasted even through the difficult
periods. His is the true Lamborghini spirit: Never give up! former
sales manager Lamborghini from 1963 till the beginning of the 90s.
Enzo Moruzzi - former public relations assistant, member
Lamborghini technical commission for Lamborghini Historical Registry.
He has been in Lamborghini from 1965 till 2004
Ingrid Pussich - former secretary Ubaldo Sgarzi, famous in all of Lamborghini World.
Bob Wallace Lamborghini test driver - originally from New Zealand,
became Lamborghini's test driver in 1964. He had experience from racing
Ferraris and Maseratis and remained a valuable resource for the factory
for several years. His efforts in the development of the Miura were
indispensable. He experimented with some of the cars, rebuilding at
least two of them into racing cars. The Jarama Rally and the Urraco Bob
are his works. Bob Wallace Cars Inc, 2302 E Magnolia St, Phoenix, AZ 85034, (602) 275-2543
Valentino Balboni - Lamborghini test driver - Valentino has been
working at Lamborghini since 1968. He started as a mechanic apprentice
and worked his way up to become Lamborghini's chief test driver.
Balboni has driven over 80% of the Lamborghinis ever produced. He was
close to Ferruccio Lamborghini and has lived with the company and its
evolution through the decades. His insight into the history of the cars
and the company is unique.
Bill Young and Dave DiBernardo - GTCP - Phoenix, AZ
Bruno Paratelli - Lamborghini 'works' master upholsterer - 2008
currently still crafting top quality Lamborghini interior work
Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bugatti e CZ, Paratelli Bruno. Interni In
Pelle Per Auto, Via Mantova 237/A, 44018 Vigarano Pieve Fe - Tel. e Fax
+39 0532 715242
Umberto Marchesi - early factory master production technician.
Marzio Ascari - early factory master production technician.
Enrico Pasolini - original Jota owner and early Lamborghini dealer
Etienne Cornil - French journalist who became Lamborghini press relations director late 60's - early 70's
Cesare Lodi - former Lamborghini test driver.
Claudio Zampolli - former Lamborghini test driver., USA dealer, repair , restoration
Orazio Salvioli - former customer support division employee. Top
Motors Di Salvioli L., Via Galvani 20, 41015
Nonantola, MO, tel (+39) 059549224
Giuseppe Maggiora - chief body engineer at Bertone in the late 60s. He said they never thought they'd sell
more than 50 Miuras so the original 40-some car's panels were built on
"soft" tools with virtually no dimensional stability. Even the later cars on
more reinforced bucks for panel shaping were each unique to a degree. All
the cars were basically hand built by the metalworkers. Panels are simply
not interchangeable except by luck. In contrast, Giuseppe said they expected
to sell many Espadas so the tools for the steel parts were fairly robust and
actually have some specified dimensions!!
Hubert Hahne - former Lamborghini importer for Germany during the 70s.rello, Bosch, Hella, Pirelli,
Joe Nastasi - former Lamborghini USA importer 80's+
Georges-Henri Rossetti - Mr. Rossetti bought 51 percent of the
Automobili Lamborghini shares in 1972, when Ferruccio experienced
serious problems with the factory. In 1974, a friend of Rossetti,
René Leimer bought the remaining 49 percent. Together, they had
a difficult task in managing the factory. Misjudging of the financial
prospects of the Cheetah project led to the cancelling of Lamborghini's
contract with BMW in 1977. Mr. Rossetti left the factory in 1978 after
the declaration of bankruptcy.
René Leimer - Leimer bought 49 percent of Automobili Lamborghini
from Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1974. He encountered economical and
administrative problems during this period, which ended with the
declaring of bankruptcy in 1978. 1977 seemed to be a good year for the
factory, with a contract with BMW to produce the M1 sports car.
However, the economical failure of the Cheetah project caused BMW to
cancel the contract, leaving Lamborghini with huge economical problems.
Alessandro Artese - Dr. Artese, a Bolognese expert of commercial law
and car enthusiast, was in 1978 appointed by the Bolognese court to
manage Automobili Lamborghini. He realized the importance of the
factory, and searched for potential buyers. Despite his and his team's
efforts, no-one was able to buy the factory, and on 28th February 1980,
the factory was officially put out of business. Artese offered the
factory to Ferruccio Lamborghini for a symbolic price, but Lamborghini
refused.
Patrick Mimran - the younger of the two Swiss Mimran brothers,
changed the name of the factory to Nuova Automobili Ferruccio
Lamborghini when he and his brother took over as managers in July 1980.
At 25 years of age, Patrick was a very young manager. In spite of this,
he succeeded in his effort to bring Lamborghini to the top of the
sports car world. In 1984, he bought the factory. During his time as
manager and owner of the factory, the world saw a further developed
Countach, the LM 002, the Jalpa and even the first sketches for the
Diablo.
Emile Novaro - was appointed president of the factory in 1980 and
kept this position until late 1992, when he retired. This period was
one of the best in the factory's history, with the expanding in the
early 1980's, the take over from Chrysler, the Diablo and the
successful end of the Countach production.
Sandro Munari - was already a world-famous rallye driver, having
won several world championships, when he came to Sant'Agata Bolognese
in 1987 to become PR-responsible of Automobili Lamborghini. He stayed
until the late 1990's.
Michael J. Kimberly - became president of Automobili Lamborghini
in April, 1994. His background was with Lotus and Jaguar. He tried to
put the LM 002 back in production without succeeding. However, the
Diablo Roadster became an immediate success in the USA and sold well.
Lack of funds from the Indonesian owners delayed the research for new
models. Kimberly resigned on 12th November, 1996.
Vittorio di Capua - joined the Board of Directors of Automobili
Lamborghini in August 1996, and became Managing Director on 12th
November the same year. Lacking payment from the US importer forced di
Capua to halt all deliveries to the USA for a short time. He was
convinced that Automobili Lamborghini would have to grow in order to
survive, and wanted the Project 147, the successor of the Diablo, ready
as soon as possible. However, the economy would not allow
this. Di Capua entered negotiations with Audi AG to find
out whether Lamborghini could use some of Audi's products in a planned
model. In early 1998, Ferdinand Piëch, manager of Audi AG,
surprised everyone with his offer to buy Automobili Lamborghini. After
recommendations from di Capua, the present Indonesian owners agreed to
sell the factory. Di Capua became an assistant of Franz-Josef Paefgen,
the manager of the all-new Automobili Lamborghini Holding S.p.A.
Guiseppe Greco - President of Automobili Lamborghini for several
years, Giuseppe Greco introduced the Murciélago, an important
event in Lamborghini's history. He has worked with Fiat, Alfa Romeo and
Ferrari.
Luc Donckerwolke - Car designer Luc Donckerwolke has been working
with Automobili Lamborghini since 1998, and has been Head of Design
since March 2003. He has previously worked with Peugeot, Skoda and
Audi. His designs for Lamborghini have received worldwide
acknowledgement and gave him the "Red Dot Award" in 2003.