Ferruccio Lamborghini was primarily interested in building comfortable, quick and stylish GT cars, not high performance sports cars or racing cars. In contrast, Enzo Ferrari was interested in producing road cars to fund the racing division of the company.
From the present-day, it's easy to see why Lamborghini and Ferrari are "paired." Both are merchandising and branding behemoths, both produce thoroughly modern, refined sports cars that are often cross-shopped against each other. However, in the 1960s and 1970s these companies were definitely not two sides of the same coin, being run by idiosyncratic personalities with differing priorities. While the Miura and Countach are best remembered today, Lamborghini struggled tremendously to break in to the luxury GT market with the 350 GT, 400 GT, Islero, Jarama and Espada. They also tried and failed to compete with the Porsche 911 using the Urraco. Economic and manufacturing issues prevented Lamborghini from achieving lasting profitability in these markets. Thus, as described in the article, Lamborghini struggled through the 70s and 80s. In contrast, Ferrari was continually buoyed by positive publicity from racing and weathered the oil crisis using funding provided by Fiat.
One part of the story that is glossed over by the article is the engineering team behind the early Lamborghini cars. The legendary popularity of the Miura and Countach and their crucial role in the Lamborghini story overshadow the fact that Ferruccio was not initially supportive of these cars, or of the idea of building racing-inspired high performance sports cars at all. In particular, the Miura was an "after-hours" project of three talented engineers: Gian Paolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani and Bob Wallace. These three all had keen interest in racing cars and developed the Miura chassis without official support. After the completed chassis was shown at the 1966 Geneva Auto Show, favorable public response led Ferruccio to approve a production version. The success of the Miura allowed the small Lamborghini engineering team and body designer Gandini to have creative freedom in designing the Countach. However, if the company stayed true to Ferruccio's original goals and these engineers were not allowed to "play", these remarkable models would not exist at all.
The article's states that ATS designed and built early Lamborghinis. This is historically inaccurate. The only ATS member that had a significant relationship with Lamborghini was Giotto Bizzarrini, who designed the V12 engine used in the 350 GT and subsequently refined and updated for use in many other Lamborghini models. Bizzarrini's association with Lamborghini was very brief, most likely only consisting of providing the engine design as a deliverable. The four person team of Bizzarrini, Dallara, Stanzani, and Wallace were responsible for the engineering of the early Lamborghini cars, not ATS.
There's also an interesting story here behind the article's brief mention of the 1961 walkout/"palace revolt" where some of the leading technical talent left Ferrari and formed ATS. While this was a blow in the short term, Ferrari very quickly filled the void with a young engineer named Mauro Forghieri who became one of the most successful technical directors in the company's history. Enzo's willingness to bring in new, young talent when existing employees (and drivers!) proved unsatisfactory is a major theme in the company's history. Arguably, this tendency contributed to the company and team's ability to stay solvent and successful for so long under Enzo's management.
> Ferruccio Lamborghini was primarily interested in building comfortable, quick and stylish GT cars
I agree with you about "quick and stylish GT cars", but "comfortable" is not a word that I'd associate with the only Lamborghini I know. The Countach was very uncomfortable, both to sit in and also to ingress and egress. The pedals are not in line with the seat, the sill is as wide as a moat, and there is no visibility behind the door, even the mirrors are near-useless.
Yeah, Countaches are definitely not comfortable cars. As I mention later in the comment, the original intentions of Mr. Lamborghini were somewhat at odds with what Lamborghini the company became famous for after the success of the Miura and the Countach. The engineers that Lamborghini hired to make his luxe GT cars were more interested in building racing cars. Mr. Lamborghini gave them room to experiment, and they built a uncompromising, racing-inspired sports car in the Miura. This led on the the even more successful Countach. Good thing too, as the Lamborghini GT models (350 GT, 400 GT, Islero, Jarama, Espada) were never really luxurious or well constructed enough to compete with the likes of Mercedes and Jaguar. So Mr. Lamborghini's willingness to compromise and follow his engineers' vision of making radical, uncomfortable sports cars probably saved the company. They managed to limp along with the Countach design almost to the 90s. Meanwhile, the GT models that Mr. Lamborghini loved were out of production by the end of the 70s and are all fairly obscure today.
I see, thanks. And by the way, I never understood the Urraco. I've never actually ever seen one, but from what I've read I had never understood why the car existed until you mentioned that it was poised against the 911. Thank you.
You seem pretty knowledgeable about this stuff. Any book or other material recommendations detailing the history of both brands? The rivalry is legendary, but seeing results across decades trying to outdo each other and the market is pretty interesting I’m sure.
I'm not aware of any book specifically addressing the rivalry or both brands at once. My opinion is that this rivalry mostly exists in the press and in the public imagination and therefore would make poor fodder for a book. In contrast, Ferrari's dealings with Ford both on and off the racetrack are much more interesting, and have generated a lot of writing as well as the recent movie.
My #1 book recommendation would be Luca Dal Monte's excellent recent biography on Enzo Ferrari. In a field dominated by shallow coffee table books and breathless romanticism, it's a comprehensive, scholarly history that remains very readable. Not much material on Lamborghini, though. Unfortunately like many auto books it is now out of print and prices are in "collector" territory. Still worth picking up if you can.
From the present-day, it's easy to see why Lamborghini and Ferrari are "paired." Both are merchandising and branding behemoths, both produce thoroughly modern, refined sports cars that are often cross-shopped against each other. However, in the 1960s and 1970s these companies were definitely not two sides of the same coin, being run by idiosyncratic personalities with differing priorities. While the Miura and Countach are best remembered today, Lamborghini struggled tremendously to break in to the luxury GT market with the 350 GT, 400 GT, Islero, Jarama and Espada. They also tried and failed to compete with the Porsche 911 using the Urraco. Economic and manufacturing issues prevented Lamborghini from achieving lasting profitability in these markets. Thus, as described in the article, Lamborghini struggled through the 70s and 80s. In contrast, Ferrari was continually buoyed by positive publicity from racing and weathered the oil crisis using funding provided by Fiat.
One part of the story that is glossed over by the article is the engineering team behind the early Lamborghini cars. The legendary popularity of the Miura and Countach and their crucial role in the Lamborghini story overshadow the fact that Ferruccio was not initially supportive of these cars, or of the idea of building racing-inspired high performance sports cars at all. In particular, the Miura was an "after-hours" project of three talented engineers: Gian Paolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani and Bob Wallace. These three all had keen interest in racing cars and developed the Miura chassis without official support. After the completed chassis was shown at the 1966 Geneva Auto Show, favorable public response led Ferruccio to approve a production version. The success of the Miura allowed the small Lamborghini engineering team and body designer Gandini to have creative freedom in designing the Countach. However, if the company stayed true to Ferruccio's original goals and these engineers were not allowed to "play", these remarkable models would not exist at all.
The article's states that ATS designed and built early Lamborghinis. This is historically inaccurate. The only ATS member that had a significant relationship with Lamborghini was Giotto Bizzarrini, who designed the V12 engine used in the 350 GT and subsequently refined and updated for use in many other Lamborghini models. Bizzarrini's association with Lamborghini was very brief, most likely only consisting of providing the engine design as a deliverable. The four person team of Bizzarrini, Dallara, Stanzani, and Wallace were responsible for the engineering of the early Lamborghini cars, not ATS.
There's also an interesting story here behind the article's brief mention of the 1961 walkout/"palace revolt" where some of the leading technical talent left Ferrari and formed ATS. While this was a blow in the short term, Ferrari very quickly filled the void with a young engineer named Mauro Forghieri who became one of the most successful technical directors in the company's history. Enzo's willingness to bring in new, young talent when existing employees (and drivers!) proved unsatisfactory is a major theme in the company's history. Arguably, this tendency contributed to the company and team's ability to stay solvent and successful for so long under Enzo's management.