The business world is full of interesting stories and one of them is the chronicle of two Italian brands that fought to have the best sports cars: Ferrari and Lamborghini.
The bull and the horse, both brands synonymous with wealth and speed, have been rivals since two men from the Italian region Emilia-Romagna had a confrontation.
Ferruccio Lamborghini was the young son of a family of grape farmers who always had a penchant for mechanics. After serving in the Royal Italian Air Force in World War II, he took advantage of the post-war environment to transform trucks and other war machines into farm tractors.
His inventiveness generated him so much wealth that he was able to purchase luxury cars such as Alfa Romeos, Lancias, Maseratis, Mercedes-Benz and in 1958 his first Ferrari, a 250GT. Ferruccio loved his car and soon increased his collection and even tried to participate in professional racing. However, since he had a good eye for mechanics, he soon noticed some details of his car that could be improved. He said Ferrari cars were too loud and clunky to maneuver on the road.
On the other side of the story we have Enzo Ferrari, a man who after the First World War tried, unsuccessfully, to get a job at the automotive firm Fiat. One day he bought a used Alfa Romeo that he modified to compete in professional races. Years later, the man would open Scuderia Ferrari.
However, during the war with the Allies, Ferrari was forced to work with the fascist government of Benito Mussolini. Some time later, his cars would be among the most recognized in the professional racing circuits of Italy.
Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini
It was around that time that one of Ferruccio Lamborghini’s Ferraris broke down. While trying to fix the car, the farmer noticed that the clutch was the same one he used for his tractors. Impressed, Lamborghini went directly to Enzo Ferrari to ask him to improve the part to make it stronger. Ferrari was offended and responded by saying that he was nothing more than a tractor builder “that he knew nothing about sports cars.”
Lamborghini felt humiliated and decided to transform his hobby into a tool to prove Ferrari wrong. Since then a strong rivalry arose between the two men as the tractor builder promised that he would build the best sports car in the world.
He immediately set up a factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese and just four months after the confrontation with Ferrari, he unveiled the Lamborghini 350 GTV at the 1963 Turin Motor Show. By the end of 1964, Lamborghini had sold its first 13 cars.
Since then, both companies struggled to stand out in the market. In 1966, Lamborghini introduced the Miura, a model that implemented the mid-engine V12 that was initially despised by Ferrari. However, he was forced to implement it when other sports brands began to obtain positive results in racing.
On the other hand, Lamborghini could never overcome the mark left in competitions by Ferrari since from the beginning Ferrucio stressed that racing was not profitable for him and that he preferred to “compete on the street.”
Nowadays the rivalry seems to have faded. The Ferrari brand belongs to FIAT and Lamborghini to Audi, but without a doubt the story of these two Italians leaves good lessons about the treatment that should be given to dissatisfied customers. You never know who may become your competition.
What do you think of this experience in the business world? If you want to know other stories as fascinating as this one, we share with you Puma and Adidas: the brothers who hated each other.
March Violante Martha Elena Violante (March Violante) is editor-in-chief and co-founder of Emprendedor.com and has more than 10 years of career in digital journalism. She has interviewed figures such as Randi Zuckerberg, Daniele Lamarre, Zoe Saldana, among others. She has worked in media such as Entrepreneur in Spanish and English, Alto Nivel, Cine PREMIERE, México Desconocido, among others. “We are entrepreneur.com”