Bologna, CNBC Indonesia – Who doesn't know Lamborghini, a supercar that costs billions and is used by Indonesia's upper class, apparently it was produced due to the annoyance of Ferruccio Lamborghini.
Ferruccio Lamborghini, born in Cento Italy in 1913, grew up in a farming family and his father taught him mechanics and technology. His interest in automotive continued to be honed at the Technical Institute at Fratelli Taddia Bologna.
His expertise in repairing vehicles made the Italian Air Force recruit him as a vehicle maintenance unit leader. After the World War ended, Ferruccio founded a business producing tractors and agricultural equipment. In fact, this business made Ferruccio even more well known in Italy.
Like a successful entrepreneur and his hobby is the automotive world, Feruccio started collecting various luxury cars including Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Mercedes and Ferrari. From these collections, the forerunners of Lamborghini supercars hit the streets.
Ferruccio bought a Ferrari 250 GT in 1968. However, he considered the car to be too fragile, the clutch lacked precision and was noisy. He complained about these qualities to Enzo Ferrari and ended up replying, “The problem is not with the car, but with the driver. Just take care of your tractor, rather than fixing mine!”
Since then, Ferruccio modified his Ferrari 250 GT and finally produced the Lamborghini 350 GT which had colors like a Ferrari in 1963. This product was sold a year later with a quantity of 120 units.
Even though he was considered successful, Ferruccio also experienced storms in the automotive business. In 1974, the turnover of his tractor business plummeted and Ferruccio was forced to sell his shares to Fiat. Since being controlled by Fiat, car sales began to take off, but again and again the oil crisis in the 70s made Lamborghini lose money again. In 1978, Lamborghini was declared bankrupt.
Two years later, Mimram Brother took over the company but there were no good achievements from Banteng Ngamuk. Investors also came and went, from Chrysler Corporation to Indonesians.
|
Photo: Ferruccio lamborghini, 80s. (Doc: Universal Archives/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Ferruccio lamborghini, 80s. (Doc: Universal Archives/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) |
Chrysler, which experienced a crisis in the 90s, was forced to sell its shares in Lamborghini to the consortium of V'Power Corporation and Mycom Setdco. V'Power itself is owned by President Soeharto's son, Tommy Soeharto. Meanwhile, Mycom is an investment group from Malaysia whose majority shares are held by Setiawan Djodi. This company acquired Lamborghini for 40 million US dollars.
The monetary crisis hit and finally the consortium sold it to Volkswagen – Audi for a fairly decent value of up to 110 million US dollars.
In CNBC Indonesia's exclusive visit to the museum and even to the manufacturer in Bologna, Italy, precision was number one for Lamborghini. There is even one car that is produced by hand and takes quite a long time. Although proud of its supercars, Lamborghini is aware that not everyone likes roaring cars and cramped sedans. Lamborghini produces other cars such as SUVs and also specifically for the military.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
(haa/haa)