Here's Why The Lamborghini Centenario Trattori Is Unlike Any Tractor You've Seen Before
The Miura was the world's first supercar, forever inscribing Lamborghini and the Italian town of Santa'Agata Bolognese to the echelon of exotic speed machines. That said, before giving the world a taste of the Italian raging bull, company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini made a fortune repurposing old WWII machines into tractors.
With blessings from his old man, Ferruccio pawned the family farm as collateral and started building his tractor empire by 1948. Ferruccio Lamborghini didn't take long to recoup all the investments and hard work.
By 1958, he bought a Ferrari 250GT, but it didn't work to his liking. It had a wonky clutch that required frequent servicing, so Ferruccio instructed his tractor builders to tackle the issue. It's not hard to imagine their surprise when they opened the gearbox and found tractor parts in the clutch, similar to what they use to build farming machines.
It was that moment when Ferruccio swore to "make a GT car without faults" and established Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1959 to build cars that exemplify Italian engineering, style, and performance.
[Featured image by Alexander Migl via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]
The finest 100th birthday gift
Ferruccio Lamborghini died in Perugia, Italy, in February 1993. On what could have been his 100th birthday in 2016, Lamborghini debuted the Centenario supercar, the modern-day automaker's gift to its passionate founder. However, more fascinating is the collection of five tractors made by artist Adler Capelli, each paying tribute to the 100th birthday of Ferruccio Lamborghini.
One of those made the internet rounds and is now on sale at Classic Driver, and you'll need deep pockets (and a patient wife or girlfriend) to add it to your quirky auto collection. With prices rumored to start around 480,000 Swiss Franc — or upwards of $540,000 — the Lamborghini Centenario Trattori is a mishmash of parts from iconic 1960s cars, which makes it unlike any Lamborghini tractor.
The details are scarce, but the Centenario Trattori has a 2.2-liter three-cylinder diesel engine, a manual transmission, a raw patina metal body, six side-exit exhaust pipes, vintage wheels, and a cyberpunk vibe.
It looks ready to till the land, but its rarity and hefty price tag make it more at home in a climate-controlled, velvet-gloved garage. We couldn't think of a more alluring birthday gift that exemplifies Ferruccio Lamborghini's brilliant work ethic.
[Featured image by Matti Blume via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]