Page 7 - Sample pages "Bugatti, The Italian Decade" by Gautam Sen

Lamborghini story since the company’s inception, but also build friendships and personal relationships with the important actors in the marque’s history. The strong friendship with Ferruccio Lamborghini was complemented by time spent with the two families holidaying together, at Cervia, as well as at Ferruccio’s main base, his vineyard La Fiorita, on the shores of Lake Trasimeno, in the Umbria region of central Italy.
The interviews for the books led to close acquaintances with Lamborghini Engineering legend Giampaolo Dallara, as well as Paolo Stanzani (see pages 42-45), the renowned engineer who had assisted Dallara in the conceptualising and engineering of the epochal Lamborghini Miura, then the Espada, as well as the 350GT, the 400GT and the Islero. Stanzani then went on to lead the engineering of the Lamborghini Urraco, designing an all-new V8 for the junior league supercar, and the Countach, whilst acting as the chief executive of the carmaker, taking over the day-to-day operations from Ferruccio.
Whilst discussing the book, talking cars, imagining “what ifs” over bottles of the fine red cabernet sauvignon Sangue di Miura (Blood of the Miura), from Lamborghini’s estate, Borel posed the question to Ferruccio Lamborghini: “Why don’t you make cars again?” To which Lamborghini answered, “I want to sleep peacefully. Running a factory is a lot of trouble, too many sleepless nights.” Yet Borel persisted: “You built the ultimate cars of the 1960s and the 1970s; what if you had to build the ultimate car of the 1980s, what would you imagine that to be?”
Lamborghini did not have a ready answer, but the question intrigued him enough to begin discussing it with Borel, and in time, the talks were extended to include Paolo Stanzani. In contrast with Lamborghini’s hesitancy, Stanzani was excited by the thought, and seemed to be more enthusiastic to pursue the idea. In retrospect, Borel pointed out: “I think Stanzani was very keen to get back into the automotive industry and thus was the one driving the discussions.”
Lamborghini soon included coachbuilder Nuccio Bertone (see Nuccio Bertone, pages 46-49) in the meetings along with his long-time right-hand man, Enzo Prearo. Although Lamborghini was always available to talk, he had neither the desire nor the
ability to finance the project.
He had by then divided his
wealth between his son
Tonino and his daughter
Patrizia, retaining about half
a billion Lire (around €250,000) for his retirement. He was not going to sink that money into “another ill-conceived project.” For that matter, neither Borel nor Stanzani had the necessary financial resources.
The group speculated on the branding, and the idea of resuscitating a dead marque came up. After much discussion, the choice was narrowed down to Bugatti. It was one of the greatest marques ever and was still famous, as more and more enthusiasts paid handsomely to acquire historic survivors at ever-increasing prices. But when Lamborghini asked Nuccio Bertone’s opinion about the Bugatti brand, his reaction was, “What’s the point in reviving a dead French carcass in Italy today?” Lamborghini suggested naming the imagined new marque after his vineyard, Fiorita Duemila or Ferruccio! Neither sounded serious enough. It was back to the idea of reviving Bugatti.
ChAPTEr I ⡇ThE GENESIS
Lamborghini’s wine was as good as his cars. (Jean-Marc Borel)
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TON WATSON FINE BOOK DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS © DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS © DALTON WATSON FINE BOOK DALTON WATSON