Lamborghini Forty Years

Authors: David Jolliffe with Tony Willard, Hardbound, 191 Pages, ISBN: 9780760319451 - First Edition, 2004 - very good condition

For more than three decades, Lamborghini was the maker of thrilling sports cars that lacked the quality and panache of rival Ferrari.

Throughout that time, the Fighting Bull in the marques logo nearly died through bad business judgement and lack of investment. Now, with Audi's technical expertise and money, it is realising the dream of founder Ferruccio Lamborghini years after his death.

This book is published as Lamborghini faces the challenge of high-performance sports cars from large manufacturers edging into a previously exclusive sector.

Six owners have tried to make Lamborghini work financially. The story started 40 years ago when Ferruccio Lamborghinl decided that Ferrari needed a stiff lesson in building quality sports cars. The Italian farmboy had made a fortune in tractor and believed that his neighbourhood Prancing Horse was missing a trick or two.

That he succeeded is beyond dispute. The Countach probably gaped more jaws than all the other series supercars put together. But did it all go smoothly? It did not.

Across the years, auto moguls, playboys and rich enthusiasts came and went. But one man stayed at his post - the UK Importer David Joillffe.

For the first time, an insider who saw It all tells the extraordinary story of the Fighting Bull and Its Journey from Ferruccio's tractor factory to the vastness of the Volkswagen empire.