This postcard comes from Aaron Norris, whose passion for Lamborghini is obvious in his story. Thanks, Aaron!
"May 23, 2011: Today we did a tour of the Lamborghini Museum and Factory, in Bologna. I led a group of 8 people, including myself, on what was supposed to be a 3-hour trek there and 3-hours more back from where we were staying in Venice. The people that attended the tour were Andrew Slusser, Will Mims, James Woods, Ronnie Norris, Wil Bromberg, Lonnie Key, Trey Newman, and myself- Aaron Norris. Leaving from Venice, to Bologna and then to the factory proved to be of a little difficult because of the "language barrier". Not knowing that I was supposed to be at terminal 3 WEST, and staying at terminal 3 central, caused us to miss two trains. Not a pleasant way to start off my Lamborghini trip tour. We eventually made it, having to skip our 2 o'clock tour time and move it to 4 pm instead. Thankfully the guys were ok and we finally got there.
"Once we arrived at the Lamborghini Museum and Factory we were astounded by this magnificent black marble and glass structure that seemed to come out of nowhere. The factory is way out of the way. We were able to feast our eyes on every model of Lamborghini ever made. What a treat. We saw everything from the first Lamborghini all the way to two concepts, one of which most likely won't ever be built. There is even a Lamborghini Gallardo hanging up at a 45 degree angle on the wall (picture at left). Like I stated, we saw basically every model, including special editions, ever made. We were able to feast our eyes on the $1.6 million Lamborghini Reventon, of which only 20 were ever produced. The car is essentially a Lamborghini Murcielago beefed up with new technology and new looks. The car was designed after the unstoppable US Air Force stealth super jet, the F-22 Raptor. As you can imagine, it's got amazing sharp angles everywhere. We were also able to see a special "one off" Lamborghini, the Miura Concept. It is a revision and modern day version of the Miura P 400 S that was built from 1969 to 1971, the concept car was built to celebrate the original car's 40th.
"Another noteworthy car was Lamborghini's 4-door super car, the Estoque. It is one of the most beautiful cars I have ever laid my eyes on. A Lamborghini that you may find shocking is the LM 002, which is a beast of a 4x4 that was built from 1986 to 1992. This vehicle took most by surprise because who puts Lamborghini and SUV in the same sentence? And let me say, this is nothing like Porsche's Cayenne SUV that is built to handle the streets, these LM 002s were built to tackle anything you could throw at them; dirt, mud, and even sand. The Museum was jaw dropping.
Factory Tour
"The tour began for us around 4:30. We were forced to lock our cameras and phones up before we were allowed to go into the factory and see the R&D department. We didn't actually go into the R&D department but saw outside of it, and the cars that were part of R&D. An interesting fact about our tour was that, Lamborghini just last month (April 2011) reopened its doors to the public. Before then they had been working on their new "top secret" super car, the Aventador. This car was just introduced to the world in March at the Paris Auto Show. The Aventadors that we saw were all preproduction; none have been released to the public yet. Lamborghini's new “crown jewel” is something to urn for. It is one of the most powerful cars I have ever seen and in the world, boasting 700hp, and by far the sexiest. I feel that no other word can describe the Aventador better than that.
"After checking out the cars in R&D we moved into the production facility. It was cool to see how they hand build their cars. The entire car's unibody frame and engine, including components, are produced locally in Italy. Basically every part of the car is from Italy, but the body is built somewhere in Germany (this is likely because Lamborghini is owed by Volkswagen- who also owns other car companies such as Audi).
"The production line for Lamborghini's "little" super car, the Gallardo, consists of 21 "stops" on the line each lasting an hour and ten minutes. It was pretty cool to see because at the end of the Gallardo being "birthed" we got to watch and listen to the car's first “breaths” of life. They cranked one up right in front of us for the first time. The new "big boy" on the streets, the Aventador, is put together over about 8 stops, if my memory serves me correctly. This car is unique for many reasons. It is 100% new from its protestor, the Murcielago. They have an "in house" dyno, where they dial the cars in and make sure it’s running correctly, according to the computer. After all, the parts have been assembled and the cars dialed in, they test drive every single car on the open, mountainous, streets around the factory before delivering it to the dealers or customers. I've been to Tuscaloosa's Mercedes plant and seen how a mass produced vehicle is made, Lamborghini does it in some similar ways, but in reality its completely different. Lamborghini creates "tailor made" super cars for a lucky and select few. Lamborghini creates the "big boy" toy that almost all of us would love to have.
Intrigue and Side Note
"*An interesting side note during the tour there was this Taiwanese guy, mid 20's, that knew a lot and asked a lot of questions. So I approached him and asked him how he knew so much and he gave me some “bull” about reading it in "Euro Mag". I asked him what he or his father did, because he claimed to own a Ferrari 360 Modena and a Lamborghini Gallardo, and he said that they were in the plastics industry - a believable story. Once, we left the factory and were done with the tour he proceeds to tell me that he is actually a "spy" from Ferrari. He was wearing Puma Ferrari shoes, but that’s still not enough to "sell" me on his story, but then he pulls out his massive camera and shows me a couple of Ferraris, him driving one. He also shows me a picture of himself wearing a photo name tag, standing next to his father (who also has a photo name tag) and someone else (with the same type of name tag), and they are all at the Ferrari factory.
"If your'e not aware, no one can tour the Ferrari Factory unless they have previously bought/ordered a Ferrari from the factory- no used Ferraris count. So maybe the guy did work for Ferrari and was "scoping out" Lamborghini's next super car and what all the hype is about. There is no way of knowing the truth but it’s interesting to say the least..."
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