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Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.

Luxury Automotive ManufacturingFounded 1963
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Founders

Who Founded Lamborghini?

Ferruccio Lamborghini · Founded 1963 · HQ today: Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy

Who founded Lamborghini?

Lamborghini was founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963. It is now led by Stephan Winkelmann.

Founders
Ferruccio Lamborghini
Founded
1963
Headquarters
Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy
Number of founders
1
Current CEO
Stephan Winkelmann (since 2020)
Where was Lamborghini founded?
Lamborghini was founded in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy in 1963.
When was Lamborghini founded?
Lamborghini was founded in 1963.
Who started Lamborghini?
Lamborghini was founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini.
How old is Lamborghini?
Lamborghini is 63 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

Ferruccio Lamborghini built a fortune making tractors from surplus military hardware after World War II. According to company lore, he complained to Enzo Ferrari about the clutch in his Ferrari and was brushed off as a tractor maker. He founded Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, built a factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese, and launched the 350 GT in 1964, followed by the Miura in 1966.

Ferruccio Lamborghini

Co-founder 1963

Background

A trained mechanic and tractor industrialist, Lamborghini applied his manufacturing experience to cars, hiring engineers including Giotto Bizzarrini, Gian Paolo Dallara, and Paolo Stanzani.

Role at Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.

Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916-1993) was born in Renazzo, near Ferrara, to a farming family. He served as a mechanic with the Italian air force in World War II, then built Lamborghini Trattori into a major tractor maker using surplus military equipment. He founded Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963 to build grand touring cars to rival Ferrari, launching the 350 GT, Miura, Espada, and Countach. Financial strain after a cancelled tractor export order led him to sell the car company in two stages in 1972 and 1974, and he retired to a vineyard in Umbria.

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Stephan Winkelmann

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

2020 – Present

Winkelmann has led Lamborghini through the Direzione Cor Tauri hybrid transition, record deliveries of 10,747 cars in 2025, and the 2026 decision to turn the Lanzador into a plug-in hybrid. During his first tenure (2005-2016) sales more than doubled.

Stefano Domenicali

Chief Executive Officer

2016 – 2020

Serving as CEO from 2016 to 2020 (before leaving for Formula 1), the former Ferrari boss completely transformed Lamborghini from a low-volume niche supercar maker into a highly profitable luxury powerhouse.

Giuseppe Greco

Chief Executive Officer

2001 – 2005

Serving as CEO during the highly unstable Chrysler era, he struggled to integrate the massive American corporate culture with the bespoke, chaotic Italian engineering teams.

Franz-Josef Paefgen

Chief Executive Officer

1999 – 2001

As a senior Audi executive serving as Chairman, he oversaw the launch of the Murciélago, proving that Lamborghini could retain its wild aesthetic while finally offering reliable daily drivability.

Compare Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. Leadership With Competitors

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. vs Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG Leadership →Overview

Keep researching Lamborghini

Who Founded Lamborghini? FAQ

Who founded Automobili Lamborghini and what is the famous founding origin story?

Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916 to 1993) founded Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini on October 30, 1963, in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy. A wealthy tractor tycoon, Ferruccio was frustrated by recurring clutch failures in his Ferrari 250 GT and complained to Enzo Ferrari.

What was the well-known argument between Ferruccio Lamborghini and Enzo Ferrari?

In 1962, when Ferruccio Lamborghini told Enzo Ferrari that his sports car clutches were inferior and noisy, Enzo Ferrari famously dismissed him, saying: 'You are just a tractor maker. What do you know about sports cars?' Insulted, Ferruccio decided to build his own superior grand tourer.

What was Ferruccio Lamborghini's background before building sports cars?

Born in 1916 into a farming family in Renazzo, Italy, Ferruccio served as an aircraft mechanic in the Italian Air Force during World War II. After the war, he built Lamborghini Trattori using surplus military parts, becoming one of Italy's wealthiest industrial equipment industrialists.

What was the very first Lamborghini production car created in 1964?

In 1964, Lamborghini produced its first commercial production sports car: the Lamborghini 350 GT, featuring a sophisticated aluminum body, four-wheel independent suspension, and a quad-cam 3.5-liter V12 engine designed by Giotto Bizzarrini.

How did the 1966 Lamborghini Miura invent the modern 'Supercar' category?

Unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, the Lamborghini Miura (engineered by Gian Paolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani, and styled by Marcello Gandini at Bertone) featured a major transverse mid-engine V12 layout, creating the world's very first 'supercar'.

Why did Ferruccio Lamborghini sell the car company in 1972 and 1974?

Following the 1973 global oil crisis and labor unrest in Italy that canceled major South American tractor export contracts, Ferruccio sold 51% of the automaker to Swiss businessman Georges-Henri Rossetti in 1972 and the remaining 49% in 1974, retiring to his Umbria vineyard.

What core rebellious spirit did Ferruccio Lamborghini instill in the brand?

Ferruccio instilled a spirit of uncompromising perfectionism, technological audacity, mechanical power without compromise, and an irreverent, bold defiance of traditional automotive dogma.

What is Ferruccio Lamborghini's enduring legacy in automotive history?

Ferruccio Lamborghini proved that bold passion and engineering clever could defeat established automotive leaders, creating one of the most revered, emotionally stirring, and well-known luxury performance brands in human history.

Who founded Lamborghini?

It was founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini. He was an incredibly savvy industrialist who made massive wealth building tractors from surplus military hardware after WWII. His absolute genius was realizing that to beat Ferrari, he couldn't waste money on a racing team; instead, he poached Ferrari's greatest engineers (like Giotto Bizzarrini) and built a vastly superior road car.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.