BOOK REVIEWS FOR PORSCHEPHILES

BY BRUCE HERRINGTON, ORANGE COAST REGION

Lamborghini 60 Years

by Stuart Cooling, published 14 March 2023 by Motorbooks, Beverly, MA

Lamborghini built a plethora of models with involvement by an ever-changing cadre of designers and managers. Much of the book is about ‘office intrigues’, though both the gestation process and the design considerations of each model are well covered. There is a standardized table of ‘specifications’ given for each model, (lacking however, a listing of years and quantity of production), along with a ‘portrait’ of a representative example. And just as the Lamborghini automobile is alleged to have been built to spite Enzo Ferrari, this book has commentary supporting the contention that the Bizzarini car was built to spite Ferruccio Lamborghini.

With a very readable type font, double-spaced text, extensive use of graphic banners, and many pictures, this is an ideal coffee table book, eminently suitable for catching the interest of the casual reader. There are thirteen chapters, each dealing with an era of multiple models. There are multiple stand-alone sections dealing with individual people, or unique versions produced by Lamborghini.

This book is not so much a chronological narration of the ups and downs of Automobili Lamborghini (though that is its basic structure), as it is a collection of ‘sidebars’ dealing with relevant people and the various models of Lamborghini cars. There are also many excerpts quoted from contemporary motoring publications such as Road & Track, Classic & Sports Car, The Motor, etc.). It tells a story of a company with transient ownership (parties as diverse as Chrysler Corp and a consortium of Indonesian businessmen), seemingly always focused on creative excellence as distinct from business success. Overall, this book provides an eminently detailed narration of the story of a never quite successful business, even though Lambo has been Audi owned for the bulk of its life.

To this reviewer, steeped in VW-Porsche lore, LAMBORGHINI 60 YEARS is truly eye opening. Lambo seems to have had a startlingly large cast of unfamiliar characters and a plethora of models with barely recognizable, and often unpronounceable names. Production numbers seem shockingly small, mostly in the low hundreds, but Lamborginis were never intended to be for the mass market, they were built for “discerning customers...serious enthusiast who would appreciate the car and know how to use it”.

Very readable in both presentation and content, this book presents a story to captivate anyone with even a casual interest in what LA is/was all about. It book is more about the company in its multiple iterations and the people and their efforts, than about the cars that were produced.

In addition to the oft overlooked fact that Lamborghini has been a division of the Audi subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group for some 25 years, Porschephiles should be motivated to read this book because the index lists eight citations for Porsche, and four for Ferdinand Piëch..

Overall, LAMBORGHINI 60 YEARS a very readable presentation of information, interesting to anyone who likes high performance cars. There are lots of photos, some double page, showing both car portraits, and closeups of interesting details. Hardbound with a photographic cover, 240, 9-1/2 x 12 inch heavyweight pages and 240 photos, some multi-page. There is a twopage, three column index and different photos on the frontispiece and rearpiece. Both a fascinating read and a elegant display. By the time you read this, it should be available for $60.00 from your favorite bookseller or QuartoKnows.com.