5, 6 A tireless, vibrant vying among the many stars of the Italian
are said to find their origins in the legendary contrast between Ferruccio Lamborghini and Enzo
Ferrari.6
was the year of the Miura, which changed everything. The first two Lamborghini models, 350 GT and 400 GT,
scene: the turn of the 1970s
Lamborghini’s fortune was precisely to have been the
represent an elegant take on the Gran Turismo type
was an amazing season for
last to enter upon the scene, but with strong motivations
developed by Ferrari, in line with a trajectory that
automotive design in Italy.
and just at the right moment: in the early 1960s, when
extended (with the Jslero) down to the very end of
the distinctive culture and style of this decade were only
Ferruccio Lamborghini’s career as the head of the
Pininfarina’s Ferrari Modulo
just taking shape.
company (1972). The third release, Miura P400, instead
(right).
Right from the start, Ferruccio Lamborghini’s
marked a revolutionary turning point. The famous history
7
entrepreneurial ingeniousness led him to take steps that
of the marque from Sant’Agata Bolognese would never
The jocular genius of Achille
would allow the young company to acquire a solid
have been the same without this masterpiece, which was
Castiglioni came up with Primate
international standing (what enabled it to survive in later
first acclaimed in its bare chassis at the Turin Motor
and more difficult moments). Everything took place within
Show in October 1965 (not least because of the original
a few years. First of all, the choice was made to employ
central and transversal placing of the motor), and then in
capable technicians – such as Giotto Bizzarrini,
its stunning final version, developed by Bertone and
Gianpaolo Dallara, and Paolo Stanzani’7 – testifying to
Gandini, at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show.
the wide-ranging and advanced professional knowledge
Let us take a closer look at the Miura. What made
Italians had attained, as symbolised by the bestowal of
it striking back then is what still makes it striking.
the Nobel Prize upon Giulio Natta (in the momentous
A charming aggressiveness restrained by a sinuous and
year 1963, the very date of Lamborghini’s founding).
enveloping silhouette. Perfect proportions, a limited size,
In 1965, the company then turned to Nuccio Bertone,
a majestic hood harmoniously expanding into the
and especially to the young talent Marcello Gandini, a
volumes of the cabin and sides. Razor-sharp air-intakes.
step that led to some truly unexpected results. 1966
Headlights as wide open as Twiggy’s eyes, on a front
Bertone and Gandini’s Alfa Romeo Carabo (above) and
(1970), one of the most unique chairs of those years, forcing the user to take a kneeling position.
like the snout of a shark in wait for a prey. Not yet thirty when he designed the Miura, Gandini was already a mature talent, about to become one of the creators of twentieth-century Italian style. What makes the Miura so beautiful and so modern in its dazzling, sporty outline? From a strictly technical perspective, the Miura represents the point of arrival in a lengthy process of research on aerodynamics and plasticity: a trajectory spanning several decades that led to many wonderful combinations of chassis and mechanics.8 On the other hand, however, this vehicle also contributed to raising the state of the art of its own age. Halfway through the 1960s the decade came of age. The vestiges of the 1950s, still clearly detectable in almost all areas, now gave way to more sober and sophisticated features, taut lines, saturated colours, and well-balanced outlines, despite an explicit and often
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