located in the town of Sant Agata Bolognese, the lamborghini Factory and Museum is a must-do for any supercar fan
You would assume that the place where the company with the charging bull on the logo makes their cars would be a loud, proud place. But instead, the lamborghini factory located in the really small town of Sant Agata Bolognese, an hour’s scenic drive through the northern Italian countryside, is a relatively quiet place. There are a few tourists milling around particularly around the two display cars of lamborghini’s current models — the Huracan and Aventador.
Some lamborghini employees walk about casually. It is the last day before the factory goes on their summer break and I’m informed that the factory is off-limits because of “special” cars being made. I assume the recently showcased lamborghini Centenario was the car in question. However, a guided tour of the Museum is still on the agenda.
The lamborghini Museum, called the Museo lamborghini in Italian, has been recently redone as the company keeps growing and adding newer and newer models. Yet, the special thing about the Museo lamborghini is the collection of older models and the fascinating fact that several of the models on display at the Museum are not owned by lamborghini but by the world’s top fan of the brand, the Swiss businessman Albert Spiess. There are cars like the extremely rare lamborghini Miura Convertible with the famous “eyelash” headlights. Other rare cars in the collection include some Formula 1 cars from the time the Italian carmaker took on Ferrari on the race tracks of the world — now the racing programme of lamborghini involves private owners racing each other.
Other cars in the collection include the mad cars lamborghini made before Audi took it over in the late 1990s such as the Countach and Diablo. But it is the one-off cars or limited-edition cars that really draw your attention. Cars such as the lamborghini Reventon and the stunning “Sesto elemento” (Sixth Element) where the only metal parts are in the engine and transmission sinse everything else is the “sixth element” (which is carbon, for those of you who do not remember your chemistry).
But the part of the museum that attracted a lot of attention was the section where the prototype lamborghini Urus was kept. Standing next to the famous lM002 off-roader made in the 1980s, the Urus will help the Italian carmaker tap into the growing demand for sporty Sports Utility Vehicle market and promise that it will be the “fastest” SUV in the world when it is built. This is a title held by another Volkswagen Group product the Bentley Bentayga, but the Urus looks the part.
The Museo lamborghini is not the biggest car museum you can visit (Stuttgart is the city you must visit for car museums with the excellent Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museums), and tickets at Euro 15 are not cheap — although they are par for the course for museums in Italy. But this is a museum you must visit if you love your supercars.