The history of the most luxurious and exclusive cars in the world

Lamborghini 

Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster 2

Automobili Lamborghini Spa comúnmente conocido como Lamborghini, es un fabricante italiano de automóviles deportivos fundado en 1963 por el fabricante de tractores Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916-1993). Según la antiosa fortuna. Apasionado por los deportivleyenda, Lamborghini había amasado una cuos, se instala en una diminuta Villa llamada Santa Agata, en Bolonia, a pocas millas de Maranello para rivalizar con su vecino, Enzo Ferrari, a raíz de una Pele por la calidad de sus coches. La empresa original se llamaba Automobili Ferrucio Lamborghini Spa, que derivaba a su vez de la historia005.

Lamborghini Tractor

After the Second World War, Ferruccio Lamborghini, who had served on a transport detachment for the Italian Army, began to buy leftovers from military vehicles to turn them into agricultural machinery. Such was the success of his new business that for 1960, Lamborghini was already the third Italian industrial in the field of construction of machinery for agro, especially tractors. 1]

With the gains obtained, Ferruccio began an opulent life, acquiring some properties, and above all Ferraris. He was a fan of Enzo Ferrari for the way he kept his company, but always had a hard time: Ferrucio Lamborghini, always had mechanical problems with his Ferrari. Tired of having to endure these inconveniences, he struck a conversation with the same commendatore that happened to history.

According to the same Lamborghini the Ferraris "only created problems." One day, tired of sending them to the workshop I called Enzo to tell him that his cars were pure rubbish. "And he said that a tractor manufacturer couldn't understand his cars." From this curious discussion, the angry owner began to machine the idea of making sports cars to compete with the brand of the Cavallino rampant.

Lamborghini Gallardo 2004

From the first sports coupes to the current "bat" and "Gallardo", the Lamborghini have always been highlighted by their brilliant performance and exotic designs, perhaps they are the most powerful, expensive and fast GT (great tourism) around the world.

The first model of the House of the bull was the 350 GTV that did not pass from prototype, he was followed by the 350 GT and 400 GT 2 + 2 that had great public acceptance, but would not be mostly known to the radical Lamborghini "Miura" of 1967 which made Lamborghini mark the trends in extremely fast cars. This had an amazing appeal and was the first production car to carry the engine (a powerful V12 with 370 hp in the case of Miura P400) in central longitudinal position, which would be the genesis of the term supercar.

In 1974 he was followed by the even more famous Lamborghini "Countach" where the term of supercar would be finished to coin: extremely low, wide and fast. It was the king of the speed around 13 years in its numerous variations ("LP 400" of 1974, "LP 400s" of 1978, "LP500S" of 1983, "Quattrovalvole" of 1985, and "25 Anniversary" of 1989). Unfortunately the oil crisis and the disadvantage of just selling expensive and exotic cars led Ferrucio to sell its factory in the ' 70 decade after numerous economic troubles threatening to close the factory.

Lamborghini Miura Spider.

Parallel to the supercars with V12 engine, other less powerful ones were being made, such as the "Isleto" (1969), "Jarama" (1970), "Urraco" (1976). All these names are Spanish, related to bullfighting, which was the passion of Ferrucio. "Miura" is a former breeder of Bulls Bravos, "Isleto" was a famous animal that killed the famous bullfighter "Manolete".

Already in the years 90 (when it had an ephemeral appearance in the Formula 1) would appear the substitute of "Countach" was the spectacular Lamborghini "Diablo" ("Diablo" comes from a bravo nineteenth-century animal that fought a battle against the bullfighter "Chicorro" in the arena) which claimed for himself, as was customary in the V12 engine models of this brand , the world's fastest production car title, surpassing 320 km/h.

Many variations are made with "Diablo" Base: The "VT" of Total Traction (1993), the "Se 30" (1994) that commemorated the 30 years of the factory, the "SV" (1995) or "Spinto Swifte" (set to point for speed) But despite these masterpieces, Lamborghini could not economically repoint, which led him to be on the brink of bankruptcy in 1998. Finally the last Devils "GT" (1999), "GTR" (1999) and "6.0 VT" (2001) disappear and give way to the current Lamborghini "bat" (Bull "pardoned" for battling a fierce fight against the bullfighter "Lagartijo") (2001) and the parallel less potent "Gallardo" (2003).

The company celebrated its 40 years the 2003 finding itself at its best, since it has quadrupled its sales in the world, in 2005 he created the convertible models "Bat Roadster", "Gallardo Spyder" and finally in 2006 was launched the variation with base "bat" called LP 640, together with glimpsing in the near future a GT 2 + 2 and a SUV.

Lamborghini, one of the most prestigious and desired brands in the world, is considered according to the great quality achieved by its sports, many of these mythical references of the contemporary history of the automobile.

Ferrari

Main entrance of the Ferrari factory in Maranello.

Ferrari is an Italian company, manufacturer of racing cars and high performance sports, founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929. Originally, the Scuderia Ferrari sponsored pilots and race cars. The company started producing cars in series in the year 1946. It became Ferrari S.p.A. when in the years ' 70 the Gruppo Fiat joined the board of directors and became a shareholder of the company. Currently the main shareholders are: the Fiat Group with 56%, the founder's family with 10%, the Commerzbank with 8.5%, Mediobanca with 11.7%, the Banca Popolare dell'emilia with 1.3%, Mubadala di Abu Dhabi with 5%, and the remaining 7.7% is currently taken under guarantee by a loan granted by the bank ABN Ambro. The company is headquartered in Maranello, near Modena, Italy.

History

1929-1946

Ferrari's founder Enzo Ferrari never thought of producing street cars when he formed the Scuderia Ferrari in 1929 to sponsor the amateur pilots of Modena. Ferrari trained several pilots and successfully competed with Alfa Romeo cars until 1938, when he was officially hired by Alfa as head of his racing department.

In 1940, after learning of the company's plans to absorb his beloved Scuderia and take control of his work in the competition, he left Alfa. Since he was banned from competing for several years, the Scuderia became a short drive to Avio Costruzioni Ferrari, which apparently manufactured aircraft machinery and accessories. Ferrari actually produced a racing car, the type 815, in this period where he could not compete, and was in fact the first real Ferrari car, but due to the Second World War ran very little. In 1943 the Ferrari factory moved to Maranello, where it has remained since then. It was bombarded in 1944 and rebuilt in 1946 to be able to produce street cars.

1946-Current Events

The first Ferrari street car the 125 s of 1947, moved by a 1.5 litre V12 engine. Although reluctant to do so, Enzo built and sold his cars to finance the Scuderia. While his beautiful and incredibly fast cars quickly earned a reputation thanks to his quality, Enzo kept a famous aversion to his clients, because he felt that most of them were buying their cars for prestige and not for their benefits.

The cars of Ferrari Street, notable for their exquisite style elaborated by design houses such as Pininfarina, are for quite some time the definitive complement for the young (although they are of heart) and rich. Over the years other design houses that have worked for Ferrari are Scaglietti, Bertone and Vignae.

Ferrari cars feature small, highly-prepared V8 and V12 engines, often in a central configuration. Up to the introduction of the injection to the 1980 years, they were quite temperamental.

Competition

Main article: Scuderia Ferrari

Enzo Ferrari's true passion, despite his long career with street cars, was always the automobile competition. His Scuderia began as an independent sponsor for pilots in various cars, but soon became the team of the Alfa Romeo House. Enzo Ferrari, after his Alfa March, began designing and manufacturing his own cars; The Ferrari team appeared for the first time in a European Grand Prix after the end of the Second World War.

22 Formula 1 cars used by Ferrari throughout its history.

The Scuderia participated in the Formula 1 World Championship in its first year of existence, 1950. Argentine Jose-Froilán Gonzalez gave the team his first victory at the British Grand Prix of 1951. The Italian Alberto Ascari gave Ferrari his first world Championship one year later. Ferrari is the oldest team in the championship, not to mention the most prize winner: up to 2004, the team has won a record of 14 world titles for Pilots (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004), a record of 14 world Championships for Builders (1961, 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1999, 2000 , 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004), a brand of 183 victories Grand Prix, 4348.27 points, 562 podiums, 179 pole positions, 11457 turns in head and 184 fast turns in 723 great prizes contested.

Some of the most famous pilots of the Scuderia are Tazio Nuvolari, Juan Manuel Fangio (Argentinian 5 times world champion), Alberto Ascari, Phil Hill, Mike Hawthorn, John Curres, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Michele Alboreto, Jean Alesi, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher.

The "Cavallino Rampante"

The famous symbol of Ferrari is a black horse zoom on yellow background, usually with the letters s F of Scuderia Ferrari.

Originally the horse was the symbol of Count Francesco Baracca, a legendary "Asso" (ACE) of the Italian Air Forces during the First World War, who painted it on the side of their planes. Baracca died very young on June 19, 1918, being shot down after 34 victorious duels and many victories of his team, and soon became a national hero.

Baracca had wanted the zoom horse to be on his planes because his squadron, the "Battaglione Aviatori" was enrolled in a cavalry regiment (the air forces were in their first years of life and had no administrative independence), and also because he himself was reputed to be the best cavalier of his team.

The "Cavallino Rampante"

It has been assumed that the choice of a horse was perhaps due in part to the fact that his noble family was known to have many horses on their farms in Lugo di Romagna. Another unproven theory suggests that Baracca copied the design of the zoom horse to a German rider wearing the Stuttgart City crest on his plane. Interestingly, the German car manufacturer Porsche, from Stuttgart, borrowed his logo from the zoom Horse of the city crest.

Ferrari competed in his past and today with brands (in some cases superior and others not): Porsche, Lamborghini, Masserati, De Tomaso and many other recognized brands of sports cars.On June 17, 1923 Enzo Ferrari won a race in the circuit Savio of Ravenna, and there he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Baracca. The Countess asked him to use the horse in his cars, suggesting that it would bring him good luck, but the first race in which Alfa allowed him to use the horse in the cars of the Scuderia was eleven years later, in the 24 Hours of Spa in 1932. Ferrari won.Ferrari retained the Black horse as he had been on the plane of Baracca, but nevertheless added a yellow background because it was the representative color of his birthplace, Modena.The zoom horse has not always identified only the Ferrari brand: Fabio Taglioni used it on his Ducati motorcycles. Taglioni's father was in fact one of Baracca's companions and fought alongside him in the first aerial squadron, but when Ferrari's fame grew, Ducati left the horse. This could have been the result of a private agreement between the two brands.The zoom horse is today a registered trademark of Ferrari.

Bentley

Bentley Motors Limited is a large luxury automobile factory headquartered in Crewe, Cheshire, CW1 3PL, England.

The brand was founded in 1919 by the English designer Walter Owen Bentley, who manufactured luxury sports cars and won five times the 24 Hours of Le Mans between the two world wars. The Great Depression of 1929 led to the bankruptcy of Bentley, but the mark of the Winged B (emblem created by the industrial designer Gordon Crosby) was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1931. Since 1998 belongs to the VW Group.

Bentley Continental GT 2004.

Bentley Continental GT 2004.

In the 2004 the British mark of great luxury Bentley manufactured 7.686 automobiles, a remarkable boost with respect to the 1.017 of the 2003. With these numbers it exceeds the combined sales of its two most important rivals: Rolls-Royce and Maybach. The success of Bentley has been to point to the unattended segment that was between the range caps of the luxury vehicles of series (Mercedes Benz S-Class, BMW Series 7, Audi A8 and the like) whose prices reach their maximum around us $100 thousand, and the rarefied heights in which the Rolls-Royce and Maybach are moving whose prices begin in US $300 thousand. Its flagship in this trend has been Continental GT coupe with a price between us $150 and 200 thousand. Expect to reinforce this position with the new Continental Flying Spur, a GT-derived sedan that will be sold for about us $170.000.

The Bentley Motor Co. It belongs to the group Volkswagen, which has invested 400 million euros in renewing the factory of Crewe, England, where the ranges are manufactured: Continental (Coupe, sedan and convertible) with engine W12 of 6.0 liters (318 km/h of maximum in the coupe); The sedan Arnage (250 km/h) of larger and luxurious bodywork and a basic price of 250.000 euros; And the new azure convertibles, derived from the Arnage.

Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce original 1905.Rolls-Royce is a group of companies, all derived from the British automobile and Aeronautics company founded by Henry Royce and Charles Stewart rolls in 1906. The companies are:Rolls-Royce plc, by far the most important economically, is a British engineering company specializing in turbine products, particularly aviation engines, but has recently added marine propellants and energy systems to its catalogue, providing a wide range of civil and military industrial services and products.Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited, a new luxury car manufacturer, owned by BMW, which started deliveries of its only model, the Phantom, in January 2003.Bentley Motors is the continuation of the original Rolls-Royce automobile division. Since 1998 the company has been owned by the Volkswagen Group. Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars have shared many mechanical similarities since the uptake of Bentley's 1931 by Rolls-Royce, often only being in small details such as the radiator grille. Since 2003 the company has not been allowed to build cars called Rolls-Royce, the brand has been licensed to BMW, instead of Volkswagen.Rolls-Royce has nicknames like, "Rolls", "roller" or "Double r", although in Derby (location of the parent company of Rolls-Royce), it is known as "Royces". The term "x Rolls-Royce" is colloquially used to describe something that is the best of its kind. The company is very strict when it comes to defending the right of its name, in phrases like this. A notable example is the demand that forced to cancel the production of the famous Chevrolet Monte Carlo, because in its advertising slogan called Rolls-Royce.

Silver Shadow II, 24 Kts Gold (1979). Rolls manufactured everything that was legal and had enough money to pay for it. Jewel of incalculable value, commissioned by an Oklahoma oil tanker.//HistoryIn 1884 Frederick Henry Royce began with a car mechanic and electricity business and built his first vehicle, a Royce, in his factory in Manchester in 1904. He met Charles Stewart rolls at the Midland Hotel in Manchester on May 4 of that year, and they agreed that the cars manufactured by Royce, the Comercilizaría exclusively rolls. They included in their contract a clause stipulating that the cars would be called Rolls-Royce. The company was founded on March 15, 1906, and moved to Derby in 1908.

The Silver Ghost (1906-1925) was responsible for the company's very early reputation. It had a six-cylinder engine and 6173 units were manufactured. In 1921, the company opened its second factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the United States to be able to supply the vehicles given its high demand, where 1701 "Springfield Ghosts" were manufactured. This factory remained open for ten years, closing at 1931. This chassis was used as the basis for the first British armed military vehicles, used in both World wars.

In 1931, the company acquired its rival Bentley brand, whose finances failed to overcome the Great Depression. From then until the year 2002, the Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars were almost identical, differentiated only by the radiator grates and minimum details.

Rolls-Royce original 1905.

The production of automobiles Rolls-Royce and Bentley moved to Crewe in 1946 and also Mulliner Park Ward, in London, in 1959 as a bodywork manufacturer, which previously only built a chassis, leaving the bodywork to specialists.

Due to financial problems caused by the long development of the new Turboreactor rb211, after several credits, the company was nationalized by the government in 1971. In 1973, the car business was separated from the brand like Rolls-Royce Motors. The main business of aviation and marine engines was maintained as a public company up to 1987, which was privatized as Rolls-Royce plc, one of the many privatizations of the Thatcher government.

In 1980 Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was acquired by Vickers. In 1998 Vickers sold the company to Volkswagen.

Bugatti

Bugatti is a French brand of cars of great luxury and performance founded by the Italian Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti (1881-1947) in the year 1910. Under the motto of: Nothing can be too beautiful, nothing can be too costly. For 30 years the Bugatti-Ettore family, his brother Rembrandt (sculptor of the famous mascot of the Royale: the elephant) and his son Jean, talented designer and pilot-produced a series of fantastic cars that stood out as much for his performance as for his beauty.