![]() According to Bragg, the Gallardo will take at least four more years to turn a profit and the Murciélago will take about five. Since the two cars are fairly new-the Murciélago arrived in 2001 and the Gallardo late last year-they are not yet profitable in and of themselves due to the high cost of bringing new supercars to market. The public has responded by buying more and more Lamborghinis, and the company is now turning a tiny profit. , has used the company's two current models, the Gallardo and Murciélago coupes, to usher in an era of controversial, space-age looks for Lambo. ![]() Since then, Lamborghini's young designer, , which bought the company in 1998 and handed over ownership and management to its upscale Audi subsidiary. "All show, no go."Īll the more surprising, then, is Lamborghini's turnaround under , Lambo's area manager for North America. , president of Lamborghini Bergen County, the newest Lamborghini dealership in the United States, pays the company's past a backhanded compliment: "Lamborghini in the old days used to be a sculpture." But Lamborghini's problems were much worse. Like Lamborghini, which put its first car into production 40 years ago, Ferrari until recent years had a history of struggling to make money and of having bouts with quality problems. At each corner I think, "There's no way we're going to make it," especially in the narrow corners of the smaller course, where the tires squeal during every second of a turn.Īt the end of the run I ask, "Would you have been able to take those corners that fast without four-wheel drive?"īalboni, who wears his racing suit half-unzipped down his chest, exposing chest hair and a gold chain, says that, in fact, four-wheel drive and "more modern technology" now make his company's cars easier to drive than The course starts with long straightaways on the NASCAR track, then diverts into a smaller street course with tight turns. ![]() "I would go faster but we're not allowed to pass here," he says. Only at the last second before entering the track does he close the door and buckle up. As he drives out of the pit lane, he leaves his seat belt off and the famous vertical "Lamborghini door"-as in you pull the handle and the door rotates 90 degrees toward the hood-open and pointing toward the sky. He takes laps at terrifying speeds with his cell phone between his thighs-and checks it for messages from time to time. He makes me wear a helmet but doesn't use one himself. Between laps at Le Belle Macchine d'Italia, an exotic car show in late June at Pocono International Raceway in Pennsylvania, Balboni is polite and obliging to the autograph- and photo-seekers who treat him as a celebrity.īut when he gets behind the wheel of the 571-hp Lamborghini Murciélago coupe, he adopts a cavalier, devil-may-care charm. ![]()
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