For decades, Lamborghini has been a premier name in supercars. Driving an ultra-fast Lambo is regarded among car enthusiasts as being particularly thrilling, and Lamborghinis have also become status symbols. However, even though the Lamborghini name is now known mostly for cars, it might come as a surprise that the first vehicle with the Lamborghini name wasn’t a car. Instead, it was a tractor.

The history of Lamborghini

Lamborghini gets its name from the company’s founder Ferruccio Lamborghini. According to History, Lamborghini was born on April 28, 1916. His first business venture was not yet producing luxury cars, but we will get into that later. These early business ventures gave Lamborghini the means to purchase luxury vehicles like a Ferrari.

However, Ferruccio Lamborghini would soon become a rival to Ferrari, and an issue with a Ferrari may be the entire reason why Lamborghini went into the automobile industry. Lamborghini took issue with the Ferrari’s clutch, and when his complaint was not adequately addressed, Lamborghini decided to simply start his own luxury car company. This company took the name Automobili Lamborghini.

In 1963,  Automobili Lamborghini launched its first car, the Lamborghini 350 GTV, a sports coupe with a V12 engine. The rest, as they say, is history, as Lamborghini established itself as a top producer of luxury cars built for performance.

Today, Lamborghini is a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, and the brand continues to innovate. Cars like the Lamborghini Aventador redefine performance while the Lamborghini Urus stands out for being an SUV with the signature power of a Lambo. 

Ferruccio Lamborghini retired in the 1970s, and he died in 1993.

Lamborghini made tractors before making supercars

Ferruccio Lamborghini’s legacy is mostly based around his iconic supercars, but he had one noteworthy business before starting an automaker. This original Lamborghini business was Lamborghini Trattori, which manufactured tractors.

He founded his tractor company in 1948 in the area of Bologna, Italy, and it has a history just as noteworthy as Automobili Lamborghini. 

This tractor company achieved quick success, which is how Ferruccio Lamborghini was able to afford the Ferrari which eventually led him to create his own cars. Lamborghini’s tractors originally used engines from other companies, but by the mid-’50s, Lamborghini Trattori manufactured its own engines. 

As Automobili Lamborghini became an iconic brand, one might expect Lamborghini’s first company to take a backseat, but this is not the case. Instead, Lamborghini Trattori continued to thrive.

The tractor company remains separate from the automaker, but it has a similar bull logo. Lamborghini Trattori lists 26 models of tractors currently available on its website. Even though these are tractors and not supercars, Lamborghini tractors do have a sleek style worthy of the Lamborghini name.

What were the original Lamborghini tractors like?

Lamborghini Trattori’s original tractors from 1948 were a far cry from the luxury supercars that come time mind when one thinks of the Lamborghini name. Original Lamborghini tractors were made from surplus military trucks and other materials from World War II. These tractors would not have been fancy, but they helped launch the Lamborghini name. 

According to Motor 1, the first tractor that Lamborghini made without surplus military parts was released in 1951. This model of tractor was named the L33, and because Lamborghini did not yet produce engines, the L33 was powered by a Morris inline-six.

Lamborghini Trattori also became known for its crawler tractors. Rather than having wheels, crawler tractors have tracks. The first Lamborghini crawler was called the DL 25 C, and it came out in 1955. Today, Lamborghini Trattori sells both crawlers and tractors with standard wheels.