Lost in Lambo Land

Filed Under Europe, Italy, OU in Arezzo, The World | Leave a Comment | by CIS

On Labor Day we had a day off class, so we decided to take the day and visit the Lamborghini Factory! It ended up being a fun day, but had quite the rough start. The factory is located in Sant’Agata Bolognese, a tiny town outside of Bologna, which meant two trains and one bus.

Long story short, on the bus there was no sign or announcement indicating which stop was which, we got off at the stop at 10:36, our expected arrival time, and ended up five stops away. Which also happened to be over five kilometers away.

We started walking in the direction we thought we should go, and start to realize we have a long walk ahead of us. From the bus stop information, I know that we are in the wrong town, we have to get to the next one but had no clue how far away it would be. We ended up walking on the side of a two lane highway in the countryside, with huge trucks of hay zooming past us. When I saw a sign saying that Sant’Agata Bolognese was 4 or 5 km away, I knew we were in trouble. Especially since we only had 15 more minutes to make our appointment! We found a small gas station and asked an old man for a number for a taxi. He didn’t speak any English, but I was able to muster up enough Italian (I speak some because of my last trip to Italy, but this is the first time taking any classes.) After a while of searching in the white pages, he finds a number, I call it and arrange for the taxi to come.

Five minutes later, the taxi pulls up and takes us to the Lamborghini factory. Most expensive short taxi ride I’ve been on, but we made it and were only 10 minutes late. I had called ahead and said we were going to be late, and they brought us into the factory to meet the tour once we arrived. It was crazy and awful and stressful, but we made it~

Point A is where we started at, B is where we walked to when we got the taxi, and C was our final destination.

The Factory

Here is a portion my husband Andy’s description of the time at the factory. He loves cars more than I do, and is better able to explain what we saw!

So after arriving a few minutes late, we are rushed through the museum (full of amazing cars explained later) to doors leading outside to the factory entrance. As we walk through the door my eyes are greeted by around 30 beautiful Lamborghini Aventadors and Gallardos parked fresh from assembly…..at that point I know how this day is going to be. To my momentary displeasure we are rushed into the factory away from the incredible grouping of Bulls. That’s when we enter the factory to see the many stages of Gallardo production. I’m like a fat kid in an all you can eat buffet specializing in sweet treats at this point, my eyes linger on every single aspect of the amazing spectacle in front of me.

First, we are shown the process that the Gallardo is assembled, the engine and various interior pieces are brought in from outside sources. The engines are from Audi (who owns Lamborghini, for those of you that are not obsessed with this brand like myself) and interior from a local upholstery shop. This is an amazing sight but I’m looking for the new bull, the incredible Aventador. As the tour guide finishes talking about the Gallardo production line we walk around a corner and there’s an Aventador resting right there….it is amazing. I’ve loved Lamborghini since I can remember, they’ve always been the insane member of the supercar group, and this new car does not disappoint. From the sharp edges at every corner to the huge center exhaust this car just screams “If you don’t respect me I will kill you”, which of course is the Lamborghini way haha. As the tour guide mentions that we can have a look of course I get up close and personal to observe this piece of art on wheels. Sadly, we are told to move on but it’s on to the Aventador assembly line, woot woot! Oh and by the way, every car is hand assembled; there are no robots in the factory. Which brings me to the awesome part of the Aventador assembly, everything is made in house from the engine to the interior; a new thing for Lamborghini.

As we are walked past the testing booth where they run the car at 200km/h (~124mph) for an hour and a half I saw a Gallardo Tricolore awaiting testing. The Tricolore is a special edition (only 150 being made) that celebrates the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, which explains the green, red, and white strip running over the top of the car.

We got to see the President of Lamborghini show off the new Aventador in front of some Audi execs.