Automobili Lamborghini: Past, Present, Future
by Simonluca Pini
“A number of books have been written about Lamborghini, from its origins through the more recent events. But what has been missing is one telling the year-by-year story of the marque, with previously unpublished illustrations and firsthand accounts from those present for the company’s most important milestones.”
With these words the book opens. It’s a very nice book to be sure but that statement is not entirely correct. It is also not entirely wrong, but it’ll hit the wrong note for anyone who has Gautam Sen’s 784-page definitive Lamborghini: At the Cutting Edge of Design (2022) on the shelf because that one ticks those boxes too and in vastly greater detail—which doesn’t mean Pini’s book can’t add something. And if you add MSRP to the equation—a mere $60—this oversize 10.5 x 12″ hardcover very much deserves consideration, even if you have all the Lamborghini books worth knowing but especially if you love the artistry of books because the production values here—paper, printing, design—are impressive.
Whoever directed this shoot knew how to play up the dominant visual cues on the Sesto Elemento.
The book has one other thing that signals something noteworthy: right on the cover it proclaims itself to be “The Official Book” which means unfettered access to company archives, photos, and personnel. It may also mean some degree of corporate meddling but if there was any, it’s not evident.
If you have already espied that the publisher is Schiffer Books you will probably wonder how an American house with a fairly small footprint in the (civilian) transportation sector landed such an exotic gig. Well, Schiffer is not the original publisher, the Italian house Edizioni White Star is (Automobili Lamborghini. Passato. Presente. Futuro. ISBN 9788854060630), which also explains the Italian author. Both editions were published at about the same time, and both also come in a deluxe Special Edition bound in authentic Lamborghini microsuede Dinamica cabin material (right), with a carbon fiber clamshell box and an artist sketch of the new-for-2025 Temerario model. You can’t even get a Lamborghini oil change for the $260 asking price (ISBN 9780764370427)!
Neither the title nor the Table of Contents prepare you for just how much is on offer here—not merely the panoply of cars but also assorted sidebars addressing ancillary topics (design discussions, the factory, motorsports, restoration and the like) as well as several standalone sections of commentaries by key Lamborghini staff from executives to heads of design and engineering. The book doesn’t have an Index so audience participation will be required. The car models end with the Urus Plug-in Hybrid and the Temerario so the book title alluding to the “future” is rather short-term.
You can practically smell hot oil and rubber.
That Pini (b. 1982) is an Italian automotive journalist is one thing, that he has driven most of the cars in this book is another. Divided into four principal eras the cars are presented in chronological order; a few feature smartphone-scannable QR codes that lead to content specifically created for this book such as a visual tour and an actual ride-along with all the aural spectacle one associates with Lamborghini.
Does it really take almost a year to build a Sián? It does if it’s made of 400,000+ parts. The parts are Legos and the car is full size!
The car photos are pretty spectacular in terms of selection and technique (after all they are Lamborghini’s own) but so is their reproduction in print and their arrangement on the page.
It’s less the limited-edition LP 640 Versace on the top right that catches the attention but who’s coming up behind it. (How hard can it be in this age of All-knowing A.I. to find out what this is? Hah! The “answers” will drive you to drink.)
On the subject of this being an officially sanctioned Lamborghini book it is worth pointing out that a key moment (at least in the public’s fevered estimation) in the firm’s origin story—Ferruccio L. taking up motorcar production basically to spite Enzo Ferrari whose cars he found lacking in mechanical quality—is ruled “a blend of truth and legend.” From the horse’s mouth . . .
Examples of the various sidebars and special features.
The title of this section is not hyperbole. It’s by the firm’s head of spare parts through 2009—and he started in 1966, which is why there’s a Miura on this page.
Copyright 2025, Sabu Advani (speedreaders.info).
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