“60 Minutes” Offered Rare Glimpse Into Lamborghini Factory in 1987

By Tony Markovich - June 7, 2016

lamborghini_countach_factory

The late ’80s were an interesting time for Lamborghini. In the previous 15 years, the company had undergone a shift in majority ownership, the oil crisis hit, the country’s economy suffered, and multiple prototypes and a couple models failed. All of this contributed to the company filing for liquidation and eventually being auctioned off in 1981. That’s where things shifted.

Under the new ownership of Jean-Claude and Patrick Mimran, the house was cleaned out, and new talent was brought in with new goals and a refreshed energy. But the new regime and the Countach still couldn’t get the job done, and the company was sold again to Chrysler in 1987. That what makes this 60 Minutes piece done during that time even more intriguing.

At the time, the factory was producing three cars a week, and the wait for a new car was more than a year long. Production was done the old fashioned way, by hand, and Morley Safer (RIP) was given the opportunity to go inside and see the action for himself. The footage is great:

We’ll leave you with one little gem from the feature, that everybody should live by: “Every one who is worth anything at all should own a 12-cylinder car before they die, because there’s nothing else like it.”