Don't Call Me Baby

These Baby Lambos are three decades apart, but they’re united in spirit. Daryl Lee puts them to test at the Lamborghini & Design Concorso d’Eleganza.

According to the oft-repeated aphorism, to better understand a brand or where it’s going, you only need to look to its past.

If you were to look at Lamborghini today, especially at its balance sheets and strong sales numbers, you might be surprised to learn that the Italian carmaker wasn’t always in such rude health.

For over two decades since founder Ferruccio Lamborghini sold his eponymous company in 1973, its ownership changed hands five times, flirted with bankruptcy about as many times as that and actually went bankrupt once.

You might even be more surprised to learn that this is the carmaker that gave the world the Miura and Countach, supercars that would go on to define the company and an entire generation of sporting vehicles.

And where better to perform some automotive archaeological work than at the second instalment of the Lamborghini & Design Concorso d’Eleganza. The Concorso saw 20 or so vintage Lamborghinis cover the 200km-odd hop from Venice to Trieste, and later on, the 62km Trieste-Opicina hill climb race route.

The factory also brought along some newer models, including the 770hp Aventador SVJ and Huracán Evo Spyder. While I did get some time in the former, I was more interested in the topless Huracán.

Not because I wanted to drive through the Italian countryside with the top down and my sunglasses on, waving back to the throngs of people on the roadside attracted by the herd of charging bulls, but also because Lamborghini also brought along the Jalpa.

Three decades separate the pair, but the Jalpa and Huracán share the same so-called Baby Lambos apellation. Fittingly enough, both cars were painted a summery shade of lemon yellow, which made a nice match for the sunny weather.