Lamborghini 50th Anniversary Italian Trip

Great pics Fortis! I assume the pics you are keeping off the boards involve you and Daddyo snuggling tightly! As for Winkydick.. he has very sexy ankles!

 

I have a pic with Daddyo which has the potential to be just as famous as a Warhol.

 

I am definitely framing it as one of the greatest shots ever

 

I need his permission to post

I am loving the list! Well done! I was car #329.

 

 

And Fortis, epic post!

 

Thank you, how about posting some of yours?

 

FORTIS, AWESOME pics! Thanks for posting all of those.

 

Thank you, I am still holding few gems

 

Fortis, fantastic , tksvm for posting! (i know your pain with posting on this forum ... hence i still havent got around to posting my pics!)

 

Come on do it!

 

Thanks for the pics Fortis!

 

You should've come

 

Nice pics Fortis - I don't want this thread to ever end!

 

Me neither

 

I was trying to outrun a cop the other day

 

 

Here's a video I put together from onboard clips taken during the final drive from Bologna to Sant' ###### - a really special day.

 

 

Awesome pics Fortis! Looks like you had a blast.

great pics Fortis! thanks for sharing.

 

You welcome guys

 

I can't wait for the other guys to post their photos and videos.

Here's a video I put together from onboard clips taken during the final drive from Bologna to Sant' ###### - a really special day.

 

Thanks for sharing guys!

I gotta start clearing my itinerary for the 60th anniversary!!!!

 

Great pics Fortis and thanks for sharing

Thank you, how about posting some of yours?

 

 

I plan on it. Steve took all the pics, and we had the GoPro shooting video. As soon as I have everything on one hard drive I plan to get a nice highlight reel together. It was my first attempt at using the GoPros, so it has been a learning experience. Thanks to help of other participants, it seems to have worked and the footage looks decent. Now, for the editing... Thankfully, I have friends who are masters at it.

 

I hope to have something together in about a month.

I'm guessing this is footage from Andrew's Murcie:

I have a pic with Daddyo which has the potential to be just as famous as a Warhol.

 

I am definitely framing it as one of the greatest shots ever

 

I need his permission to post

I give you permission to post!

anyone knows where i can find the videos that were on the last dinner at factory?

some were COOL!!!

 

i need to find them....the lambo in movies-tv show was awesome

That Jota.

Those videos are awesome thanks for posting

I give you permission to post!

 

 

 

 

Say hello to my little friend!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say hello to my little friend!!

 

Damnnn.. he got man boobies since I saw him last!

Damnnn.. he got man boobies since I saw him last!

 

I got jealous of you when i saw you at the pool in Vegas.

 

I got jealous of you when i saw you at the pool in Vegas.

 

Mine are still more voluptuous!

Fortis your pics are AWESOME! Thanks for sharing!

It was a very cool trip. Back home now after 3 additional destinations. Here's a quick summary:

 

Let's start with the so-called negatives:

 

When all is said and done, the event format isn't really that different from the North American Giro other than on a much larger scale (hence, the "Grande" Giro I guess). The routes (i.e. types of roads), the food & the hotel are of similar calibre (although these all have the European flavour to them, obviously) but it's the Italian police and the crowd that made the huge difference in a most positive way (more of this later).

 

Not surprisingly from our Italian friends, event organization was rather chaotic. No one really knows which bus takes you to which hotel and when will the bus leave (all the girls that supposed to guide you can ever say was "the bus will be here in 5 minutes" regardless of what time it ACTUALLY would be here). All the time references given on the schedule was a joke. Luggage transport was equally chaotic and non-punctual (the handling was also quite rough) but given the volume, I guess it deserves a passing grade.

 

Hardly any rest time was given: schedule was very tight; could not find time to shop. Basically, it was get up, breakfast, drive, lunch. drive, dinner, sleep and that's it. Given the large number of participants and intensity of the driving, it would have been better if they added one more day to allow for some personal downtime.

 

But... overall, IT WAS QUITE AWESOME, on with the positives:

 

The crowd and the Italian police made the world of difference. The Italians loves and are proud of their cars. Men of all ages and little 80-year-old grannies would bring their grandchildren out to cheer us as we speed through. No one ever complained or show any signs of disapproval. At one stop, the town even displayed drawings of Lambo's (the car and the logo) made by the school kids. If anyone was calling the police, he was just making sure that the police didn't miss any part of the event --- i.e. assuming they are not out helping us on the drive already. The police were encouraging us to drive faster all the way: directing oncoming traffic to yield, being our wingman to ensure nothing is hidden in our blind spots. There was even one point that a policeman signaled us to rev it to the max at a tunnel. Yes, the Italian police made the difference between a good trip and a great trip --- where else can one drive your Lambo at top gear literally with pedal to the metal at speed with unimaginable velocity all under the supervision and approval of the police?

 

The drive was great: the autostrada was smooth & straight and the twists & turns on the country side made the experience almost video-game-like. The road quality could have been better --- plenty of loose pebbles at some points. I never would have imagined driving through the crazy traffic in Rome in a Lambo but I did it! Road directions were quite clear as well; Lambo literally had plenty of people posting black arrows along the route to guide you where to go and major cities had flag-waving people to guide you. They also gave each car a black box just in case so they can locate you and you can signal for help if needed. All the tolls were also taken care of so we simply drove through on the side.

 

Almost all drivers acted appropriately: given the 300+ cars, everyone was civilized. There were a few minor accidents --- most regrettably the yellow CT suffered damages but the driver was a good sport as he carried on all the way. There were a very small number of idiots that were endangering everyone else by doing crazing things but overall everyone behaved well. The Japanese delegation was the crazy bunch in terms of looks --- they had a Diablo in pink chrome with all sorts of LED & strobes and even had an air horn that played the Godfather's theme! (Its owner is a Japanese exotic car magazine editor.) One guy had a haircut with the Lambo 50th insignia + the Italian flag dyed onto his hair. Team Salome / Bryan (a true gentleman) and his companion always attracted a crowd with his nicely decorated Aventador.

 

Lamborghini knows how to party: ending the event at the factorywas great. Winkelmann will always wear something that one would either love or hate. The gala dinner, the charity auction, the factory tour were all superbly well done (ok, waiting for the factory tour was a bit chaotic but the fact the they allow photos inside the factory made up the shortcomings). Fireworks was also good as was the pop concert to conclude the evening. The one odd thing was that despite all the original people from the Ferruccio-era were there --- Balboni, Dallara, Gandini plus a few mechanics etc. --- they were not given much opportunity to speak while they were on the stage with the current management team.

 

Other highlights: I think the pics posted said most of it. Look at the variety of Lamborghini's that made the trip. Meeting some of the members here in real life were also great. Teaming up with Fortis & LPDADDY were extremely fun! While checking out the cars in Rome, I bumped into Balboni while he was putting a cover of one of the classics. To my surprise, he actually remembered me when we met at both the factory and at Monterrey a few years back! That was really cool. And to top it off, on the last day of the trip while I was having breakfast at the hotel, I had Marcello Gandini sat next to me. No one seemed to have recognized him. When he was leaving, I stepped forward and asked if he is Mr. Gandini, he smiled and we chatted for a while. A very quiet but extremely talented man! The 9hr taxi ride from Bologna to Zurich that Fortis depicted was absolutely true. And yes, the taxi driver was taking pics with his cel phone on road signs with the time displayed on the metre as proofs to where he was. He must have a very difficult wife to deal with; we all felt sorry for him. The ride was actually not as bad as one thinks though.

 

Overall, it was a fantastic trip --- the fact that we were given the opportunity to drive our cars almost to their limits and approved by the police was well worth the costs. Would I do it again given the opportunity? Without a doubt --- I would.

 

Pics to come...

I got jealous of you when i saw you at the pool in Vegas.

 

 

Damnnnnnnnnn!!!!!