Diksha Sundriyal
Lionsgate’s ‘Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend’ follows the incredible true story of Ferruccio Lamborghini who made a name for himself by creating a brand of cars that are loved and revered by car enthusiasts even now. The film starts from the beginning, when Ferruccio was a soldier, freshly returned from the Second World War. Once back home, he changes the course of his life by making decisions that others consider too risky. He is doubted at every turn, and yet he comes out at the top. However, the film ends on a somber note, which makes us wonder about his future. What happened to Ferruccio in the end? Let’s find out. SPOILERS AHEAD
Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend Plot Synopsis
A young Ferruccio returns from the war and decides to leave behind his family business of farming. Having served as a mechanic in the war, he decides to move over to the technical aspects of farming and goes into the business of making cheaper and more efficient tractors. He puts everything at stake, including his father’s farm to start his business. While everyone advises him to be a little more careful, he goes all in to accomplish his dream and his business takes off.
Years later, we find Ferruccio a rich man who owns many luxury cars. However, he is not satisfied with any of them, particularly the Ferraris, all of whom seem to have a clutch problem. When he takes it up with Enzo Ferrari, he is insulted. This pushes Ferruccio to create a car of his own leading him to create the now-famous Lamborghini brand. In between all this, his quest for perfection becomes an obsession and he becomes distant from his own family. In the end, his son asks whether all of this was worth keeping his loved ones at bay.
Lamborghini Ending: Did Ferruccio Sell Lamborghini?
Ferruccio Lamborghini’s life completely changes when he leaves behind his small town to become a successful businessman. While there are struggles from time to time, none of them are actually failures. He learns from every mistake and moves forward with a new outlook that further propels him to greater things. But as quick as the journey to the top had been, he also suffers many setbacks at the end. And it looks like Ferruccio couldn’t engineer his way out of these problems.
In the early 1970s, the country faces the economic and oil crisis. Workers all over Italy had been going on strike, but Ferruccio believed that he took care of his employees and that they’d never strike against him. However, as Annita predicted, the workers band against him when things go south. The film doesn’t go into the details of what happened next for Ferruccio’s business, but in reality, he had to sell his company and retire from the business of car making for good.
While the film focuses particularly on Lamborghini cars, trouble first started with Ferruccio’s tractor business. Several of its export orders were canceled when the countries in question started facing political and economic strife of their own. The cancellation of their orders broke the strength of Ferruccio’s business, which eventually caved when the oil crisis worsened. While Ferruccio tried to find a common ground with his workers, the company could not keep up in the face of all losses on different fronts.
Eventually, Ferruccio was forced to sell fifty-one percent of his company to a Swiss businessman named Georges-Henri Rossetti. Still, with 49% in his hands, he kept working on making new cars. But by 1974, things didn’t get any better and Ferruccio, too, lost interest in fighting a losing war. By this time, he’d already made the Lamborghini Miura, which did find its place in one of the, if not the, most beautiful cars in the world. All the challenges that Ferruccio had thought up for himself were resolved, and so, he decided to give up his remaining share and sold it to a man named René Leimer.
Following this, he moved to an estate in Umbria where he went back to his farming roots and made a vineyard which brought him into the winemaking business. This is what he stuck to till the end, having completely retired from the passions that drove him in his young years. The film acknowledges this by opening with the view of a vineyard and wrapping up the story with a scene of Ferruccio tending to his farm.
Was Ferruccio Racing Enzo a Dream?
The film dedicatedly follows Ferruccio’s story from beginning to end, but there is one scene that recurs throughout the film, which despite its simplicity, gives a deeper meaning to his struggles. In this scene, we find an old Ferruccio racing against Enzo Ferrari. The snippets of their race are placed throughout the film, and it seems to be going neck to neck. But then, in the end, we find Ferruccio and Enzo back on the starting line. While Enzo drives away, Ferruccio stays behind, looking into the distance. What does this mean?
Ferruccio always had big dreams as well as the drive to make them come true. He wanted to be the best in the world when it came to making cars, which is why Enzo Ferrari became his direct competitor. The first time Ferruccio and Matteo present their car for the race, they don’t even get to the finish line. It is Enzo who wins it. While Ferruccio goes into the business of tractor making, among other things, Ferrari establishes a coveted brand name for himself. His cars are so good that even Ferruccio admires them.
What had been a feeling of respect for a fellow car enthusiast turns into rivalry with no bars held when Enzo insults Ferruccio. The latter had offered a collaboration, but Enzo says that Ferruccio is just a farmer who knows nothing about cars. This is when Ferruccio actively moves into the business of making cars, and this is what the dream sequence of the race between them represents. Over the years, Lamborghini gains a reputation for its cars, and on the race track, we see Ferruccio taking over Enzo.
Just when it feels like Ferruccio has won, the market becomes tense and eventually, he is forced to give up his company completely. By this time, he has also divorced Annita, and his son, Tonino, has also become distant. While he has accomplished his dreams and has amassed a lot of wealth, the relationships with his loved ones have soured to the point that Ferruccio starts wondering if he was wrong to give his all to cars and not pay attention to his family.
At the end, when Ferruccio finds himself back at the starting line with Enzo, he doesn’t even make an effort to participate in the race. Ferrari drives away while Lamborghini is left behind. This scene reflects Ferruccio’s loss of his company during the economic crisis. Compared to him, Enzo Ferrari succeeded in weathering the storm, and once things cooled down, he was back in business. As for Ferruccio, he had to retire from the business completely.
Ferruccio’s lack of interest in racing Enzo again shows that he has lost interest in car-making. He has retired from the race and is now focused on other ventures and, more importantly, his family. The film doesn’t show it, but Ferruccio got married again, at age of 58, around the time he sold the shares of his company. He fathered a daughter, and hopefully, this time, he showered more affection and attention on his family and lived happily with them.
Read More: What was Ferruccio Lamborghini’s Net Worth at the Time of His Death?
