See the evolution of Lamborghini’s Sant’Agata Bolognese factory over 60 years

From a startup to a global company, the history of the factory is documented in 50 photographs and includes some of its most iconic cars.

In 1963 Ferruccio Lamborghini founded Automobili Lamborghini and built a new factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese. Construction of the facility progressed rapidly. In October, when Lamborghini unveiled its first car, the 350 GTV prototype, the main structure of the factory was already complete.

Today Automobili Lamborghini is a world-renowned company with more than 2,000 employees that produces more than 9,000 cars a year. Over the past 60 years, Lamborghini headquarters has undergone updates, expansions and reconfigurations based on production, environmental and technological needs. But it has never abandoned its original basic structure.

Gallery: Evolution of Lamborghini’s Sant’Agata Bolognese factory

Production went from 67 Lamborghinis in 1965 to 425 in 1971, leveling off at around 450 cars per year. During this period, Lamborghini remained heavily involved in the company, overseeing cars such as the stunning Miura, the four-passenger Espada GT and the development of the original Countach. In the 1980s, production reached 470 cars and 300 marine engines.

In 1974 Ferruccio Lamborghini sold the company, and it went through a succession of owners. Chrysler Corporation acquired it in 1987, grazing the Diablo before selling the company to a Malaysian consortium in 1994. Then in 1998, Volkswagen AG acquired it, leading to a period of modernization and growth. The company opened the Lamborghini Centro Stile five years later in time for its 40th anniversary, using it to showcase classic Lamborghini cars. Lamborghini employed 624 people, producing more than 1,300 cars a year.

In 2008 the factory was expanded again to include a modern finishing department and a logistics center. Additional facilities followed these extensions to develop the Aventador’s new carbon fiber body in-house, launching the Lamborghini carbon production center. In 2012, Lamborghini’s production exceeded 2,000 cars per year and would quadruple by 2020.

A large part of the production increase is attributed to the Lamborghini Urus. Launched in 2018, it quickly became the company’s most popular model. To accommodate the new model, the factor was expanded again to 160,000 square meters, the equivalent of 1.7 million square feet, more than 13 times the size of the original factory in 1963.

In 1993, Ferruccio Lamborghini died, but he would still recognize the company he founded. Today the headquarters remain in the Sant’Agata Bolognese region, and the factory’s original road facade with the proud Lamborghini sign remains the most prominent part of the facility.