In 1963, a certain Ferruccio Lamborghini, a Ferrari owner who built extremely good tractors, had problems with the clutch on his Ferrari 250 GT.
So, Ferruccio, being the sort of chap he was, drove to the neighbouring village of Maranello and personally visited Enzo Ferrari.
Ferruccio Lamborghini’s problem with the clutch of the Ferrari stemmed from the fact that the clutch fitted on the Ferrari was identical to the one fitted onto one of Lamborghini’s small tractors.
This discovery made Lamborghini feel outraged, as he paid 10 lire for his tractor clutches, yet Ferrari charged him 1000 lire for the same part.
Ferruccio also explained that the clutch would last much longer by simple adjustment.
This meeting was responsible for the now-famous Enzo utterance. ‘Let me make cars. You stick to making tractors.’
Mastering the Ferrari’s clutch is like finding the perfect balance between ‘gentle touch’ and ‘no mercy’ – a dance only the gearbox understands!
