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EUROWORKS EXOTICS HISTORY 3
By now things were looking really bad and Rossetti and Leimer
tried to sell the factory again, but it didn't work out and
during 1977 - 1978, Automobili Lamborghini SpA was officially
declared bankrupt by the Italian court.
In 1978 the company was run by Dr Alessandro Artese, appointed
by the courts to try and get the famous raging bull back on
its feet to be able to pay their suppliers. In the mean time
he also tried to find a capable buyer for this work of art,
the Lamborghini car factory made Italy famous again just like
Ferrari did, so it was very important to keep it from going
under. Dr. Artese attracted Giulio Alfieri, a former technical
director from Maserati to manage the Countach project and
to get the Jalpa into production.
For some time in 1979, the company was led by Raymond Noima
and Hubert Hahne, who was the German importer for Lamborghini,
at that time Automobili Lamborghini SpA, was converting Fiat
127s into an off-road version, just to stay working and to
keep the artisan people from leaving or being laid off. The
world famous Lamborghini race team owner Walter Wolf came
into the picture, his personal custom made Countach was a
great way to try out new things, and eventually led to the
production of the Countach LP400 S. But Mr. Wolf also tried
to buy the company in early 1980, but for some reason his
offer was declined, the Italian court decided against it.
On February 28th, 1980 the receiver Giorgio Mirone and the
commissioner Artese decided to wind up the factory, nothing
else could be done ... they offered the factory to Sig. Ferruccio
Lamborghini for a rather small amount of money, but he refused,
something he probably regretted afterwards.
The Swiss based Mimran brothers were able to save the factory,
although at first they were only allowed to manage it as a
test of their capabilities. In July 1980 Patrick Mimran, the
youngest of the two brothers entered the factory after his
financial value was verified to be unlimited by his Swiss
bank. The name was changed into Nuova Automobili Ferruccio
Lamborghini SpA, and Patrick Mimran, although he was very
young to be a manager did get Lamborghini back to where it
belongs, at the top of the exotic car market.
Mr. Mimran was smart enough to keep Giulio Alfieri and Ubaldo
Sgarzi at their current positions, Angelo Morandi was able
to salvage the company, after he completed this difficult
task he left and was succeeded by Emil Novarro who was already
working for the Franco-Swiss family, he was put at the helm
of Nuova Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini SpA. Under his management
the company continued to develop the Countach from the LP500
S right up to the impressive QuattroValvole, it is therefore
save to say the Countach kept the company alive.
In 1984 Patrick Mimran was finally allowed to buy the factory
for 3,850,000,000 Lire, about 3 million US dollars at the
1984 exchange rates.
The Cheetah was further developed into the LM004 and LM002,
the latter being sold to the public and some Middle-Eastern
armies, and last but not least the V-8 engine Jalpa became
a relative success under the Mimran management. Patrick Mimran
even ordered a Spider version to be designed on the Jalpa
chassis, but this prototype, which was actually built, never
made it into production.
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