While most will associate the famous Lamborghini name with exotic cars, many will also be surprised to learn that Lamborghini were producing tractors ever before their sleek, stylish and powerful sports cars.

Having served in a motorised armoured unit in the second world war, mechanic Ferruccio Lamborghini produced his first tractor in 1948 using surplus military parts.

Building up a successful tractor, crawler and engine business in his factory in Bologna, Lamborghini decided to dabble in the luxury car industry and the rest, as they say….

So successful was the luxury car industry, the decision was made to make it his primary focus and the agricultural side of the business was sold to SAME (Società Accomandita Motori Endotermici), also an Italian tractor manufacturer, in 1973.

SAME also purchased the Hurlimann brand, producing tractors in three different colours with minor cosmetic and mechanical changes.

Worthy of note, SAME also own the Deutz-Fahr tractor brand.

In keeping with SAME’s tradition of exclusive names for their tractor ranges, the Lamborghini Grand Prix was released in 1989, the 874-90 being the range topper.

Replacing the more dated 874-90, the Grand Prix was powered by SAME’s 4l 1000.4 WT engine, a four litre, four-cylinder powerplant turbocharged to produced 90hp.

Interestingly, this is a water cooled engine, while the similar SAME Explorer employed an air cooled engine.

Rear lift capacity is rated at a useful 4.7tons thanks to twin assistor rams, while oil flow is not eye-watering at 42l/min.

What is most impressive about this tractor is its 40km transmission boasting 40F/40R speeds thanks to a five speed transmission across four ranges, including a crawler. This is doubled thanks to a splitter gear located on the chunky main gear stick.

The cab is functional with good visibility, with the chunky gear levers falling nicely to hand.

A practical console located slightly below the seat to the right houses the spool valves and the linkage controls, while electric PTO, four-wheel drive and differential lock are situated above on a separate console. Somewhat dated, the cab doors open forward.

The exterior styling of the tractor is quite flamboyant thanks to the decals, and later models feature a sloping nose.

Another interesting feature is twin PTOs in a stacked formation for 540/1000rpm which were both available in ‘Eco’ speeds.

If you have a Lamborghini tractor, please get in touch.

Contact Peter at [email protected] or see Instagram @flashphotoscork