The Lamborghini of today is a far cry from the Lamborghini of old. Starting life as a tractor maker, Lamborghini cars came in to being when Ferruccio Lamborghini complained to Enzo Ferrari about the clutch on his new Ferarri. The dismissive response was that “the fault is with the driver, not the car”, and so was born Ferruccio Lamborghini’s resolve to build a car to take on the might of Marenello from his factory in Sant’Agata (incidentally, when Lamborghini took apart the transmission in question, he discovered is was the same unit he was currently building in to his tractors!).

Lamborghini Islero circa 1968

The first Lamborghini, the 350GT, appeared in 1963, and by the time this video (or should I say, Cine Film) was shot, the company was producing Miuras and Espadas, so it probably dates from 1968, and the piece at the end (a drive through a fascinatingly empty English countryside in an Islero) confirms that sort of time.

The archaic working practices seem like a bygone age (which I suppose they are now), with cars standing around in the open in various states of assembly. But this is classic Lamborghini. A company on the up, taking the fight to Marenello with its mad supercars.

From a UK perspective, the footage in the second half of the film is fascinating. The Islero must have seemed like something from another planet, as it overtakes one car after another, including a MK I Cortina, a Renault 4 and what looks like a Ford Pop! And coming the other way is an original Ford Capri (or it could be a Ford Classic), but the roads are so clear and empty. It must have been heaven!

As the video footage is old cine film, there is no sound – just lots of hissing! So turn down your sound and just enjoy the hugely evocative imagery.