Background
After serving as a mechanic in the Regia Aeronautica during WW2, Ferruccio Lamborghini set up a small car and motorcycle repair shop near Modena before branching out into the manufacture of tractors using surplus military hardware and, initially, Morris engines.
By the mid-1950s Lamborghini Trattori SpA of Cento, near Bologna, had become one of the largest agricultural equipment manufacturers in Italy, a gratifying state of affairs that no doubt prompted Lamborghini's declaration, “A tractor a day keeps the misery away!”
Flush with cash from his success in tractors and air conditioners, and following an argument with Enzo Ferrari about a faulty clutch in his recently purchased Ferrari 250GT, Ferruccio decided to start building his own luxury cars in 1963.
Lamborghini Trattori is still in business and building tractors today.
The well-known Cotswold farmer Jeremy Clarkson has one.
The ‘Serie MEC’ range of tractors built upon the winning formula of the 1R tractor but offered a more economical entry point for farmers and other users on a tighter budget. MEC tractors were only in production for two years between 1965 and 1967.
The exact number produced is difficult to estimate because Lamborghini didn’t distinguish between the 1R and the MEC variants in production data.
However, we know that they are extremely rare and the vendor has seen only two in over eight years of collecting Lamborghini tractors.
Utilising the same air-cooled 2-cylinder 26hp 1400cc engine as the 1R, the MEC variant differed in a number of respects.
Firstly, the rotating Bosch ignition pump was replaced with a mechanical two-piston version and the mechanical fuel pump needed to be engaged only when the tank required refilling.
Also, the MEC tractors had no hour counter instrument or steering wheel logo and came equipped with mechanical, non-hydraulic braking.
This example, it’s safe to say, is entirely authentic, is of museum quality, and has been restored by the acknowledged master of the craft.
