Background
Renazzo in the province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy is an ancient community. The nearby Rocca (castle) of Cento was commissioned by the bishop of Bologna in 1378. Renazzo and its environs would continue be a focus of interest in much later centuries, too. In January 1824 the good people of Renazzo were surprised by what sounded like “three loud cannon blasts followed by many smaller explosions.” Upon investigation it was discovered that a meteorite had fallen near the church of Renazzo, in the field of a Mr. Gallea. The meteorite would be given the official name the “Renazzo Meteorite” and even inform the classification of its type as “CR” for chondrites Renazzo.
By the late 1940’s, however, it was different loud bangs and crashes that were possibly keeping the residents of Renazzo awake. Returning war veteran and town native, Ferruccio Lamborghini, had set up shop there and was busy buying up military surplus and transforming it into farming machinery. By 1948 he had produced his first tractor, a crudely styled contraption finished in bright orange. This was the first of the "Carioca." Around this time Lamborghini relocated his operation to a factory in nearby Pieve di Cento, no doubt to the relief of his Renazzo neighbours, and Lamborghini Trattori was formed as a legal entity.
Amintore Fanfani was the 32nd Prime Minister of Italy and he helpfully enacted a law in July 1952 that would prove a watershed for the fledgling Lamborghini Trattori. The so called Fanfani law would set aside a 125 billion lire fund to be lent, with an interest rate of 3% over 5 years, to farmers who purchased Italian-made agricultural machinery. Luckily Ferruccio was ready with his new DL range of tractors, now distinguished by bright red bonnets over farming-appropriate grey chassis and mechanicals. The DL range spanned DL15, DL20, DL25 and DL30 models. The range featured DW415 MWM-Benz Diesel engines, a new front grille, and a smoother, more stylish profile. These smaller tractors (there were bigger DL45 and DL50 variants produced but they proved singularly unsuccessful) became collectively known as “Lamborghinetta.”
The DL20 was a light machine, weighing in at under 1,000 kg, and powered by a 1,400cc version of the two-cylinder diesel engine. It produced around 21 hp at a lowly 2,000 rpm and had a compact footprint being a little over 2 meters in length and less than 1.5 meters wide. This light and compact configuration made it the perfect choice for small-holders and those, like most at the time, with modest acreage. For the viticulturists, as Ferruccio’s family had been, there was even a super-compact version that shaved a full 33cms off the width of the standard tractor. Somewhere around 850 units of the DL20 were thought to have been built. In 1999, a survey of revealed that there were still around 320 Lamborghinetta in use in Italy. This surprising fact not only underscores the innate durability of these little tractors but also, seemingly, their irresistible charm.
