Valentino Balboni

Valentino Balboni is a former employee and chief testdriver of Lamborghini, a manufacturer of sports cars in Italy. He retired in 2009, after having served the company for 40 years. To pay tribute to him in occasion of his retirement, Lamborghini has labeled the latest addition to the Gallardo line-up, the LP550-2 Valentino Balboni.

Biography

Balboni started working for Lamborghini on April 21, 1968 as a mechanic apprentice in the company. Eventually he was personally asked by the founder of the company, Ferruccio Lamborghini, to test-drive the newly built cars. Together with Bob Wallace, they became the test-driving team of Lamborghini. Valentino Balboni has reportedly driven about 80% of all Lamborghinis ever built; among the marque aficionados, Balboni has risen to cult status. In 2008 Balboni was still active for the company as the chief test-driver and ambassador: he often appeared at different Lamborghini-related events, like the unveiling of new models. In July 2009 Lamborghini announced a special edition run of 250 Gallardo LP550-2 "Valentino Balboni edition" supercars; the company stated that the new car was to be rear-wheel driven in accordance with Balboni's preference for the thrill of cornering a rear-wheel driven vehicle.

Media

Valentino Balboni has made several appearances on television in different documentaries about Lamborghini; he also appeared on BBC's Top Gear.

References

• italiaspeed.com on Valentino Balboni

• evo.co.uk on Valentino Balboni

• Retirement of Valentino Balboni

• Behind-the-scenes video with Valentino Balboni