Valentino Balboni

Valentino Balboni is one of the most iconic and celebrated figures in the history of the legendary Italian carmaker Lamborghini. His fame is not due to being a brilliant designer or a mechanical genius. Rather, he was the company’s longstanding chief test driver, leaving the position in 2009 solely because of certain provisions of Italian employment law.

The result: forty years of impeccable service, an exceptional reputation and an unusual reward from his company—a rear-wheel-drive version of the Gallardo supercar. Its full name is the Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, priced at €162,000 in Europe. Production is limited: only 250 of these automotive beasts will be built, each bearing his signature on the left-hand window.

Although obliged to let its veteran employee retire, the company did not part ways with him. Balboni was offered a two-year consultancy contract, legally structured so that it could be renewed an unlimited number of times. That is how veterans who have devoted their entire working lives to a company’s growth and development should be treated.

In 1967, 23-year-old Valentino was hired as an assistant mechanic. In 1973 he began testing prototypes, and his efforts helped bring 80% of all the company’s models to fruition.

Open, smiling and quick to laugh, Valentino Balboni is known in the motoring world not only as the celebrated brand’s test driver but also as its ambassador at various events. He also appeared in documentary programmes such as Top Gear and Rides, speaking about the love of his life: Lamborghini.