What an honor to meet "the man" himself! Great event at Lamborghini Bellevue today! I even had Valentino sign the glovebox of my Jalpa! Thanks to Vic for the pictures! Mike Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
+1 on a truly wonderful event. Valentino was extremely accomodating and an absolutely delightful personality. Could not think of a better person to be an ambassador not only for Lamborghini but generally in embodying the meaning of "exotic" cars i.e. there is always a story behind the legend!
I met the man, too! Thanks go out to Bellevue Lamborghini for putting on an outstanding reception for Valentino Balboni, one of the nicest people in the business. John had his prime example of a 1972 Miura on display Valentino Balboni signing Mike's Jalpa ...And a great presentation on the history of (Ferruccio) Lamborghini as seen through the eyes' of a young 19 year old Balboni, when he started over 40 years ago with the company, a great accomplishment. Vic in Seattle Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Fantastic! What a great guy. It was wonderful to to hear all of his stories about the good old days, and the new ones too! Thanks to all who arranged the meeting with Valentino. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I can now cross "Meet Valentino" off my Bucket List! hahahahaha... What a super nice and humble man. At one point while he and I were looking at the engine of my Jalpa, I reminded him (as if he needed it), that September 5th was just around the corner. That was the day in 1973 when Lamborghini "officially" hired him as their test driver. He reached over and grabbed my arm, appeared to get a bit misty and told me "Very nice of you to remember that date Mike! Yes, that is a date I'll never forget". I think one of the nicest things he said to me was when I opened the door for him to sit inside the Jalpa and he replied that the "smell" of the interior was just like the Jalpa's he remembered from the 80's and that he could tell I really took very good care of the car. However, you could really see his passion when he spent time with John going over his STUNNING Miura. JOHN, YOUR CAR IS AMAZING!!! Mike
"John had his prime example of a 1972 Miura on display" I sure miss my old Miura...took over three years of work on it to get it perfect....Glad it was able to stay local with John once it was time to part with it... Take care of my baby John LOL LOL
It was great meeting Balboni yesterday. He is a VERY down to earth, genuinely nice guy; not to mention a walking, talking history book when it comes to these cars. He did spend quite a while looking at my Miura (it's a '69 by the way, not a '72), and discussing several aspects of it with me. After his presentation, he hung around for a long time just visiting with anyone who wanted to talk with him. Truly a great experience. Side note to Roy...I'm glad I was finally able to convince you to let me buy your Miura last year, after about a year and a half of telling you I wanted it..... I wanted to own a Miura since I was a kid, so it was a great day when it finally came home. I'll do my best to take care of it. I can also tell you that if something happened and I was forced to sell my cars, this one would definitely be the last one to go.
I showed up at Cars 'n Coffee and only then learned about this. Tom N was kind enough to ask Bellevue Lamborghini if he could include all who attended Cars 'n Coffee (never know what you'll miss if you don't go to C'nC ...). Andy Miller and crew confirmed and they were gracious enough to host us. I took 22+ mins of video of the whole presentation. If you missed it and would like to see the presentation video, I'll be dropping a copy by Bellevue Lamborghini. While the event was to announce the Valentino Balboni edition Lambo, the presentation also re-visited Lamborghini's history. At one point Valentino became very nostalgic about the factory history and I almost heard him get choked up a bit when relaying the fine memories. It was also VERY interesting to hear how he acquired his first job at Lambo as it involved both a Priest and wheels. Afterwards, Andy brought out a huge pack of the special Valentino Balboni version Lamborghini brochures for all to get a personal autograph. +1 what Kenny (agedrebel) said, Valentino made time for everyone and was beyond gracious and energetic, relaying his personal experiences. BTW, Michael was absolutely ecstatic when Balboni told him that he personally test drove Michael's Jalpa at the factory (I have the video documenting this). PS - last photo added showing the Miura support brace now bears VB's signature. Valentino kept returning to this Miura during the day, obviously attracted to its beauty and his strong emotional attachment to it. . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Valentino Balboni signed these items for me. The Trofeo factory team racing jacket took him a back and he held it a length saying, "oh.... this is very important piece". (Gotta love Paolo Tron on eBay) At The Quail the week before, one of the gifts we received was a scale model vehicle and I received the '91 Lambo 291 race car. Hit me as personally significant as I attended the F1 races in Phoenix those years. One onlooker asked and Valentino gave a resounding "Yes!", that he had test driven this F1 car. The same asker then inquired if Balboni would sign his Ferrari and of course Valentino said "Yes", but added "I don't know how Ferrari would like it so much". Perhaps there is a different solution... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mike, OK, now I am officially very jealous of you and your Jalpa!!! I am in a state of severe envy over your good fortune to be able to meet Balboni, and then have him personally sign your car. Tell me, how does one get this lucky???? Dennis
Hey these stories of Valentino are great and all, but I just wanted to comment that Mary looks to be coming right along and about to "hatch" that new little one soon!! Congrats Mary and Ryan!
Some us also had the back side of our iPhones signed by Valentino Balboni. My phone now dials faster Vic in Seattle
Some us also had the bask side of our iPhones signed by Valentino Balboni. My phone now dials faster Vic in Seattle
I also had Valentino sign my "Lamborghini Countach - The Complete Story" book too! Image Unavailable, Please Login
September 2020 I was fortunate to have lunch with Valentino Balboni in the restaurant near the factory. What a kind man he is! Image Unavailable, Please Login
