Audi 2006 Annual Report Download - page 99

Vaquero meets high-tech:
a clash of worlds.
“Aficion” in the air –
everything here is imbued with
a passion for bull-breeding.
“Faced with a choice
between existence
and non-existence,
the bull would choose
to remain precisely
what it is.”
SPORT: AN AUTOMOTIVE ARISTOCRAT IN THE LAND OF THE BULL
97AUDI 2006 ANNUAL REPORT
The appeal of the
Lamborghini brand is
evoked in the book
“Lamborghini.
A tempo furioso” by
Stephan Grühsem
and Peter Vann. This
177-page illustrated book is published by
Motorsport Verlag, ISBN-13: 978-3613025547.
It contains extensive articles on the history
and philosophy of the brand with the bull.
est changes to the accustomed sur-
roundings, noises, smells and move-
ments could trigger off certain reflexes
and motor responses that this particu-
lar visitor is not keen on witnessing.
“The truly brave bull gives no warning
before it attacks,” wrote Ernest Heming-
way, “except that it keeps its eyes firmly
fixed on its foe, the ridge of muscles in
the neck swells up, one ear twitches and
it lifts its tail while it attacks.”
“Toro sentido” and the spirit of evil
The worst are the “toro sentido” or
“Barrabás”, which are believed to be the
embodiment of evil. These four- or five-
year-old animals have gained experi-
ence of fighting other bulls, and have
become mistrusting and sly. “A ‘manso
de sentido’, such as is often encountered
at Miura, is the most dangerous animal
imaginable,” states the book “Aficion”,
which means literally “affection” – in the
narrower sense, “for bulls”.
For our photo shoots we drive the
Murciélago LP640 Coupé* into the
middle of the meadow (Eduardo Miura’s
enquiry as to the Lamborghini’s price
seeming to extend his concern beyond
his bulls). The Lamborghini is first
parked on the meadow, then we all have
to retreat behind a fence. The directives
are clear: nobody is to move or make a
sound, or even so much as sneeze. Then
brother Antonio Miura rides with his
vaqueros towards the herd, to edge the
animals very carefully into the photo-
grapher’s field of view. Antonio Miura
is a talented horseman and exudes a
casualness that evidently calms even
the bulls. The bulls evidently do not take
the Murciélago to be one of their kind,
sparing us the most expensive turf war
of all time.
We are welcomed back to the house
with an Andalusian meal prepared by
the wives Christina Miura and Maria del
Mar Miura. The stuffed heads of famous
bulls stare down at us from the walls of
the large hall. Certificates, posters of
fighting bulls, paintings, photos and
artefacts tell the fascinating story of the
Miura dynasty. “This isn’t a museum,”
explains Christina Miura, “It’s our life.“
Aficion permeates the very air that you
breathe here.
Picasso, another famous Andalusian,
used this world to portray eternal
topics such as love, war and death.
Countless artists and authors have felt
the irresistible pull of aficion. Without
bull-breeding, the Andalusia of natural,
uncultivated meadowlands would dis-
appear along with the culture of the
vaqueros. “I venture to assert that if
faced with a choice between existence
and non-existence the bull, such a won-
derful emblem of vital energy ever since
the days of ancient Crete, would choose
to remain precisely what it is,” writes
the author Mario Vargas Llosa.
* fuel consumption figures at the end of the Annual Report