For the Love of Craftsmanship

Wooden boat makers will tell you that the sea is the final arbitrator of their craftsmanship. The Lamborghini Riva Aquarama is the judge of the sea. A wooden boat is pieced together, each plank with its own story from the forest where it was cut and later fitted. It is the boat builder’s stewardship to see that each piece equally shares the stress load. That’s when a vessel is truly sea worthy.

In a time of modern technology and machine pressed parts, handcrafted, wooden boats that take hundreds of hours to complete hold a rare beauty. Each plank carefully shaped, brass screw heads filed to plane perfectly with the wood. Each process has to be done to perfection.

From generation to generation, designs have been passed down: cruisers, schooners, trawlers, cutters, sloops and runabouts. Each with the builder’s signature profile. Each bearing the smoothness achieved by a hand finish. In 1968 the wooden speedboat company Riva was run by Carlo Riva, the second generation boat builder. That year he teamed up with car legend Ferruccio Lamborghini to build one of the fastest, most beautiful wooden boats ever created: the Lamborghini Riva Aquarama which sports two V12 engines.  Word is that Ferruccio was as passionate about his boat as he was his cars.  The unique Riva Aquarama has since been completely restored by expert craftsmen and is as stunning as ever.

https://www.rivalamborghini.com/