A VISIT TO THE BULLPEN; Artistic, technical accomplishments on display.(Revs)

Byline: PATRICK C. PATERNIE

Rome has Vatican City, Florence the Uffizi, but for Italian auto fanatics, it is Modena that delivers both a religious and cultural high. The venerable Maserati factory sits on the city's industrial edge. Modena is also Enzo Ferrari's birthplace, while the vehicles that bear his name are manufactured a short drive south in Maranello.

In the opposite direction, both geographically and philosophically, lies Sant'Agata Bolognese. The cars manufactured here tend to be louder than Ferraris in every sense of the word, but the people and surroundings are definitely more laid-back. This is farm country, an apt place to manufacture cars that bear the sign of Taurus, the astrological symbol of company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini who, coincidentally, made his fortune in the tractor business.

Sant'Agata Bolognese is so tiny that it doesn't appear on your rental car map. From Modena, follow highway 255 through Nonantola and San Giovanni in Persiceto, the nearest train station to Sant'Agata. Just outside this town, the road takes a couple of severe bends around the boundaries of a farm. This and the occasional sighting of a Gallardo or Murcielago lurking amidst the steady flow of produce trucks is your tip-off you are nearing the Lamborghini factory, which is easy to spot, rising out of the fields at the edge of the highway.

The factory was completed in 1964, the year after Lamborghini Automobili was founded. Every Lamborghini production model was made at this factory, so it is fitting that when the facility was enlarged and remodeled a couple of years ago-thanks to parent company Audi-a museum was added. On display is an example of each model ever built along with ...