Like any globally minded citizen concerned about climate change, I try to make public transit part of my daily routine.

And, like many a globally minded citizen, I can often be found stranded on the side of the road, trapped in a seemingly interminable wait for a bus.

Last Saturday was one of those times. At times like that I can't help but wonder if TransLink has been secretly infiltrated by legions of angst-ridden Samuel Beckett aficionados, morosely inflicting existentialism upon people who are just looking to get home. Will the bus come now? How long must we wait? Does the 99 B-Line represent Man's inhumanity to Man as it bypasses my stop and runs a red light?

Anyway, as I attempted to low-environmental-impact tip-toe back home, I saw a carbon-footprint Sasquatch: a pearl white Lamborghini Murcielago.

It didn't matter that even idling it was consuming more fuel than a Kuwaiti oil fire and emitting more climate-changing gases than a herd of flatulent Holtsteins. It didn't matter that you couldn't fit half a folded Kleenex in the trunk. It didn't matter that it was probably going to break down in the next 15 minutes and that the driver was probably developing serious leg-cramp from the heavy clutch and deep-vein-thrombosis from the confined cabin.

All that mattered was the brief cough and then the feral yell as it accelerated off into the night, making every hair on my neck stand up, and taking me back to age 12 and the Lamborghini poster on my bedroom wall.

And that's what Lamborghinis are supposed to do.

I'm sure it's fairly horrible to own one what with insurance premiums being as high as if you were enrolled in Death Race 2000 and with the depreciation worse than if the car was carved out of ice. But none of the petty practicalities of everyday life matter with a Lamborghini. They're the Greek gods of the automotive world: temperamental, powerful, beautiful and completely insane.

Lamborghini came into being in a highly appropriate manner as the result of an argument between two rich Italians. This may shock you, I know, as Italians on the whole are known for their ability to remain calm, cool and collected at all times, but there you have it.

Ferruccio Lamborghini, the owner of a successful tractor company, was having some clutch problems with his new Ferrari 250 GT, so he popped down to the factory to have a word with Enzo Ferrari. Mr. Ferrari, in an excellent example of how not to provide good customer service, told Mr. Lamborghini that he should stick to driving tractors as he was obviously too much of a hick amateur to drive a Ferrari. Mr. Lamborghini disagreed, there may or may not have been some excitable hand gesturing, and Ferruccio went home and created his own supercar company, and their first product: the 350GT.

Imagine that for a second. You check into Honda because your Civic's brakes are squeaking, somebody in the service department is rude to you, and so you go home and invent the Toyota Corolla.

Lucky for us that Enzo Ferrari subscribed to "the customer is always a bonehead" school of thought because the first supercar that rolled out from the Lamborghini factory at Sant'Agata Bolognese was the Miura, one of the most beautiful vehicles ever made. It was low-slung and powered by a mid-mounted V-12 engine, and it was styled by a 22-year-old Italian man who was certainly thinking about the things 22-year-old Italian men think about when he penned its swooping, curvaceous lines.

Most importantly, it carried the now-famous prancing bull on its badge. Ferruccio Lamborghini was born under the astrological sign of Taurus, a sign that indicates personality traits including capability, stubbornness and impetuosity (for instance, creating your own car company to avenge an insult). The Miura was named after a famed fighting bull trainer, and many subsequent models produced by Lamborghini have been given names affiliated with bullfighting.

The Miura was built from 1966-1972, with various competition and specialty models produced along the way. It famously appeared in the introduction to The Italian Job, racing through the Alps before being destroyed in a fireball. Fitting, as it had earned a reputation for danger as well as glamour. The Miura's fuel tank was front-mounted, meaning that as it got empty, the car went light at the front and became difficult to handle. Additionally, the racing-application Weber carburettors Lamborghini decided to use had a tendency to fill with fuel at stoplights and then burst into flame as the car pulled away.

The danger of driving Lamborghinis only seemed to enhance their appeal, building the mystique of the brand. Ferrari needed to win races to sell their cars. Lamborghini merely needed to keep making the most outrageous cars money could buy.

Following the Miura, 1971 saw the introduction of the Lamborghini Countach, probably the most recognizable supercar in the world, and the subject of many a bedroom-wall poster. Legend has it the Countach was named for the surprised utterance by famed designer Nuccio Bertone upon seeing the car for the first time, thus becoming one of the first cars named after a swear word. Fortunately Bertone spoke the Piedmontese dialect of Italian he did, or we might have had the Lamborghini (unprintable).

The Countach was wedge-shaped, sharp and angular, and it sported the scissor-style doors now associated with the brand. To reverse it into a parking spot, it was necessary to open the door and sit on the sill, it wasn't very manoeuvrable, the cabin was cramped and it was often crashed by amateur drivers. It was unlike anything available at the time, but its launch coincided with the first stirrings of financial trouble at Lamborghini.

From 1984 to 1997, Lamborghini was wholly or partially owned by a pair of Swiss brothers, Chrysler, an Indonesian investment group and finally Audi, who manages the brand today. Under Audi's management and enormous technical resources, Lamborghini has become an extremely successful company, combining the glamour of its early days with a broader appeal.

But has Audi diluted the essence of Lamborghini? The brand is licensed for use on laptop computers and sunglasses. You can buy a Lamborghini watch, or a Lamborghini Smartphone.

At the Paris Motor Show later this year, Lamborghini will be unveiling its Estoque concept: a big, four-door super-saloon. "Estoque" is an Italian word meaning the small sword used in the killing stroke for a truly honourable bull.

I hope they miss.