Miura, the original supercar

Joe, that profile view of Lammot's P400 is stunning. Seeing it and the green grass just add to my winter cabin-fever. All the while, 3042 sits in the garage....argh

 

Oops, sorry I missed read the VIN. Yes, I'd bet that 0706 had armstrongs. I'll ask Craig if he knows.

Alberto

 

Went to Gent this morning to see some Lambo's at a classic car show. Some observations, is it normal that if you look closely at the headlights that you can see the headlight mechanism?
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Beneath the headlights, yes, within the headlights, no. You mean beneath the headlights?

 

Yes

 

French car magazines Sport auto and Europe auto claimed high top speeds for the Miura. The article in Sport auto is written by José Rosinski.
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Wallace has gone on published record in an interview with Pete Lyons to state that he gave Rosinski a car with a 'tuned' engine.

Thanks for sharing these magazines!

 

That's normal for an SV.

 

My pleasure, I have a lot more magazines featuring the Miura but I think you have already posted most.

 

I would appreciate any period (1967) pictures from European mags (I have all of the US ones), specially at the factory, showing the use of straight ear knock offs on pre-production cars (1000 series vin) or early production (3000 series) and steering wheel material. I want to confirm a suspicion I have about the use of straight ear knock offs (vs. Borrani curved ears) and use of leather on steering wheel (vs. naked wood).

Thanks.
Alberto

 

and still about #4998, it is a matching number <> here is engine number...
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Saw this one in the Palm beach supercar experince today.
very nice car!!
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No eyelashes?

 

The rear haunches don't look SV large to me, so it's got a replaced front on it, apparently.

Alberto

 

Correct.

 

The car came out of orlando about five years ago.
Joe do you know what production # it is.

 

Late model (1970 -72) ; an SV to be exact .


Am I right ? experts

 

The headlights looked a little small for
the holes in the body ! While I was talking to the owner
I asked him what the thing under the steering wheel was
he said he did not know and started playing
with it! Truns out it was a steering wheel lock
which he never used but locked it while I was where
that guy truned white as a sheet.

Thank god John knew how to unlock it.

 

Its a P400S, with SV front hood, and headlamps with bezels missing.

FYI, SV is from 1971 to 1973.

Best,

 

Yes.

 

Come on Joe you are usually very fast and forth coming with the numbers.

 

So lets review: You mean you were actually standing there "talking to the owner" and you didn't get the number??

C'mon.

 

Doug Call contacted me to share the story of his Can Am Lamborghini.
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The story in his own words.

"I was in Modena, Italy sitting around talking with a friend who was a retired race car driver and he currently built exotic car bodies under contract, his name was Piero Drogo. He lived in Modena with his wife. I asked him if he could assist me in creating a Lamborghini Prototype racecar that I could drive in the European Group 7 series. He said that he had contacts with a Director of Production or Sales at the Lamborghini Factory (something like that) and his name was Gianni Segiu (I'm not sure about spelling). This was early 1972 time frame. The bottom line is Drogo said he could help me get a new Muira SV Engine for the new prototype racecar I had in mind. So I said go ahead and get me a price. Within about 2 weeks he showed me a picture of a new Muira SV engine on a wooden palette and said if I wanted it, I would have to pay around 4.2 million Italian lira (830 lira = 1 USD). I accepted the offer contingent on Drogo helping me find a company that would agree to build the prototype racecar using that Muira SV engine. A couple of nights later while sitting around eating at Drogo&#8217;s place, he said that he had found a builder for my new Lamborghini prototype racecar! It turned out to be Engineer Tancredi Simonetti who was the lead race car engineer at the AMS Factory in Bologna.

I told Drogo I wanted to go ahead with the project and was quoted a price in USD to build the working prototype with the Miura SV engine, and I accepted the offer. After about a month, I was invited to go to the AMS factory to see how things were progressing on the prototype. Basically they had set the new Muira SV engine on a large heavy duty steel table and the engine was surrounded by a bunch of square tubing used for creating the car's frame. Over several months time they attached the engine, suspension and many other components to the frame. They also built up the carriers for the gas tanks and of course the cockpit area. They actually had me sit in the prototype several times while it was up on the steel design table so they could get dimensions that would fit me OK.

Below is a link showing me resting for a minute (in the pits between test runs) while actually driving the completed prototype during one of the initial runs at the Modena Autodromo (race track).

There were several problems that surfaced during the initial prototype test runs at the Modena track. The brakes were insufficient to slow things down and faded very quickly after just a couple of laps. Then the gear shifter component bent in half while I was downshifting from around 240 kph to set up for an approaching chicane! That was quite exciting. Anyway the prototype when back to the AMS factory for some further tweaks.

The next time I saw the prototype it was actually at the Lamborghini Factory in St Agata. See pictures below that I took while the prototype was inside the Lambo Factory.

I asked one of the guys who was instructed to take me to my prototype, if I could drive the prototype around since I hadn&#8217;t driven in it, since my last test runs at the Modena Autodromo. They said it was OK. So they rolled it outside the garage area and started it up for me. Apparently I drove the car a little too fast (or made to much noise) because the mechanics started waving me down and telling me to slow down.

Anyway, I was happy that the car seem to operate very nicely now and that the shifter seemed very strong and also the brakes seemed stronger.

The next day I was called away (from Modena) to help my Mom with an urgent situation she had in Geneva, Switzerland and by time I was able to handle that situation and then call contact the Lamborghini Factory a couple of months later to enquire about my prototype they said that someone had taken it away! I had planned on shipping the prototype to my mom&#8217;s house in Geneva to store it until I could get funding and assistance from some of my large car collector friends that lived in Geneva area, to help me with the car.

Nevertheless I haven't seen my Lamborghini Prototype since it disappeared from the Lamborghini Factory (1972 - 1973 timeframe). My dream is to be reunited with the car of my dreams that I had built and driven in my youth it represents the best dreams and the most exciting moments of my life."

What a story!
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Doug Call, the man himself, behind the wheel, with that potent Miura SV engine inches behind his head at Modena Autodromo. To say that the engine was not 'breathed upon' by Italy's finest would be remiss. Imagine a 1,000 lb Lamborghini Kart pushed along by some 450 bhp running off megaphoned pipes!!!
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