Miura, the original supercar

Great to see this Miura being restored at last, and hopefully it will be another faithful-to-original-build effort.

 

Raymond, I agree with you completely. If ever there as a Lamborghini restoration 'Faux Pas', this was it, committed by the factory itself. I learned my lesson with 5064, and IMO its pointless restoring classic cars that have a special history unless it is to original spec.

 

Miura number one
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Haven't a clue...

 

I'm not so sure about that.

Given the era in which it was built, and knowing Lamborghini's practices of the time, my money is on the fact that this car now exists as another P400 whose owner is completely unaware of that fact.

 

I don't think so, and I'd love to see some clarification either way. But you are right about the practice of re-using prototypes etc. They also turned them into production cars and sold them represented as such.

 

Well, lets get into this:

What accident did it have, when, where and to what extent? Any proof that this was not just another of Wallace's 'convenient' explanations?

The factory never thrashed a Miura within an inch of its life, and some even came back from the dead and were sprinkled with Sant Agata Holy Water!

They (the factory) re-used whatever they liked in combinations to suit them, stamped with whatever numbers met their fancy. Anyone who has done a serious study on Miura production knows this is fact. Ergo my suggestion that this car is still alive in one guise or another, and that is just an educated guess (as I have clarified), nothing more, but an educated guess consistent with the practices of Automobili Lamborghini SpA of the period as proven over & over.

Dunno where the engine is. You tell me. That's why I said in my earlier post: "Haven't a clue"....

If I have learned anything about that factory's practices of the era, it is to question everything, and I have been pretty consistent in that posture for many years. As the great TC Browne said, "There are lies, damned lies, and then there are automobile manufacturers statistics." I think he meant well for our collective peace of mind.

 

I should also add that my healthy skepticism of Lamborghini folklore has served me well because I can think of at least 2 historical cars that I was assured were "dead" which I subsequently stumbled across (I use the word "stumbled" loosely, I'm sure you'll understand).
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1980
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I'll take it at $1.5m, so far as there is a cashier's check in the glove-box for $1.2m

Seriously though, to clarify my thinking: we have seen bits of a car (stamped) dispersed amongst several cars (fact) by the factory. So, with new bodywork, a fresh engine etc, only a chassis might remain. Who knows? And we know Miura chassis can easily be sectioned to the point that they are mostly replaced.

*All I'm saying is that I'm not buying the story that the prototype Miura was scrapped*

Bob's rather vague story that "a truck backed into it" is not enough for the car to be scrapped, and Bob's recollection has turned out to be notoriously inaccurate. In his defense, he is not a sentimental man, and simply put, could care less about the past. He has admitted several times to saying whatever a journalist needed to hear to get him off his back and close the topic.

The factory even went into their junkyard behind the works and saved everything of importance. The 1965 Turin Salon Miura chassis & engine was supposedly also discarded, yet we found it intact in the Mediterranean.

And yes, as Steve suggested, please post pics of your fabulous P400, we love them all in this thread!

 

I am looking for another of these for a friend/client to round off his tool kit etc.

Any leads are very much appreciated.
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IMO I don't think it is.

I think its a front-engined production sports car which happens to be made by Ferrari, A Grand Tourer if you must qualify it, hence the name, 365 GTB/4.

The fact that it is not considered a Supercar by some does not mean it it not an excellent sports car, as its prowess against the Miura on the track proves.

 

An interesting Miura.
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I'm now doubting the accident story, whereas years ago I previously went along with it. Your theory was that its "dead". However, I think it exists in one form or another