Lamborghini were pretty random with record-keeping especially, and this attitude continued in what was done with cars. it was all aimed at survival and selling another car, whatever it took. Over the years, Lamborghini lore has been loosely translated, leaving even the initiated to guess. Some have taken advantage of this prevailing attitude for foster myths that worked to their advantage. Perhaps the most famous Miura myth is that of the car proclaimed to be the last Miura when its clear in the factory's own records that at least 4 cars were completed afterwards. At some point you accept it all as the charm of the brand!
Well put. and the cars have a lot of charm (especially anything pre Chrysler), something that's perhaps missing in the ferrari's of same period My point to Steve is that we all know they were random with application on brand new cars, so then its not too surprising to find the same attitudes with post production conversions/modifications. Steve I don't understand the constant insistence that the factory wouldnt leave off such a 'vital part' as a foot rest or fail to move a latch only ever used at a standstill whilst out of the car. Tbh these are minor non important things really.
Sorry, I do not buy that Lamborghini would leave out the details I have mentioned. The dead foot pedal/rest is a beneficial feature, and a stand out detail that I noticed, that stuck in my mind as a boy, as Lamborghini's exceptional attention to detail and would be missed imo, as would be the latch on the wrong side. DK Engineering didn't miss these details when they converted 4972 to RHD, pictured below. Why would the factory? Image Unavailable, Please Login
You have a good point. But I have seen substandard factory work that left a little to be desired. Who really knows what that particular story is? Lamborghini did whatever was asked in order to generate work to pay bills. They did not act as logically as Porsche Ag or Ferrari SpA, nor were their systems as organized. In 1975 whilst Countach production was going on, they built this Miura "Jota SVR", and the project manager Remo Vecchi is quoted as suggesting that the project was only accepted to generate work. Nothing on this Jota was done in accordance with other Jotas. Lamborghini were very random in their procedures. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
True, but it is somehow symbolic of how things were done, and a sometimes random way Remember, Ferruccio wasn't even running things day-to-day by the time SV production was underway, he had sold half his shares by then, and you'll find some production SVs with 2 fuel pumps, and some with just one. The lack of a dead-pedal is no different than a car supplied without seat-belts, also a safety item, and we know that happened. I tried to address as many of the issues as I could in the book The Lamborghini Miura Bible ? Joe Sackey | Joe Sackey Classics
What a load of rubbish. As has been pointed out repeatedly again and again, at this point in time the factory was interested in survival and little else (except getting the countach into production - though again that was about the money too). Its also been pointed out that even on brand new cars they didnt exactly stick to the script, they kept shoddy records, weren't adverse to helping clients avoid tax laws etc etc so why would they suddenly have "exceptional attention to detail" on a job of converting a used (however lightly) pair of lhd cars to rhd ????? I suggested this sort of job would be done by the service department, you seemed skeptical but had no alternative factory department. For sure they wouldnt have gone back on the production line would they? Who is to say someone in a a non production line department would have even seen a rhd miura close enough to know a latch moved. You ask why would DK have more attention to detail, well for starters they hadprobably had a lot more access to rhd miuras than the factory aftermarket departments, also i believe it was a private job for an owner who may well have been in and out of the building as opposed to a pair of cars being sent halfway around the world. As for these small issues being so important well if that really was the case why were they not rectified when the cars reached Australia ? I'm also pretty sure I recall "factory restored/repaired" cars mentioned in various threads that show incorrect details done during the work. Again hardly a factory that seems to have "exceptional attention to detail" is it. Wheres your evidence Steve that someone else did it - other than your gut feeling and fairly ridiculous statement that the factory wouldnt miss out some non essential details (despite numerous examples citing otherwise)
For information: The left foot rest was installed from Miura S #4149 onwards according to the Miura parts book.
I can see from that picture that DK left out the important detail "correct shift knob". Everybody makes mistakes.
Picture is from many years after the car was converted to RHD so the shift knob may be nothing to do with DK Engineering.
DK Engineering converted the silver Rhd SV to LHD,Graypaul Ferrari converted a German Lhd car to RHD [the car JK is pictured in] both conversions were carried out in the early 80s and a lot of parts used were swopped between the two company's,this seems crazy now but I suppose it kept their staff busy
^^^ Stephen is right. It was Graypaul, not DK Engineering, that converted 4972 to RHD. My apologies for the mistake.
My S has a dead pedal. Built several months before #4149. Guess those italians can't even print a parts book correctly. From owning a few Italian cars in the past my guess is that the last thing on the minds of Italian auto makers in the '60's/'70s was record keeping.
It says the pedal can be added to cars from chassis #3829 forward as well. See here and scroll down: http://www.miuraworkshop.com/tav28.html
BTW, Just so someone doesn't think I'm "targeting" italians in my previous statement regarding the recording of factory build documents that's certainly not thew case!!
Culled from a French magazine from 1972 featuring a Miura SV (and also featuring a Ferrari 246 GTS Dino). I posted this to show how random production detail was in the production period. The cars are still in production, yet here we have a European SV using USA-spec amber turn-signal lenses! Note silver sills yet gold wheels. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I found that on Flickr. Great colour and looks like a mint Miura. Any infos on this Mr Sackey? Here is the links: Iconic | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Iconic | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Iconic | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Miura Details | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Miura Details | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Miura Details | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Miura Details | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Miura Details | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Miura Details | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Kind of reminds me a bit off some of those Michael Jordan ads or even Burt Reynolds back in the day! But the focus here certainly isn't on those turn signals ... The first thing that comes to my mind is HE'S SITTING ON THE HOOD! I think the same thing when I see gorgeous women draped over cars like this. Think we're car guys? LOL
Here is the ex Rod car Miura S 4863 when nearly new in 1972 pictured in Car magazine. The article was by Doug Blain about the SV. They pictured the wrong version. Please excuse quality of pic as taken with phone camera. Image Unavailable, Please Login
LoL. that's a Horrible photo LoL.. i thought it was IMPOSSIBLE to ever make a Miura look bad! -of course Joe i see your purpose though-
At the point of SV production. Besides the USA turn-signal lenses, and gold/silver wheel/sills combo (would look better if they were all silver), to my eye it looks as though the car has "S" sills with the smaller apertures.
That's what I thought but I recall seeing an early Lamborghini promotional photo with an earlier car (P400S ?) that appears to have the gold wheels and skirts. It's the one with orange car and huge bull! Then there was the red early car with the Jota style Lamborghini decal someone posted recently in this thread that also has gold painted wheels etc.