Miura, the original supercar

Joe you're only an hour drive. Why not go over. =)

 

Joe, in my haste I was grossly mistaken. I found another Miura here! There's a total of Seven, Not 6!
Gary Bobileff
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What is the difference between the front wheel arch of a P400 and an SV?

 

I posted 3 pictures of it back around page 585 and I just looked to see what other pictures I had of it. Turns out I took a total of 7 pictures all pretty much like these. I was just getting into car show pictures at the time and would show up midday and zip around taking pics. Now I have a much more dedicated approach.
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What would be great is some sort of industrial laser scan or something. Difficult and maybe somewhat pointless in some ways considering the more obvious differences I guess.

 

The easiest way to differ the origin of a 400/400S from a 400SV bonnet is to look at it. The headlight openings and the front grill can be changed but it is a much tougher work to get the top edge line on the fenders right. On the earlier cars they are straight and on the SV they are curved like its rear bonnet, just to get that Coke bottle form.
Therefore you get a more upright curvature and smaller lips over the wheels on the SV.
Measure from side to side at the top over the wheels, I would believe it differs about 30 mm.

Some like them slim and some like them curved!

L-E

 

Ah I see, thank you.

Excellent comparison photo. It really illustrates the superior visual balance of the SV and the shortcomings of the P400.

Learning new stuff all the time through this thread.

 

Fascinating to read about these differences, especially reading comments from guys like Sackey and Boblieff who deal with these things in the flesh on a daily basis, but what I'd really like to know is....
Which is the the most accurate 1/18 scale diecast Miura SV, or at least the one you'd stick on the shelf?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23973738@N03/sets/72157633308796682

(not my pics)

 

For once, this is a subject I feel I can speak on with some expertise.

Unfortunately, there is no accurate 1/18 Miura. The best two examples are from Kyosho and AUTOArt. The Kyosho is the closest - it gets everything right EXCEPT for the most important visual difference between the SV and it's predecessors - the rear wheels are positioned too far within the wheelarches rather than at the periphery where they should rightly be. This ruins the model.

The AUTOArt, which has a better, but still not accurate, rear wheel position, doesn't quite capture the lines of the car accurately.

Kyosho's P400 and P400S however, are both very good representations of the subject. But if you want an accurate SV, Kyosho's 1/12 offering is the only option. Rear wheels correctly appointed, perfect representation of the lines and generally a stunning looking model.

Here is mine:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/141562139-post10379.html

 

How funny. I am a member on one of the diecast model car forums and was just reading one of your posts - there can't be too many spadge1976's! I collect 1/18 scale diecast Lamborghini road cars. I have an orange/gold Kyosho S, red/gold Kyosho SV and yellow/silver Welly SV.
Yes I agree with your comments regarding the rear wheels on the Kyosho SV. Someone here on FC commented they had attempted to widen the rear track of their model but weren't successful for whatever reason. I've never heard of anyone taking their model apart and successfully bringing those rear wheels out to where they should be. The latest Kyosho Miura SVJ releases do have the wider rear track but I see other inaccuracies with them. Apparently they suffer from serious QC issues (paint application etc.) which is unfortunate.
I actually thought Kyosho's Miura P400S was the most accurate Miura in diecast at 1/18 scale. Now after reading some of the posts above and studying both those photos and the model itself, I'm not so sure. The front bonnet is a kind of amalgam of the earlier and SV style.
Then there's the Welly version. The wheels sit wide in the arches but they're too narrow and the car rides a fraction too high (similiar to the AutoArt). I still say it looks great however and is a steal at less than $50 in either yellow/silver, red/gold or orange/gold.

 

This got me thinking – I wonder if the rear stance on the P400 (where the rear wheel arch is looks built to accommodate a much wider rear track) was how Gandini initially visualised the car, or whether his intention was that the finished product would look more like the SV? As far as I’m aware, the rolling chassis would have been available to Gandini when he was styling the car, which makes me wonder why the bodywork of the P400 appears not to fit the car it’s designed to clothe?
Was the car consciously designed to look like that?

 

Inconclusive but possible evidence here that the anaemic rear stance is not how the car was originally intended to look:
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really interesting !!!

 

I would be interested to know how model manufacturers sculpt their scaled replicas. Going on the differences between the different brands it seems even the likes of AutoArt and Kyosho still do it the old fashioned way. Maybe the high end resin models by APM etc. are different? Has anyone ever actually scanned a real Miura?

...and happy Easter to all here!

 

As I understand it takes some adjusting when scaling down. This has to to with the human eye or the human perspective or the human brain. A model just scaled down looks out of proportion (similar to how a color 'looks' darker on a smaller object).
Therefore the art of making scale models is making the model look good, and that's probably where differences come in. In 1/43 and 1/64 scale this should be more applicable than in 1/24 - 1/18 - 1/12 or even 1/8 models.

 

Is there any facts about Miura's prodution numbers?
Wikipedia says these:
P400 1966-1969 = 275 cars
P400S 1968-1971 = 388 cars
SV 1971-1973 = around 150 cars

How close to the truth, these amounts are, and year of manufacture?
I'm asking these because classic Motor Show in Finland will be offer the Miura after 3 weeks 3-4th of May. Seems it's the car which were seen in Top Gear episode driven by Hammond; P400S I suppose?
I'm going to write some story about Miura's history on my own site; and I need some facts about the production numbers and so on, just geting things right.
LIke; chassis materials and body panels and so on. Seems like most of it were steel but some big parts were aluminium?
And what about the gearbox, was it straight cutted-gears or not? I have two kind of informations of this.

If someone could help me; I would be appreciated. I have searched some sites from the net but the "around 140" cars is not what I'm looking for really.

Thank you for your help!