Miura, the original supercar

This is SVJ 4990 @ Cremonini Carrozzeria SrL

Correct, SVJs are SVs with front & rear hoods (and other details) built with Jota features

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4990 being personally delivered by Ferruccio Lamborghini to Albert Silvera when new

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The factory could convert any Miura variant into an SVJ, remember a P400 or P400S chassis can be upgraded, this was done by the factory. The factory made SVJs starting @ 1971 during SV production years and continued to do so even after Miura production had stopped in the 70s and beyond. When you say SVJ nowadays, most people think of the original SV chassis that the works turned into the now so-called SVJs, but some earlier variants such as 3781 became SVJs as well. 3781 came back to the factory a 2nd time to become the SVR.

Another P400S they converted to SVJ was Lamborgini CEO Patrick Mimran's own P400S 4088, which as late as 1986 became the final works-built SVJ, albeit one built well after the production period, shown below with Mimran's Diowndraft.

A great idea.

Me too

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You are right about the SV's chassis, but the factory did convert at least two P400S (3781 & 4088) into SVJs, granted some might not accept them as genuine SVJs, whilst some may argue that it was done by the factory so it doesn't matter if they had the thicker gauge SV chassis or not. If the criteria for a genuine SVJ is that it must have an SV chassis then of course those cars would be excluded. The debate about which cars are really SVJs is subjective.

Hard to tell, and I thought this image was from the summer of 1986, but anything is possible.

 

The early history of 3781 as far as I can make out with a little help from both Lamborghini SpA and Heinz Steber is:

November 1968 - Factory Miura S displayed at the 50th Turin Motor Show.

30th November 1968 - Production number 383, fitted with engine number 2511, Verde Miura/Nero, sold via Lamborauto, Turin

Circa 1971 - Converted by the works to SVJ specification - see image below

1974 - Brought to the factory by Henz Steber to be converted into an SVR, a project which is said to have taken over a year

Recently Polo Storico restored it and Lamborghini SpA made this proclamation https://www.lamborghini.com/en-en/news/polo-storico-restored-rarest-miura-ever

However, I tend to agree though that the cars we refer to today as SVJ are cars built during the SV production period from an SV chassis

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Certainly, you cannot increase the basic gauge of the steel throughout the chassis of an earlier variant to duplicate that of an SV, you might as well just get a new SV chassis!

So I agree with all, especially Marchesi, who indeed would know.

What I am talking about is reinforcing a chassis by means of buttressing certain areas of the chassis of an earlier variant to make it more rigid like an SV's, and increasing the rear suspension mounting points to conform to SV dimensions, Bobileff & others reported about this in some detail within this thread a number of years ago.

 

Of course, no question!

All the Miuras I owned were genuine SVs, their supposed superior chassis and other improvements was a factor in that choice.

Essentially what I wrote in my book, but that was based on my research well over 10 years ago and I have since heard the theory that the chassis gauge got progressively thicker, I really don't know which is correct.