Is this the Italian Job Miura ?

A perforated leather headrest is rare in a Miura. It is made of five leather stripes which are perforated with hole patterns repeated all along the stripe. Each stripe begins with a random pattern that is different from one stripe to another and of course different from one car to another.
If we compare the Miura headrest in the movie and the one of #3586, they are strictly identical. Not only do they have the same color and same very rare perforated leather, but each stripe of leather starts with the exact same pattern of holes in both cases. What's more, there is a bigger hole on the bottom of the headrest followed by a series of smaller holes. This bigger holes is present on both cars at exactly the same place. Could that be a coincidence ?
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Another view and comparison. The snapshot is from when Beckerman enters the tunnel.

1,2,3,4,5 : note that on each of the 5 leather stripes, the perforated pattern is strictly identical. Look at the first holes on each of the stripes. The pattern starts with the exact same holes on both cars

6 : On the lower leather strip, there is only one bigger hole located on the left. The big hole is at the same place on both cars

7 : The left screw : the seam of the bottom of the headrest passes through the first third of the screw. Same on both cars

8 : The right screw : the seam of the bottom of the headrest passes through the middle of the screw. Same on both cars
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What about the slight depression in the door panels on either side of the green arrows in your photos (message 24), they look very similar.

 

Yes they look the same. Another similarity.

Thanks.

 

Well, my last post on the headrest has not brought much reaction so here is the center console comparison.

The center console shows six gauges and is covered with leather. On the top of the center console there is a stitching that is normally straight. On the Italian job Miura the stitching shows three clearly visible defaults. These defaults are present on #3586 at the same place.
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It would be difficult to replicate those oddities on another car in the same positions. They certainly look the same to me.

 

So far I am thinking it is the same car, except that the dash in the Italian Job Miura is black (unless its a B&W image) and the one on 3586 is clearly brown.

Great job with the comapro effort, by the way.
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Thanks. The dash on #3586 is black but the picture does not reflect the true color.
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#3586 today and a snapshot of the Italian job.
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Okay thanks for clarifying! Accordingly, I think it is indeed the same car...

 

Nice work on the head rest and center console comparisons. Those features are like fingerprints in my opinion, and they are a very good match. I agree it looks like the same car.

Cheers Jim

 

I think you stunned some of us into silence . The headrest / console convinced me. Nice.

-mick

 

It might be down to the pictures that are available of the Italian Job car but does the stitching look darker, especially on the dash?

That being said, the other dash similarities are telling.

 

When the elements published here had first been showed to few people, the same main objection came out : "this looks like the same car but in the movie the Miura looks dark orange (Rosso Miura) whereas #3586 is light orange (Arancio Miura)".
We tried to find an explanation, first thinking that maybe #3586 had been repainted from Rosso Miura to Arancio when one of the previous owner looked into a registry and saw that Arancio color and thought it was the original one, and that maybe the registries are wrong and the original color is not Arancio, ...

Well, the explanation came with a picture given to us by a former crew member of the movie.
It had been taken during the shooting with an Hasselblad camera showing the fake car (I don't know how to call it) in the accident scene outside the tunnel.
It has to be pointed out that the movie was shot in 35 mm and that many parameters (such as filters, type of film roll used, ...) resulted in the colors on the screen being lightly altered from reality. On the other hand, the Hasselblad camera does not alter the colors.
The picture showed here under now belongs to the British Film Institute and can be retrieved in their archives under reference #Bfi-00o-7xx.

We can clearly see on the picture here under that in the movie screenshot, the car appears rosso Miura (dark orange) whereas in reality, as shot by the Hasselblad, it is Arancio Miura (a lighter orange). It is also obvious to say that the wrecked car had been repainted in the same color as the driving car to match.
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Another comparison of a screenshot of the original movie, the Hasselblad picture, and a recent picture of #3586 shows the same body color on #3586 and the Hasselblad picture.
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This is truly an amazing thread. The stitching is more convincing that a trail of signed paperwork. The seat color is the only thing unanswered but I cannot see how it is possible this is not the same dash and headrests. The stitching is completely unique to the car. And this cannot be faked.

BTW this is a great way to do the documentation.

I've spent most of my life in proving things legally and I cannot think of more convincing
proof. Wow.

 

Totally agree.

 

a small detail is that both movie cars has no driver side mirror,could have been added later ?
what year(later or early cars) mirror is that on 3586?

 

The mirror has probably been added at some point, when exactly I don't know.

 

350GT steering wheel on the wreck??

John

 

I have just been confirmed that this is actually Enzo Moruzzi who is the driving the Miura.
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So what, if anything, does all this mean? Is it potentially worth a lot more if it's purportedly a "movie car"? We've had the ex-Sinatra, ex-Rod Stewart, ex-Toni Iommi, ex-Shah/Cage etc. etc. Where's things at with this particular car now? Any updates?

 

Stitching pictures are very persuasive. Great piece of investigative work you have done. As a side note, some of the details you point to as potentially unique are common to many cars, such as the round exhaust tips and the black door trim, so to me they are less persuasive individually (but on the whole help to NOT disprove). Regardless, it's pretty hard to argue against the stitching evidence and the other "commonalities". It's cool and someone might up-pay for the association with the movie, if that is a goal.

 

What is sure is that the "Italian Job" is an icon of a movie. And the opening scene is something that probably all car nuts do remember. I have been told that the film is played on TV at least once a year in UK.
It is not the car of a famous people, it is a car of a famous movie.
It is probably one of the most famous Miura, and long thought after one.
So yes, I would tend to think that it is worth more than a regular Miura P400.

 

I just watch this film for the first time, I can't believe that I have never seen it before. Great movie and an awesome opening seen!