After 5 years ??????????????? We found already 3 sets within that period, and I still know another location with a set....
The majority of clients who live in the UK and other RHD countries, who drive their cars, will want a RHD car. There is always relatively strong demand for good RHD Miuras.
True again, but RHD countries form a limited market - countries in blue on the map below - compared to LHD countries, and in this global market, by sheer numbers the vast majority of people looking for a Miura will want a LHD car. As Johnny & Olivier were musing, one wonders why the Furlonger Miura - a good RHD Miura I think - hasn't sold for over a year, especially with it's claimed provenance as 1967 London Motor Show Car, First RHD Miura built, a matching numbers example, and with accompanying Lamborghini Certification. Perhaps it's the pricing but I think if it were LHD with the same credentials, it would be sold by now simply because there are globally more people looking for LHD cars. To underscore this, Furlonger did sell a LHD P400 this summer. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Lamps Ablaze. 3249, the rarely-seen ex-Briggs Cunningham P400, steeped in history. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Joe, other than the incorrect Lamborghini rear script and wipers, are other details on the car correct? Beautiful car and ownership history doesn’t get much cooler.
Thank you, Cunningham's manufacturer and Le Mans exploits history is very cool, and to top it off he also won the America's Cup. We looked into this and we believe the Lamborghini rear script and wipers are correct to this P400. Cunningham was a VIP client of Estes' who liked to spec his cars however he wished, and we note there are other P400 supplied with chrome wipers (3303, 3540 and surely others besides), and we note that there were actually a fair few P400 supplied with the Lamborghini rear script (3087, 3171, 3204, 3318, 3300, 3342, 3357, 3384 etc), and whilst some cars surely had the badge added later, it's clear a number of P400 left the factory with the Lamborghini script, so it isn't incorrect per se. With Miura production, the key thing to remember is, there were component variances throughout the production range. The car was correctly restored, with the addition of a plumbed-in fire extinguisher.
Here's the ex-General Motors P400 3186 driven by it's first private owner, retired GM designer Ed Taylor, who kept it as GM received it, with chrome wipers. That's yours truly trying to chase him in our SV. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ah, interesting. My early P400 (3102, car #54) currently has the rear Lamborghini script, and I have photos of it from 1970 showing it present, so I too, had hoped it was original to the car. Recently though, I discovered it was the Sandie Shaw Miura and the Miura from the movie “Some Like it Sexy” , in which it clearly shows the badge was not there originally. Seems likely to me that the earliest P400 cars were all without it, but as you always prove - you can never say never with a Miura.
On the LHD/ RHD I suppose the RHD were produced in smaller numbers and therefore more exclusive. I'm clutching at straws! With regard to my RHD Countach I specifically wanted a RHD UK model as I like the UK history and I will be mainly driving it on the UK roads so LHD is less desirable for me. However if I was lucky enough to be in the market for a Muira then would want a LHD to make it more marketable due to the higher value etc. LHD does make it seem even more exotic as well on the British roads.
When I was looking for my Countach, I was just after the "right" car, I owned a RHD 5000s and loved it (should never have sold it!) but owned left hookers prior to. So would have been happy with either. I ended up with LHD and drive on UK roads with no issues. Although makes for interesting adventure on roundabouts as limited visibility. But I have a system and it works. I suppose an advantage for me is that when the time comes to sell (loooong way off) then I suspect I'll have more options to ship the car overseas. But that was never really part of my thought process for purchase. I just wanted another Countach!
Agree Rob .. I would have bought a LHD/ RHD, the main thing was finding the right car. I'm not sure how much more marketable it now makes it though as anyone buying from Europe now that we aren't part of Europe will have to pay tax on it. I think if bringing back to the original European country it was delivered to then they wouldn't have to pay tax, but I may be wrong. I have two LHD cars that I drive in the UK and it does add to their exotic charm on the British roads for sure.
Sorry but I do not agree. The early P400's (in fact most all P400's) did NOT have the "Lamborghini" script on the rear. On the Cunningham car, that badge was undoubtedly added later.
We can all agree that the vast majority of P400 production cars came from the factory without the Lamborghini script, and they do look cool that way. If you happen to have or buy a car that has the script and would prefer it without, removing it without trace isn't a major thing. However, during my research for the publication of my Miura book, I learned that with the Lamborghini factory of that era, there were always variances in the typical production specification because they were always trying new things out or were honoring special order requests, for example, I have images of 2 different P400 with chrome trim as requested, and along similar lines here's photographic poof that the factory themselves applied the Lamborghini script to the rear panel of some Miura P400 examples. Image Unavailable, Please Login
This is interesting. Wonder what the year of the photo is and where along the production number sequence these bonnets are.
Vince, I am confused. It sounds like you DO agree with me, who stated that at least the earliest P400’s were all without it. I was just politely conceding to Joe (who certainly has done more research than I) that perhaps an errant later P400 here or there might have come with them, but since my car is an early car, those specific cars are the ones that I have done the most research on.
Yep! I do agree with you...that the early cars did NOT have them. I did not agree with the proposition that some of the early cars had the Lamborghini badge on the back. I have not seen evidence to that effect.
The file notes the images as taken by Peter Coltrin at Sant Agata in February 1968 (just 2 months after our subject car was completed) so we know these are P400 rear hoods. Exactly that, this is what I understand, and I have seen similar production anomalies with P400S and SVs too, this was Italy in the 1960s! I also understand the badges were likely installed at Bertone SpA's Grugliasco plant even before the bodies were transferred to Sant Agata for the running gear. Bottom line, who knows exactly what happened 53 years ago, but whatever the case I am confident some P400 left the works with a Lamborghini badge, as always when discussing Lamborghini production of that era, you can't say they all came a certain way and be 100% correct, there were apparently some production variances for whatever reason.
Bull on the Farm. A couple more of 3249 taken by the talented Erik Fuller last week. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The factory records just state 'Bleu' which is understood to be Bleu Miura PPG 1-446-101, a color which was seen most often assigned to blue Miura P400 production cars. It might very well be the same as Bleu Acrilico, considering Lamborghini's inconsistently recorded records, if there is a variance I'm not sure what it is. As I understand it Acrilico was sometimes written down to denote that the car was painted in acrylic lacquer paint so perhaps Bleu Miura and Bleu Acrilico aren't different. Update - I just checked my archives and for what it's worth Sales Department secretary Ingrid Pussich's original handwritten notebook recordings (presumably the source or guide of the subsequent typed lists) only note the basic color of the car such as Verde, Rosso, Bleu etc. Image Unavailable, Please Login
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/1967-lamborghini-miura-p400-2-900-miles-one-off-grigio-titanio-rosso-built-for-a-ferrari-vip.652172/ Image Unavailable, Please Login