The Shah of Iran Miura

DD's are quick. I can't believe you could buy a car so fast back in the 80's. If you watch
Jay Lenos garage scene about the countach he compares it in speed with a new corvette, which is a little crazy when you consider a 20yr age difference. It would be a little sad if a car made 20yrs ago was still the fastest thing on the street. imo


This particular Miura is a stunning color. If nobody minds, I will post another picture.
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properly running DDs are seriously fast cars, expecially with a sport exhaust and tuned carbs,
please keep in mind they are still quite light for a 5200 cc V12 exotic

a good QV with sport exhaust is not really slower than a regular diablo

this said, and as with all vintage lamborghinis..., there are some that are quite a bit faster than stock (as the known Martini's red one)...
i am not sure who clocked this 11.4
but is not so hard to believe for me the car could be around this number
this one is likely one of the fast carbed QVs

p.s. one fault i find on QVs: they are less nimble to drive than the 400-400S countach,
stock VS stock, their steering feel like a truck compared to the lighter 4 liter cars

 

The recording was on a drag strip during a filming of a discovery channel story. I was driving and saw the readout. That said, I could be remembering a .9 or .8 as a .4, but it was in the 11s, I remember that clearly. A properly set up DD is a seriously fast car, even compared to my scuderia

 

Correct Emilio. Having experienced both, Id say the QV feels heavier than the 4 litre cars, and not just in steering alone.

 

yes a DD is quick but...
?? a McLaren F1 does the 1/4 mile in 11.6 so somebody made a mistake here ?? perhaps its 13.4??

 

For those of you familiar with my collection, some of you have known that my childhood dream was to have a Green miura. For many years and priceless memories I have had the good fortune to own 4870, the Shahs SV.

Recently, I had a call from a friend in Switzerland who mentioned a very prominent collector in Bahrain wanted to bring 4870 back to it's first home in the Middle East.

The offer that was made made me do alot of soul searching, and I decided to sell. Part of my decision was where the car was going, and part was some other key things I wanted to move on to.

I've always wanted that green miura, and a few other keystones to my collection. I've always also dreamed of doing the Ferrari Challenge. After the car arrived in it's new home in Bahrain, I did both.

I happy to have a wonderful Miura S which is in Gary Bobileffs cabable hands. I also added a few more cars. I have enjoyed the feedback from this forum and I will continue to share. I will post photos of the restoration of the Miura S on this site if you are interested.
I am close to completing my Lamborghini collection. When I am completed I will post photos of a sort of museum.

I've also bought a new F430 Challenge car and am training for next season. If your interested I will post photos in the Challenge section.

 

John, thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge of 4870 with everyone here over the last twelve months. I'm sorry to see it's gone but it's great to hear that there's another Miura in it's place and and you're that much closer to completing your collection.

 

Hope the new owner will be as passionate as you are. And hope we'll still get some news about 4870.

By the way don't hesitate to share info about the rest of your Lamborghini collection!

 

I have a great 1999 Diablo GT-R to add to your collection...

Every Lambo collection has to have at least ONE Race car of history in it.

 

There are a lot of nice studio pics of this car in Joe's book. I hope the current owner takes good care of it and maybe uses it in the US/EU at some historic events. Would be a shame to put this car in a private museum...

 

If I may suggest you... add a beautiful Islero to your collection, as you already have a Jarama GT

 

Been driving the Jarama GT to work for the last month. Fantastic driving car. Really comfortable and powerful.

Roy:

Working on two very very important Racing cars. Hope to have news soon.

The cars are scattered to the four winds getting sorted but should have them pulled together in March. When I'm done, it should be one of the most complete private collections I am aware of. I will post pictures soon.

Thanks everyone for such great feedback.

 

John, thanks for sharing such great info on such a special car. Sad to see it go. I imagine it will go to a good home and hopefully it will be shared as it was with you. Some cars get hidden into collections never to surface for years.

Allow me to repost some special pics you've posted here
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Just glad I am not the only "nut" that loves aquiring these cars...I just wish I had more room to add more cars. My next "unveiling" will be my LP400 Periscopa...thinkin maybe March or April...BOY have I waited for that car forever..LOL LOL

Also been goin back and forth on a real real nice S-2 low body that is now available as well..

 

Thats great news, at least you have enjoyed the car and are now moving onto several others in its place. I really enjoy the pictures John so the more the merrier.

Well done and the lady in that photo above is extremely beautiful!!

 

John you are living the dream!!!

 

Ok I have been following this thread for awhile
reading bits and parts every now and then.

Its probably the best thread I have ever seen on Fhat

The question that has been bugging me is WHO IS THAT GIRL!????

 

Umm no....i's ok really it is...

 

John:

Dont worry. This car went through a lot, and its suffering in the last few years before it left Iran meant many interior components were not original any longer, as you already know. There is always something more special around the corner, no matter how special what you think you had was.

The pics below are how I got it. Unfortunately the Italian owners who got it out of Iran did more harm than good with a really cheapskate restoration which I had to completely undo, and then redo, over the 4 years I owned it. The Swiss gentleman who supplied the car declared it perfect, but it was far from perfect. There was a lot of confusion about its history. In fact, in recent weeks a gentleman from the Middle East has all but confirmed something that has always nagged me about this car that you will notice if you are an astute Miura observer. Remember the 'Jotanized' fixed headlights treatment it received before it left Iran because they couldn't get the headlights to work? Well, when the car got to Italy, in the course of the corner-cutting refurbishment (complete with some Countah parts - I'm not kidding!), it was deemed that the original SV hood was too "butchered" to warrant repair and a P400 unit was substituted with mods to the headlight apertures and bumper opening to replicate the SV style. The aforementioned gentleman claims he has located the original hood lying at the Italian coach-builders (so he says, I have yet to see pics). Anyway, this jives with my nagging concerns because the front hood had no production number stamping (always a sign of a replaced hood), and if you look at the shape of it in the pic below before Gary corrected it you can see it is clearly a short-nose, narrow (from side-to-side) grille opening type of hood as used on a P400. The traditional SV bumper would not fit so the unit in there is courtesy of a mod by the Italian coach-builder. Although I have no documentary proof or images, I now know enough to know that's not the original front hood on it.

4870 is also special to me because it was my first Miura, and although I was a bit inexperienced back in those days, I did my best to refurbish it.

Either way, a very historic car with quite a life!
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Joe:

There is such bad blood between you and Simon!!!

Not to worry. There were many honest mistakes made. The first guy made mistakes. Being your first, even you made some mistakes in restoration. (filler cap, front grill, interior) We all learn. And after exhausting research, (and finding the original color pics of the car in Iran), and a lot of bucks, I finally put it right. While I have no more interest in the car, I can say that more than one person thinks it's by far the most valuable SV ever.

In any case, She's now in amazing shape, totally correct, back in the land she where she was delivered new.

 

Joe:

The rumors of much the interior being removed prior to its export from Iran, were greatly exaggerated.

Photo #1 is an interior photo taken just before its export out of iran.

Photos #2 is my restoration afterwards:
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It, no doubt, is a beautifully restored SV with an incredibly interesting history. It might even be the most valuable SV ever. The by far might be a bit of an exaggeration. You are entitled to a little bias, however. Lord knows that I am a little biased about my SV!

 

I agree to some it is the most valuable SV.

No bad blood at all John: the car was grossly misrepresented, plain & simple. The last time I purchased a car without seeing it

 

There is no doubt that John spared no expense in terms of monetary, detail, and emotional facets to treat this special vehicle the way it was meant to be treated. Especially noteworthy was, and is, his propensity to share this car's story with everyone here.

Bravo John for seeing it through and being a phenomenal steward of an equally phenomenal machine!

 

Erik:

I learned a lot with that car, and as John says I made a lot of mistakes. But boy did I learn from them! I agree that to the 'right' person its the most valuable SV. I still have a soft spot for it, but as with many historic cars, it has lead a charmed life.