The complete rear section of the car was modified, the rear louvers covering the engine were removed, the tail lights changed and the exhaust pipes now went through the lower grill. Various small changes were made to the rear section of the original Miura, like lowering the roof line by 3 cm and changing the angle ‘rake’ of the windscreen. All this was necessary to eliminate undesired turbulence at 300 Km/h even without the roof, which was actually never even built in the end, the Miura Roadster didn’t have a roof panel at all.

Also note the air intakes behind the side windows were larger compared to the factory built Miura to allow more fresh air to be pulled into the engine bay, while the ‘built in’ rear spoiler was also larger than normal on the Roadster in fact Bertone even went as far as strengthening the chassis of their Miura to counteract the fact there was no roof left to keep the car from flexing, as a matter of fact there were no side windows on the Miura Roadster either because the rake of the windshield was modified the original side windows could not be used.

The interior also had to be modified, mainly because the switches from the overhead console found inside the regular Miura had to be installed elsewhere inside the car (they would end up on the central console), and the Bertone steering wheel showed a great similarity with the one found inside the Marzal and the Espada prototype both built by Bertone too.

The car was finished in a bright-metallic azure blue shade, while the interior was upholstered in a magnolia (almost white) dye leather (just like on the first 350 GTV in fact). The impact this show prototype had in Brussels and later on in Geneva was massive, but this was to remain stricktly a one-off, many owners requested a Miura Roadster from the factory, but Automobili Lamborghini SpA never officially delivered a Miura Roadster or even made a replica, while as mentioned earlier Bertone had never built a top or side windows for this prototype.

The Miura Roadster became also known as the Miura Spider or Miura Spyder, but her official denomination was the Miura Roadster, the original car was sold to the ILZRO in 1969, the International Lead and Zinc Research Corporation, a company delivering various metals to the car industry like aluminum, zinc and different alloys.

The ILZRO decided to buy a Miura some time earlier to reconstruct using their own metals and alloys to showcase their technology on various auto shows worldwide, but Lamborghini declined their request for a production Miura however with the Miura Roadster they had an oportunity of a lifetime this wasn’t a production car, so together with Bertone and Lamborghini the ILZRO was able to do just about anything they wanted.

Chassis number 3498 was completely disassembled the moment it arrived in New York, all possible parts were changed into zinc-plated, chrome-plated, polished or re-manufactured using some metal (like lead!) made or distributed by the ILZRO, some of these items included the carburettor bodies, the carburettors stacks, engine covers, transmission covers, oil pump, filter housings, exhaust system, radiator, interior switches, the steering whee, the wheels themselves and both front and rear bumpers.

These modifications were all directed by John Foster, who was actually a designer for Ford. But the result was rather special, the Miura Roadster was converted into the Zn75, an ILZRO show car a mere Miura replica almost, she looked like a Miura, but she was totally different even in her exterior shade.

Bertone usually used bright colors and contrasting black detail work like as seen on the original Miura Roadster prototype, but the Zn75 featured chrome details and was finished in a metallic green sprayed over a black metallic base giving a strange dark green pearl like color (iridescent gold-green), with a contrasting brown leather upholstery it looked totally different from most Lamborghini Miura.

The name also changed, now into the ‘Zn75’, a name taken from the periodic table of metals used for this modification. The Zn75 first appeared in May 1969 after which she was flown all over the world to various Auto Show and shown to automotive companies worldwide, always attracting a lot of attention, when her job was over, the Miura Zn75 was auctioned off to S.F. Radtke, the Executive Vice President of the Ilzro at that time.

In late 1980 the Miura Zn75 was completely refurbished by Synthetex Inc. and valued at $186,000 when Mr Radtke donated the car to the Brookline Museum of Transportation in Massachusets, U.S.A. in February 1981. The Miura was then shown in this museum for a long time were it was for sale at one time for only $ 50,000, later it was restored for the museum by J. Geils from KTR Engineering who was actually on the board at the museum.

After the restoration the car was sold at an unknown auction for a rumored $200,000. Later this rare Miura was auctioned again and bought by David Joliffe of the UK based Portman group, who intended to start a Lamborghini museum featuring this very unique Miura, however the Miura Zn75 was subsequently sold to a Japanese collector, who sold it again to an owner in France before she went to the United States.

The original Miura Zn75 changed hands several times over the last few years before it ended up in the United States, owned by a New York based real estate developer, Adam Gordon who decided to have the car restored to the 1968 Brussels Salon original by the well known Miura restoration specialist Gary Bobileff starting in 2006.

The total restoration of this one of a kind Lamborghini would take about two years before the Miura Roadster would once again be shown in her original 1968 livery at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where she took second place and was driven onto the stage by none other than Valentino Balboni in 40 years the Lamborghini Miura Roadster had covered only 7,444 km in total.

In late 2008 the unique Miura Roadster was offered for sale by the Kidston Auction house, no price was mentioned, but with this being the most important Miura in existance it might even be the most important Lamborghini ever next to the 350GTV prototype being both a Lamborghini factory and a Bertone concept show car, and to really make it even more interesting all the ILZRO Zn75 parts had been meticulously retained you could even build a second Miura Zn75 next to this original Miura Roadster if you wanted.

In 2013 CNN had this very special Lamborghini valued by Hagerty Insurance they came up with a value between $8,000,000 and $10,000,000 making her the most valuable Lamborghini ever, Hagerty Insurance valued the 350GTV at ‘only’ $3,500,000 to $5,000,000.

As usual such a one of a kind prototype had several Miura owner request a Roadster from the factory, but they made no intentions of actually producing an open-top Miura, be it because it would be too expensive to make it road worthy or the fact the removal of the roof caused the body to flex bottom line is the factory refused every request. However some owners took their original Miura to a workshop and had it modified into a Roadster replica by just removing the roof section above the seats.

As far as we know none of these Roadster replicas had the modified rake on the windshield, nor the special, larger air intakes on the side or new engine cover, one of the more famous replica is a white Miura transformed by Herbert Hahne, the German Lamborghini importer, this one also featured wider wheel rims and additional bodywork changes making it look like a Jota Roadster.

Later on this car was repainted in silver metallic and the deep front spoiler and large rear wing were removed before the French owner had her repainted again in a bright green shade note that this Miura did have a roof that could be mounted back in place, unlike the real Miura Roadster still only one Miura Roadster exists, and all the replicas probably only lower the value of the original Miura on which they are built.

The post 1968 Lamborghini Miura Roadster (Zn75) appeared first on LamboCars.

That is when the Jota comes into the picture, probably the most spectacular Lamborghini ever made and to date the most ambitious project Bob Wallace worked on during his days at Automobili Lamborghini back in 1970 he wanted to build a pure bred racing machine based on the magnificent Miura. Hence the name as the syllable ‘J’ is pronounced Yota in Italian, and coincidence or not appendix J was part of the International Auto Racing rulebook of that era.

But we all know the late Ferruccio didn’t have much intention to race any of his cars, so while he did allow Bob to use the factory tools, a genuine chassis from the line (number 5084 to be exact) and even use one of the brand new engines (number 30744 in fact) as a basis for his ‘toy’ but Bob did have a daytime job at the factory, so the Miura Jota had to developed during evenings and weekends.

From a distance the Jota still looked like a Miura, but up close a lot was different, just about the entire car was developed from the ground up most of the bodywork was now made from Avional, a very light, composite alloy usually only found in the aircraft industry, but Bob also removed the floor of the steel chassis and replaced it with this much lighter alloy. Back to the outside, the Miura Jota looked like a race car on the outside using fixed headlights covered by plastic covers that could be quickly replaced during a race if needed. Up front a large chin spoiler was mounted to counteract any lift due to the high speeds this Bull could reach.

All over the new bodywork air intakes and outlets were cut into the alloy, allowing cool air to enter and hot air to leave the car as smoothly as possible, in the hood two large, open outlets were present, just behind them a quick fuel filler it was to be a race car after all right. Behind the front wheels two massive vents were cut and both side windows had been replaced by plastic units with small sliding parts to allow a draft of air into the cockpit which didn’t have any air conditioning naturally, that’s only extra weight which means less performance.

The usual twin windshield wipers were removed and a single, parallelogram-action race wiper was mounted, on the roof two additional air intakes rammed air into the engine compartment while the louvers from the original Miura remain on the engine cover, however two more air outlets were cut in the rear panel and the entire lower grille was removed instead a quartet of thundering exhaust pipes were visible now.

Campagnolo supplied some of the widest, magnesium wheels on the market in the Seventies, a massive 12 inch wide at the back and 9 inch up front, 15 inch tall rolling initially on Dunlop racing slicks which were replaced by Pirelli later on. Years later Bob Wallace would mention he based the design of the Jota wheels on those found on a Bizzarrini, but let’s say this is part of the legend. Because of these ultra wide wheels the entire suspension also had to be redesigned, something Bob Wallace intended from the start naturally, he also created a near perfect weight distribution by putting a large spare wheel right at the back of the chassis and moving the single fuel tank into the side sills, 60 liter each something that would be the downfall of the Jota later on unfortunately.

With all that weight saving and redesign it would be wrong to leave the interior alone, so Bob Wallace completely stripped away everything he could get rid of, the dashboard was replaced with a lightweight plate holding only the strictly necessary dials and switches, the central console was never to be seen again and the roof mounted switches were placed on the dashboard itself now. The seats were replaced with padded foam ‘bags’ hanging from the structure between the cockpit and the engine perhaps not too comfortable, but it sure saved a lot of weight in the end.

As for the engine no doubt another masterpiece by Bob Wallace, he boosted the compression ratio, installed modified cams and a completely electronic ignition system add a dry sump lubrication to avoid having the engine oil all on one side during hard cornering and a somewhat louder exhaust with four megaphones and a nice 440 horsepower rating is the result. Note Bob actually used Islero sourced oil radiators for this Jota and a gearbox with closer ratios by the way, the pedals in the Jota hung from above, on the regular Miura the pedals actually stand up, another major modification only seen on the Jota.

Ferruccio still didn’t want to have one of his cars on the track, but he did allow to have the Miura Jota rigorously field tested, so it covered over 20,000 Kms on Pirelli test tracks with a proud Bob behind the wheel these test runs led to the development of the H60 VR15 tire that would be mounted on the ‘street’ Miura so the Jota was used as a test bed for new suspension development and tire testing under heavy strain but economic troubles would decide the Jota’s faith.

On February 8. 1972 the Jota was sold to InterAuto in Brescia for an undisclosed amount of money, imagine owning a one of a kind Miura that was more a race car than a road car to be honest, and it showed a mechanic would become a little over enthusiast while showboating the car to his girlfriend he hit the side of a bridge, ripping the side mounted fuel tanks causing the Jota to catch fire and burn down completely the fire was so intense most of the bodywork was destroyed, but also the chassis was warped beyond repair.

The Lamborghini Miura Jota was no more but at least it did get some attention in the automotive press which led to several inquiries by Miura owners who liked to have their own, standard Miura turned into a Jota edition. The factory never accepted building a second Jota, however several regular Miura were rebuilt to a certain level of Jota specifications some sources call these the Miura SVJ model.
Most of these factory replicas only had some bodywork modifications that included the extra intakes and outlets, most of them also got the fuel filler seen on the Jota, only three did get a dry sump lubrication none of them came even remotely close to the original Jota.

If we can rely on documentation of that time we can state the factory built these SVJ replicas on the following chassis numbers: 4860, 4990, 3781 and 5090, while the real Jota was built on chassis number 5084, with engine number 30744. As stated only the first three of these replicas had a dry-sump lubrication. The nr. 4860 was built for Hubert Hahne in Dusseldorf, Germany, the nr. 4990 was sold to Alberto Silvera in Port au Prince, Haiti, while a third one went to France.

But hold on there are still dedicated people out there, that have the means to realize their dreams, no matter at what cost so here comes Piet Pulford, a long time Lamborghini owner from the United Kingdom who invested 15 years and a massive amount of money to recreate the Lamborghini Miura Jota and he succeeded!

Piet started with a beaten, old Miura (#3033) sourced in the United States, but that didn’t matter as not much of the original car would remain in the end. The extensive bodywork and chassis modifications were entrusted to Chris Lawrence (Wymondham Engineering) in Norfolk note the entire front and rear section were only held onto the Jota by locating pins and Dzus fasteners to allow easy and quick removal.

Final assembly over the modified chassis wasn’t as easy as it might sound, once the engine, which was built by none other than Bob Wallace himself in Arizona to be as exact a replica of the original Jota engine and transmission as possible, oil tanks and auxiliaries required to run this car were fitted the massive lightweight sections were to be fitted very patiently. Don’t forget there is a large, quick fuel filler up front, peaking up into the front hood while at the rear we have four massive exhausts sticking out. But Roger Constable (The Car Works), also from Norfolk, pulled it together perfectly even Bob Wallace didn’t think it would be possible to recreate the Jota he even commented the workmanship on this second rendition of the Miura Jota could very well be better than his own back in the Seventies.

The Miura Jota used four massive exhaust pipes that looked very nice and purposeful on the car for track use, unfortunately the recreation of these were done so good they were just too loud to be used on the road, so Mr Pulford had four restrictors made for his Jota, these would just slide over the pipes and bring the sound level down enough to avoid being pulled over by the police every few Miles.

Due to the efforts of Piet Pulford we can now admire the Miura Jota once more, and listen to it when that free breathing 4 liter V12 engine comes to life you do not want to be standing at the rear of this car, the sound is deafening just like a Le Mans race car, at idle the sound is raw only touch the throttle mildly and an animal howl emits from the exhausts, put some more revs onto the engine and the sound goes beyond anything you might imagine.

Driving the Jota recreating proved surprisingly smooth, sure the front suspension transmits everything right up into the steering wheel, the sheet metal between the engine and the cockpit becomes way too hot to handle after a drive, there is no fuel gauge inside so you’ll have to guess how much fuel in still underneath your elbow in the side sills. With that much tire touching the road, there is no doubt about the enormous grip you have on a dry road once it gets wet you have to be a bit more careful I’m afraid.

So one of the most impressive cars ever made at Sant’Agata had been lost for years but thanks to this UK based enthusiast the Miura Jota has been resurrected from the grave the Bull rides again!

The post Lamborghini Miura Jota – Guide appeared first on LamboCars.

As this was a one of a kind Lamborghini prototype that never entered production the option of driving a super car like the Miura without a roof was not available, however multiple owners of a regular Miura went on to customize their car by removing the roof section above the seats, hence creating a Roadster replica of some kind … sometimes called Spider or Spider … depending on which source you read.

In the Seventies and early Eighties the value of a Lamborghini wasn’t as high as these days, remember the Miura production was folding and the amazing Countach was taking over the flagship position … as beautiful and sensual a Miura might look today, at that time the Countach blew it completely out of the water with outer space looks and massive performance, remember the Countach LP400 had a top speed of 316 Km/h (196 Mph) … in 1974!

So if you wanted to get noticed in your Miura next to a Countach you had to pull some tricks from your hat … so a ‘simple’ Miura Roadster might look nice, but Lambo Motors AG in Basel took the concept one step further … why not combine the two best known Miura models into one … a Jota Roadster … now that would draw attention from that Countach …

We received different origins for this specific car, but one thing is sure, this Miura has chassis number 4808, making it production number 598 that received engine number 30583 … but then we have two different stories about it. One makes this the 1971 Geneva Show car, being finished in orange, but a second source states this car was delivered on March 26. 1971 by Foitek … in yellow !? And the plot thickens even further, the first owner, a Mr Huber in Switzerland didn’t like the shade and had it repainted in red … a brand new car in the paint booth ?

What we can say with almost certainty is the fact it was sold to Mr Zenari in 1975, a shareholder of Lambo Motors AG, who drove it on a regular basis until early 1979 … when the idea of transforming it was formed, this was a late Miura S-model that was about to receive a Spider conversion taking almost 2 years to complete, we actually received a mail from the original designer of this car, Mr Thomas Degen who worked for Lambo Motors AG at that time, naturally he remembers the car very well.

In September 1980 the Miura Jota Spider was nearly finished, adding a deep front spoiler, removing the roof section (but it still remained functional unlike the original Miura Roadster that didn’t even have a roof) and the necessary Jota look alike vents cut into the front hood, two replacing the grilles on top and two large air outlets on the side, just behind the front wheels. To make it look even better additional air extractors behind the rear wheels and broadened ‘shoulders’ were added, rumor has it the SVJ specific parts were actually supplied by the Lamborghini factory.

Naturally this required substantially more rubber at the back, so deep dish custom wheels were installed with a multi piece look and five spoke design … which required a modified suspension to keep the tire as flat as possible on the road, as an extra bonus the car was riding 40mm lower to the street now.
The bodywork was finished in a new, pearl metallic white paint that perfectly showed all the lines on this aggressive looking Bull … perhaps it was a bit too modern on a Miura for some people, but that didn’t keep this very rare car from being sold right on the 1981 Geneva Auto Show exhibit.

Apparently the large rear wing was not installed at first, it is unclear at what point it was added, but photos of the Geneva Auto Show in 1981 do show the wing already, in the end this massive spoiler was nicely integrated into the bodywork … as if it belonged there from the start.

In the Nineties a Swiss based real estate developer owned this rare car, he subsequently had it restored by Ruf in Zurich, known for their radical Porsche conversions … Mr Wicki decided that vast rear wing looked a bit outdated, so he requested to have it removed .. and while at it, the front spoiler was retired too which made this Miura look much more like the SVJ series … only with the additional bonus of a removable roof section.

During the restoration process the Miura was finished in a very appropriate silver metallic over a black and grey leather upholstery making it look well balanced … not too flashy but still very recognizable anyway, and this shade still showed the different add-ons and special design of this Miura SVJ Spider … painting it in black would effectively make it less impressive.

According to our source the car was sold in March 2000 through an auction organized by Bonhams in Geneva, rumor has it the hammer came down at CHF 180,000 (about €135,000) and this Miura went to an American collector, and now history takes some strange turns with the Miura SVJ Spider. Only a year later in 2001 the car was listed by RM Auctions … but it didn’t sell and this one of a kind Miura went unseen until it showed up at another auction. Again an auction by Bonhams, but in Monte Carlo this time, where it was listed as the ‘Geneva Motor Show 1971 Miura P400 S Jota Spider’. The estimate in the book was €120-150k, but on May 26. 2003 it was sold to a local buyer for €80,000 + fees … who apparently didn’t have any intentions of holding on to it as it was once again listed up for auction … in London.

Coys of London listed it as sold in December 2003 for a winning bid of £175,000 … but rumor has it there was no record of such a bid, so was it sold or not … facts are that only a month later this very Miura SVJ Spider showed up in MotorSport magazine … for sale by the owner in Monaco who offered it up for auction at a Bonhams auction … sounds familiar ?

The last our source knew about this silver metallic Lamborghini Miura SVJ Spider was that in July 2004 the car was still for sale in Monaco, being on display in a showroom with a price tag of £285,000 … a steep increase in price after the last time it was sold by Bonhams in Monte Carlo, but it must be said the car looked brand new now … probably a refresh restoration had been executed after it was originally restored in the Nineties.

That same year the car showed up at Autodrome-Cannes, a super car dealer with a massive reputation in Europe, they also sell the Zonda and have been selling rare and unique cars for decades … in early 2006 the Miura SVJ Roadster was on display at the Paris Rétromobile motor show, later that year it would show up at the Festival of Speed in Goodwood, next to just about every different Miura made at Sant’Agata … close to it was the Jota recreation and the SVJ once owned by the Shah of Iran … so it must have felt right at home.

As a side note … the one and only original Bertone built Lamborghini Miura Roadster changed hands for just over one million US Dollar … not bad for a comparably rare Miura model, and it must have set the price for this SVJ Spider as it was also called.

However we managed to get an update on it … at the 2008 edition of SpaItalia in Belgium I personally encountered this specific car in real life … and it wasn’t silver anymore. I managed to talk to the French owner of the Miura SVJ Spider and he told me he had the car repainted as he didn’t like the silver metallic shade, he felt it wasn’t attention grabbing enough for this special car, so he had it finished in a very bright green shade called ‘Lime Green’ … you can’t miss it now on the paddock, that’s for sure.

I must admit the car looks really nice with the widened rear section and cut in air outlets, do note that during the initial restoration by Mr Wicki the wheels were also replaced with proper Miura SV wheels, wider at the back naturally, but they look perfectly right for this car. During the SpaItalia event the owner took it onto the track a few times, sometimes with the roof in place (remember this is Belgium … it rains at the most inappropriate moments here) but whenever possible with his hair in the wind … just like this car was intended to be used back in the Eighties … having fun in a Miura with no roof and the sun on your skin … what more could you ask for ?

These days it would be unthinkable to bring your Miura into a workshop and ask them to remove the roof from it, you no longer convert any kind of Miura Spider or Roadster replica anymore, it would only reduce the real value of the car, and if you really want to drive an open-top Lamborghini, you can always buy a Murciélago Roadster, or a Diablo Roadster … at least you will still have a V12 engine howling behind your back … and have a pristine Miura to keep in shape for the future … remember the last time a perfect 1971 Miura SV was sold it fetched $1,700,000 … that would never have happened if it would have been cut open and converted into a Roadster look alike.

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The ventilated discs that appeared on the later S-models were again standard, and the chassis was further improved to offer more rigidity to cope with the extra power from the V12 engine that now pumped out 385 bhp at 7850 rpm.

On the Miura SV the engine oil and the gearbox oil were finally separated, this made the use of specific oils possible for optimal lubrication in these areas, some SV’s were even ordered with dry-sump lubrication and a self-blocking differential, which were the only available options at that time.

This separate lubrication wasn’t introduced until late 1971, so the first Miura SV’s weren’t equipped with it, the ZF-self-blocking differential was strictly optional at 275,000 Liras and was only installed on a few SV’s with features specified by the customer and only on the SV’s with dry-sump lubrication.

On the outside the most striking difference was the bulging of the rear wheel arches, they had to be widened by 13 cm compared to the S-model as the Miura SV was fitted with the new Pirelli’s. Subsequently the suspension geometry was changed from lower triangles to lower quadrilaterals, because of these new tires the track had to be widened which needed the wheel arches to be redesigned, subsequently making the Miura SV look even more intimidating.

The grill around the front headlamps was removed and the front air intakes were different, the interior became upholstered in real leather, it used to be leather-looking vinyl on the earlier Miura, and the air-conditioning became standard too, finally.

The Miura SV was the fastest production car in existence at that time, and it would remain the fastest until the introduction of the Countach. But the SV wasn’t faster than the S because the wider tires didn’t allow a higher top speed despite an increase in horsepower.

The Miura SV was in fact not a true production Lamborghini, it was built on special order only, and therefore available in very limited numbers, after being in production for 18 month Ferruccio Lamborghini ceased production after a total of 150 SV were built. Today the Miura SV has become a true collector’s item, and prices for a decent SV are all in the higher region, an excellent Miura SV easily costs more than several brand new Aventador recently a 1971 Miura SV sold for USD 1,700,000 at an auction making it the most expensive, classic Bull ever.

The Miura SV is probably the best Miura from the series, and with only 150 made one of the rarest too, yes the Miura S was built only 140 times, but take into account several SV were converted during their life, some into SVJ editions, while other have been crashed beyond repair although the latter is a matter of semantics as a car can be built up again these days from only a plaque with a chassis number if funds are available.

Originally the production of the Miura SV was halted in October 1973 as Ferruccio had the idea people were no longer interested in the Miura after seeing the Countach prototype at the same auto show that introduced the Miura SV, the 1971 Geneva Auto Show but it would take Lamborghini several more months to have the Countach LP400 available for delivery. One of the final production Miura SV was a black finished SV with a light-toned interior, it beared chassis number 5110 and was ordered by the son of Innocenti.

The car was later sold to Max Bobnar, a member of the Swiss Lamborghini Club, this late SV is still in perfect running condition today while it was actually finished in January 1973 and according to official factory documentation only three more Miura would be built after this one.

As usual with Lamborghini history nothing is perfectly clear with regards to numbers and dates, however several sources state the very last Miura SV wasn’t assembled until April 1975, this car with chassis number 5092 was rumored to be completely built up from spare parts on special order for Walter Wolf, a long time Lamborghini fan and owner of several custom made Countach models, this Miura SV however was to be a present for his wife.

Trying to buy a Lamborghini Miura SV these days will take a lot of courage and even more money, you either pay a small fortune to get one in perfect condition or you end up paying an even larger fortune trying to revive a deceased one either way a Miura will be an expensive car to obtain and maintain. But one thing is sure the Lamborghini Miura, be it the original P400, the S-model or this latest SV evolution, is a sure investment, this is an icon in automotive history, it not only put Automobili Lamborghini SpA firmly on the cover page of every car magazine in the world, but it also created the foundation for the Lamborghini heritage we still enjoy today.

The Miura was the first of the Lamborghini line that stepped away from the ultra quick but comfortable Gran Turismo right into the super car league and the heritage lived on in the legendary Countach over the by now classic Diablo straight into the more recent Murciélago only to reside now in the Aventador another masterpiece that has become a reference to which the competition if any has to measure up the V12 flagship models from Sant’Agata all became legends in their own time and the new Aventador LP700 is no different.

The post 1971-1973 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV appeared first on LamboCars.

Over the previous year, Dallara and his team had been working on perfecting this amazing automobile, Bob Wallace was doing the field work by testing the cars on the road, while Dallara was working on the design underneath the sensual bodywork.

A lot of testing was done with various types of tires, Lamborghini and Pirelli always had a very close working relationship and they both benefited from this. The new Miura S would have a modified rear suspension receiving the then new, state of the art series 70 Pirelli Cinturato radials.

But the most important change over the very first models was the use of heavier-gauge steel on the chassis, starting with Miura chassis nr. 125 on (according to Lamborghini records), the metal thickness was brought up to 1 mm from 0.9 mm to avoid flexing at high cornering speeds.

This higher resistance chassis would be required because the Miura S could deliver no less than 370 Bhp at 7700 rpm on the rear wheels. The combustion chambers were reshaped, higher-lift cams and larger carburetors on fatter manifolds boosted power to a claimed 370 bhp.

You might expect the new Miura S to be faster than it’s P400 sibling, but unfortunately the new tires, which did help road holding and overall handling, absorbed most of this power increase.

Individual testing unveiled a top speed of the Miura S between 270 and 280 Km/h (169 to 173 Mph), later it would become obvious the Miura S was one of the fastest Lamborghini ever, it was even faster than the wild Countach S series, which did boast massive tires at the rear and big wings and spoilers, but these also increased drag, so the Miura S was quicker. This was even obvious when measuring the standing Km, which the Miura S could reach in only 24.1 to 26 seconds. The quarter Mile was reached in a mere 13.9 seconds at a speed of 107.5 Mph a time that would be very hard to beat back in the late Sixties or even the early Seventies.

During the S model production, ventilated disc brakes were introduced, still utilizing the well-known Girling calipers, but now using new brake pads.

Power windows soon became standard too, while the two handles to release the engine-cover were converted to only one unit, the two handles on the early cars were a real annoyance, they had to be pulled simultaneously to release the hood so you always needed two people to open the rear section to reach the V12 power plant.

On the inside, a lockable glove-compartment would be installed, the wood-rimmed steering wheel was replaced by a leather wrapped one, although this was also seen on some  late, pre-S models. The roof mounted central console was redesigned to improve cockpit ventilation and you could even order an optional radio if the sound of the engine would ever bore you.

Other options were a non-standard color (100.000 Liras), metallic color (200.000 Liras), VIP Interior in leather (200.000 Liras), a set of suitcases (180.000 Liras), VIP Pearlized colors (450.000 Liras), a tree-point seat belt (40.000 Liras), air-conditioning (500.000 Liras) and for a right-hand drive car you had to add another 500.000 Liras, so very few RHD Miura were ever built.

We must admit that the air conditioning in the Miura never really was adequate for this car, the engine was very close to the driver and passenger and the steep windshield would also heat up the interior when driving in the sun to such a degree that the air conditioning couldn’t keep feeding cold air fast enough.

Do note that the leather upholstery was still an option on the Miura S, although many cars were ordered with it, the earlier P400 could be fitted with vinyl seats, something better avoided with such a hot engine only inches behind your ears.

To be able to sell the Miura in the United States, the toggle-switches were replaced by rocker-types, and a passenger grab handle was installed, the speedometer now only went up to 190 mph for non-metricated countries, on the earlier cars this one was calibrated for 200 mph.

The exterior was wisely left alone, only small details were altered, the head lamps now would be raised without their black fins, on the early cars these too lifted up into the air, resulting in a rather awkward look.

Another change was the use of a chrome finish for the headlight and windscreen frames which were black on the early Miura. Do note however that the very first Miura S still had the black surrounds mounted, making it very difficult to recognize the S model next to the original P400.

Naturally there was a stylish ‘S’ at the rear of the car, but that could be added later on too, and since many Miura had a rather eventful life, it isn’t impossible that many P400 were later converted into S-models, or at least received the updates from the S series.

These days, when an owner is restoring his original Miura it is wise to either reinforce the chassis or select thicker steel to restore the chassis anyway, making the difference between the P400 and the P400 S even smaller.

During the production of the Miura S some modifications were executed, obviously the Miura remained a work in progress, constantly being improved as more cars were built.

One of these ‘production’ modifications was the use of a 770 Watt alternator replacing the early 450 Watt unit, also the ignition and carburetors were slightly modified between 1968 and 1971.
On the transmission the Fabri (or Hardy Spicer) splined drive shaft system was replaced by Unicardin (or Lobro) constant velocity joints. These constant velocity joints did require a different setting for the Koni shocks.

To reduce squat under hard acceleration the mounting points for the rear A-arm were moved, but one problem remained on the Miura S, when cornering very fast you ran the risk of pulling engine oil to one side, which could damage the engine beyond repair.

The Miura actually used the same oil for both the engine and the gearbox, later the SV would receive an optional split sump which would remedy this problem, but only a handful would be built with this option.

However all these extra add-ons increased the total weight of the Miura, the first S models put only 1125 Kg on the scales, while the latest S model ‘grew’ to 1250 Kg in total, and this was dry-weight. But the Miura S would be succeeded by an even better Bull, the impressive SV edition, which came to be considered as the ultimate Miura, it took over from the S model after 338 units were built, a little more than the 275 units of the  original P400 Miura.

The post 1968-1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 S appeared first on LamboCars.

With this new design, Lamborghini was years ahead of the competition, which laughed at him, they stated he would never be able to put this into production they couldn’t have been more wrong.

It still took the small firm several months, but with the help of Bertone and the genius of Marcello Gandini, who’s name was linked to the amazing design of this new Lamborghini, Ferruccio was able to show a finished show car by the 1966 Geneva Auto Salon in March.

Granted, this was still a prototype, using 0.8mm sheet steel and bearing chassis number 0509 with a wheelbase of 2460mm note that the prototype chassis was rolling on genuine Borrani wire wheels, but now the Miura was riding on specifically designed Campagnolo wheels.

Still the overall design was set for the production model, however the chassis would be made from 0.9mm steel and the wheelbase a bit longer at 2500mm to improve interior space for the driver and passenger.

Avid customers and designers from the competition nearly fell over each other to get a glimpse of this brand new super exotic car. Ferruccio Lamborghini intended to build only a handful of these, all on special order, but soon demand grew beyond his wildest dreams.

Automobili Lamborghini still had a lot of work to do on the Miura, a name taken from the ferocious Spanish fighting bulls which would be a suitable name for their latest P400 creation.

The initial ‘Geneva’ prototype used a glass engine cover, but that soon proved totally useless to draw hot air out of the engine bay. They even made additional holes in the glass and an extra air intake into the roof to draw fresh air into the cockpit.

Bob Wallace would perform most of not all on road testing with this new super car, but the cooling of the engine remained an issue on this car, so Automobili Lamborghini went to work on a second prototype, this time with louvres on the engine cover.

At that time using louvres on a super car was yet unseen, because of their angle they both allowed decent rearward vision for the driver and pulled hot air out of the engine bay, hence keeping the engine cool note that this kind of louvres would be installed on lots of cars later on as a ‘tuning’ item.

In total Lamborghini built three pre-production prototypes, chassis numbers 0706, 0862 and 0961 before the first Miura was delivered on December 29th 1966 to Lambocar, the Milan dealership. Continuing customer deliveries started in 1967 with actual production Miura having a 10mm higher roof and seats lowered into the chassis by 10mm to further improve creature comfort inside this amazing exotic.

Chassis number 3312 marked another major modification in the Miura production, this was the 125th P400 made and now used a full 1 mm steel for the chassis customers complained about chassis flexing under hard cornering, so they made the sheet steel used thicker to stiffen up the underpinnings of the Miura, many owners would have their Miura modified on the end to counteract any flexing on early chassis.

Note however that vision from the interior rear view mirror was restricted by a quad setup of triple Weber carburetors, a magnificent sight in itself, anyway, those driving behind you would never be able to keep up anyway. The official top speed of the original Lamborghini Miura was set at 280 Km/h (174 Mph) and acceleration figures of 6.7 seconds to reach 100 Km/h while the 100 Mph was obtained in only 14.3 seconds.

All this from a very compact V12 engine that delivered no less than 350 Bhp at 7000 rpm and sat inches behind your ears when seated behind the steering wheel, with a special Visarm glass to keep noise bearable, which didn’t work in the end, the cockpit could become very hot and a climate control system wouldn’t be available until years later.

With a very sensual styling the Miura became an instant hit, but it had some items that required constant attention from the lucky owner riding at only 1055 high with a ground clearance of a mere 130mm the sidewalk suddenly becomes a very expensive problem, also those magnesium wheels look stunning, but don’t dent them another very expensive mistake these days.

A Lamborghini Miura looked fast, and with that much power on hand it was fast but it could suffer from a severe front lift towards the 280 Km/h top speed, so many owners reverted to installing chin spoilers or small fins on the front corners to keep the nose down at high speeds.

Still the Lamborghini Miura P400 was a masterpiece in automotive history, people still regard this car as one of the most innovative models ever to be built in Italy, let alone in Sant’Agata by a company that was founded a few years earlier the Miura P400 model was built in 475 units before an even wilder version, the P400 S was introduced.

The post Lamborghini Miura P400 (1966-1969) appeared first on LamboCars.

Only a few of these official Miura’s had a dry-sump lubrication, however most of these just had some look alike bodywork done, some were ordered with additional air intakes and fixed headlights, others retained the standard bodywork but had a modified engine, note that none of these specials actually used Avional for the bodywork, they all remained in aluminium. Underneath that beautiful, low slung styling, most of these custom SV’s remained more or less a ‘normal’ Miura SV.

Some sourced state these specials were built on the following chassis : 4860, 4990 and 5090, while the real Jota was built on chassis number 5084, with engine number 30744, only one of these had a dry sump lubrication and an auto blocking differential mounted, the other cars used a more or less ‘standard’ Miura SV engine.

Rumor has it there were only two Miura ever built with a dry sump lubrication and auto blocking differential, one with chassis number 4878 and the other with number 4956.

As usual, some customers had their Miura altered afterwards, but the Miura listed here are regarded as ‘original’ factory cars, these SVJ were factory built and therefore authorised, however later more Miura were converted at the factory or at bodyshops throughout the world. If you want to buy a real SVJ, you’ll only have to look for the first three cars ever made, the rest are just trying to more or less look like a Jota.

I’ve tried to include a list, that is accurate to my personal knowledge, of the Miura’s that were built or converted into SVJ specifications.

Lamborghini Miura SVJ #4934

Actually the first official Miura SVJ, number 4934 with engine number 30685, built by the factory, was delivered to the Shah of Iran in 1979, apparently by none other that the late Ferruccio Lamborghini himself. The Shah ordered a second Miura SV with only one request (he already owned Miura SV #4870), it had to be special, so Automobili Lamborghini SpA went to work, they took a dark blue SV body from the production line and cut custom brake vents behind the front and rear wheels much like those seen on the Jota, they also installed numerous rivets all over. Fixed headlight units were mounted covered by plexi and a race type fuel filler cap was installed in the front hood, naturally a front spoiler was mounted and a custom race suspension lowered the car. A single windscreen whiper was mounted and to top off these modifications a magnificent sounding open race exhaust was coupled to the altered dry sump V-12 engine, sending chills down your spine whenever you touched the gas pedal.

The car was finished in a dark Burgundy metallic shade, contrasting heavily with the white leather interior, after completion of the car it was tested by Bob Wallace before being delivered to St Moritz in December 1971 for a price of Lire 13,000,000 while a standard Miura SV was available for only Lire 8,000,000 at that time.

After they completed this car, Automobili Lamborghini SpA actually made another, original SVJ along the same method, chassis number 5090 was not a modified SV, but was built as an SVJ from the start.

The very first SVJ (4934) was abandoned in the Imperial garage by the Shah in 1972, he quickly lost interest in all his new cars, so no further maintenance was done and during the 1979 revolution in Iran this car was confiscated together with all of the Shah’s other cars. Miura number 4934 was later found in very poor condition, a complete refurbishment was needed, also note that the chassis had to be refreshed to get the car into the shape it was when it was offered for auction in 1997, some sources state that it was actually sold by the Iran authorities to an enthusiast in Dubai during 1995.
In March 1997, during the Geneva Auto Show, this car was put up for auction by Brooks, the famous actor Nicolas Cage was able to buy the car for nearly $500,000, and kept it in his collection of supercars until early 2004, when it was acquired by a collector in the United Kingdom.

Lately this unique SVJ was ‘restored’ at the factory and today it boasts a fit and finish exactly like when it left the factory doors in 1971, the bodywork is just perfect now and the engine is now tuned like it was intended. This SVJ now drives like a ‘lightweight’ SV, the V12 revs freely and the current owner states that this one of a kind Miura is perfectly stable cruising at 250 Km/h on the UK highways.

Lamborghini Miura SVJ #5090

A 1972 Miura SVJ, this car was delivered towards the end of the Miura production at the factory, and together with the mystery SVJ described on this page, they  are considered to be the only two official factory SVJ’s built after the initial #4934. This car was finished in metallic red over red leather Miura SV, number 5090 with engine 30751 was built by the factory to full SVJ specifications.

It was delivered to Paul Ferrandi in Corsica after it was ordered from the French importer Voitures Paris Monceau, in 1982 this car was sold to France while in 1984 it was again sold to the current owner, who had it repainted into a Grey/Blue metallic later on.

Today this car is still in it’s original shape, showing the obvious age of the car by now, but still runs and looks great, little corrosion is starting to form on the silver bodywork, but it can still be considered an extremely rare Miura.
At this time the car features black sills, custom four point harness for the driver and passenger, a nice touch are two chronographs mounted on the dashboard, this car also features the rivets all over the bodywork, painted in the bodycolor just like the factory did in the early Seventies.

Lamborghini Miura SVJ #????

Rumor has it one of the closest Miura Jota builds ever would be a 1972 MIURA SVJ ‘dry sump’ model delivered by the factory on August 31. 1972, but no official documents can show the chassis number nor the engine number.

Note that this would have been only ‘period’ dry sump SVJ (based on real Jota mechanicals), and one of only two original SVJ ( together with #5090) delivered by the factory, still the second car, #5090, was a wet sump version.

The other existing SVJ’s (#4934 – #4990 – #4860 and now #4892) were originally delivered as standard SVs that were upgraded by the factory on special request from their owners, these cars were modified into the famous “SVJ look” at a later date.

This mystery car would have been the last SVJ actually built and delivered during the actual Miura production, on August 31. 1972 to be exact, while #5090 was delivered only 6 days earlier, on August 25. 1972.

Because of a detailed list of special, original specifications many called this specific Miura the most exact ‘cosmetic’ replica of the real Jota : Correct rivet placement, all-aluminum doors, hexagonal central lock wheels (all the other SVJs are fitted with the classic 3 eared knock off wheel nuts), single Jota wiper (only #4934 also mounted this from the factory), Mercedes stalk, different suspension geometry giving lower ride height and roll centre.

Mechanical basis: Oil radiator on the chassis’s front part, limited slip differential (not the case on all the SVJs), and most importantly the dry sump system.

Lamborghini Miura SVJ #4860

The nr. 4860 was built for Hubert Hahne in Dusseldorf, he was the German based importer for Automobili Lamborghini SpA at the time. This Miura was originally finished in black over white leather with black cloth, but in 1977 it was repainted in the current silver metallic at the factory, and received a full-leather interior in black, also note that all the visible chrome on the car was now finished in matte black. This car was actually a Miura SV that was converted into SVJ specs by the factory in late 1972, it was re-delivered to Mr Hahne in April 1973 and was officially denoted as the fifth, and last ‘original’ Miura SVJ built.

Note that this Miura SVJ was the only one using a 110 Liter fuel tank, also normal SV dual windshield wipers were mounted, note that this was probably the only SVJ that had the quad exhausts ‘cut’ into the rear section instead of completely removing it like on the four other SVJ’s.

Over the years the car was sold to several owners, but today it is rumored to reside in Japan, the current owner is actually thinking about returning this rare Miura SVJ back into the original black bodywork.

Lamborghini Miura SVJ # 4990

Yet another Miura SVJ nr. 4990 was sold in April 1972 to Alberto Silvera in Port au Prince, Haiti. It was delivered with a single windscreen wiper and painted in a very nice red metallic over black interior, later on the car was repainted into Rosso Corsa and received a larger windshield wiper from the Countach. After an extensive restoration at the factory in 1997 it was sold to a collector in Japan.

Note that today this original factory SVJ features a red with cream interior and a black ‘reversed leather’ dashboard, and another ‘non-original’ feature are the rivets on this car they are finished in chrome!

Note that these five Miura SVJ’s are considered to be the only ‘official’ factory cars, while the following cars on this page were actually originally built as normal Miura models that were later on modified/customized into more or less SVJ style Miura’s, but these later cars are not to be considered to be Miura SVJ models, just custom made cars most importantly the previous five cars will be a lot more expensive when found on the market, since actor Nicolas Cage acquired his SVJ for nearly $ 500,000 the price still went up.

Miura’s Modified Into SVJ Look (Not Considered Real SVJs)

An original first series Miura P400, green over brown with #3781 was bought by Heinz E. Steber in Germany, he later asked Hubert Hahne to have the car modified by Automobili Lamborghini SpA in November 1975.
The car was finished in April 1976 and included very wide central locking BBS wheels with Pirelli P7R tires, massive 345/35 ZR 15 were mounted at the rear, a special Koni race suspension was installed and Girling disc brakes from a Porsche 917 were used to stop this very fast Miura SV Jota replica.

The engine was rumored to be converted into dry sump, modified cams were mounted together with open Weber carburetors and a very loud race type exhaust system. On the inside special race type Recaro seats with a four point harness were installed. This car was later sold to a wealthy Japanese collector for an unknown price, rumors states he paid up to US $ 550,000 for it, today this car is still in Japan.

When Patrick Mimran took over the factory he also wanted a Miura to be built to SVJ specifications back in 1987, this was an orange over black Lamborghini Miura S #4088, it only received a few extra air holes in the bodywork and fixed headlights, the wheels remained standard, but it is rumored the engine was in fact upgraded and used a dry sump too. The car was shipped to Switzerland after Patrtick Mimran sold the company to Chrysler.

The Miura SV number 4806 with engine number 30592, was originally finished in red, after Graheser had the car rebuild at the factory it was repainted in yellow. The car was later bought by Armin Johl who heavily modified it to include some SVJ specifications, this car used drilled central locking units on the wheels.

Another Miura SV number 4870 was converted to use fixed headlight units, finished in dark blue metallic over white leather, this car was first delivered to Reza Pahlevi, the Shah of Persia, on July 21st 1971. The car was driven a few times and abandoned in the garage after that, it never received any maintenance and was only sold recently, the new owner completely restored it to the original specifications. This is probably one of only a few Miura’s in existence with less than 10,000 km on the counter.

Some of the other Miura’s modified into SVJ style cars were #4446, this LHD model was originally sold to an Australian owner who later sold it to a Japanese owner, today this Miura S was completely restored and modified into a Jota version by an authorized Lamborghini dealership.

A Miura S with chassis number 4791 was later converted to SVJ specs by none other than Bob Wallace himself in his US based workshop after he’d left Automobili Lamborghini SpA.

The post 1971–1975 Lamborghini Miura SVJ appeared first on LamboCars.

By 1968 the improved Lamborghini Miura S was available, chassis #3781 was, in fact, the show car at the 50th Turin Motor Show in 1968, originally she left the factory in Verde Miura over a black interior to be shown at the show, after that she was delivered to Lamborauto in Turin on November 30, 1968.

When Heinz Straber, from Germany, acquired this Miura in 1974 he had her sent back to the factory to have a very special conversion done to really understand why we have to go back to 1970, when famous Lamborghini test driver Bob Wallace took chassis #5084 from the assembly line and created the Miura Jota in his spare time, a pure-bred racing machine based on the Miura, using engine 30744 inside a body made from Avional composite on a lightened chassis fixed headlights, a deep chin spoiler, wide wheel arches and additional air vents and intakes made the Miura Jota look amazing.

On February 8. 1972 the Jota was sold to InterAuto in Brescia sadly a mechanic would become a little over enthusiast showing this car to his girlfriend he crashed the Bull, ripping the side mounted fuel tanks causing the Jota to catch fire and burn down completely the fire was so intense most of the bodywork was destroyed, but more importantly, the chassis was warped beyond repair.

The Lamborghini Miura Jota was lost forever, but several inquiries by Miura owners caused a few regular Miura to be rebuilt to a certain level of Jota specifications some sources call these the Miura SVJ model. Most of these factory replicas only had some bodywork modifications that included the extra intakes and outlets, most of them also got the fuel filler seen on the Jota, only three did get a dry sump lubrication none of them came even remotely close to the original Jota and were called Miura SVJ, in the end, the factory never accepted to build a second Jota.

So one enthusiast decided to recreate the Jota on his own, UK based Piet Pulford started with a beaten, old Miura (#3033) found in the United States and requested extensive bodywork and chassis modifications from Chris Lawrence (Wymondham Engineering) in Norfolk note the entire front and rear section were only held onto the Jota by locating pins and Dzus fasteners to allow easy and quick removal. The engine for this Jota recreation was in fact built with help from Bob Wallace himself.

So back to the 1968 Miura S chassis #3781 (engine #2511, body #383), Heinz E. Staber convinced Hubert Hahne to have the factory rebuild this Miura into a Jota inspired model, but unlike the SVJ we already know, this would become a Miura SVR, a more track-oriented version of the SVJ it would take until April 1976 to finish this Miura SVR with a widened bodywork to fit the massive BBS wheels on Pirelli P7R tires (345/35ZR15 at the rear, the same as on the Countach S model).

A new suspension was installed using Koni dampers to keep the tires as flat as possible, a set of Girling disk brakes from the Porsche 917 found their way behind the gold BBS wheels, on the engine a dry sump conversion was done, modified cams and open funnel Weber carburetors coupled to an ‘open’ exhaust resulted in an increase in power for this 1,330 kg Miura SVR.

A deep chin spoiler up front and a Countach inspired roof wing would keep the Miura SVR stable at high speeds, while a set of black Recaro seats would keep the driver and passenger firmly in place in 1976 this unique Lamborghini Miura SVR was sold to In 1976 the car was sold to Hiromitsu Ito and made its way to Japan (for a rumoured amount of $550,000), he kept the car for many years, during which a complete, 3 year restoration was performed, during which the interior was replaced with a gold looking leather upholstery.

In late 2015 this one of a kind Lamborghini Miura SVR was for sale in Japan, price on demand only, it seems the car has subsequently been sold and the new owner sent her back to Sant’Agata once more this time to have her restored by Polo Storico who took 19 months from start to finish to recreate the original 1974 specs Miura SVR.

Paolo Gabrielli, Lamborghini Head of After Sales and Director of the Polo Storico, said: “The full restoration took 19 months and required a different approach to the way we normally work. The original production sheet wasn’t of much help, as we relied mostly on the specifications from the 1974 modifications. The challenge for the Polo Storico team was even more daunting as the car arrived in Sant’Agata in pieces, although the parts were all there, and with considerable modifications. The only variations on the original specifications were the addition of 4-point safety belts, more supportive seats and a removable roll bar. These were expressly requested by the customer and are intended to improve safety during the car’s racetrack exhibitions.”

When the restoration was finally finished and the Miura SVR was delivered to her owner, she was shown at Japan’s Nakayama Circuit, as a throwback to the Japanese manga “Circuit Wolf” in which the Miura SVR was featured many years ago, and while she may not have the same ‘value’ as the real Miura Jota, or Piet’s recreation, it is safe to say this Miura SVR is another milestone in the history of Lamborghini, and the fact that Polo Storico was able to restore her to her former glory makes her even more valuable.

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