After the 350 GT and 400 GT, the first supercar of the illustrious Italian brand follows: the Lamborghini Miura
The cars Ferruccio Lamborghini envisioned to build were GTs. Just very fat GT’s with a V12 and faster than a Ferrari. But the technicians he had, many ex-Ferrari, thought that was just a little boring. The men Dallara and Stanzani, in particular, continued to build exotic racers in their spare time.
They managed to build a lightweight chassis in which the Lambo-V12 with box in the middle could be placed. Which of course ensures perfect weight distribution. They showed the final result, a little reluctantly, to Ferruccio.
Green light for the Miura
To their surprise, Ferruccio gave the green light to develop their idea. Not because he thought he would sell a lot of these cars, but because he thought it was nice marketing to have some kind of über racer in the showroom. That turned out to be a wrong estimate, because the Lamborghini Miura, as it was called, became a real success.
Nuccio Bertone’s body shop was commissioned to design a jacket for the chassis. Especially since Touring, which had designed and built the 350 GT and 400 GT, had gone bankrupt a few months earlier. And because Bertone had never done anything for hated competitors Ferrari and Maserati. Bertones employee Marcello Gandini pulled it off in four months, so that in 1966 a complete Miura was at the Geneva Motor Show.
It was a hit: the first two-seater mid-engine supercar and the fastest road car in the world. And after Ferruccio managed to get an orange one parked in front of the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo during the Formula 1 GP weekend, the orders started pouring in.
Updates
During the production years, the Miura was updated twice, of course with more horsepower. This gave rise to the name that is partly still used: an S-model, an SV-model and a later added SVJ-model. Where the ‘J’ stands for Jota – the Spanish pronunciation for the letter ‘J’ that does not exist in Italian. And that J again refers to Chapter J of the FIA rules for racing cars at the time. Because the Miura Jota was a one off racer that test driver Bob Wallace built in his spare time. The car was lost after an accident. After that, seven more SV/Js were built by the factory, by special request only.
In 2006, Lamborghini paid tribute to the Miura by presenting an all-new version as a concept car to celebrate the model’s 40th anniversary. It remained with one copy, which is in the Lamborghini museum. Would you like to buy an original Miura: the prices start around 1 million and go up to about 3 million euros for museum-worthy copies.
Where Does The Last Name Miura Come From?
Ferruccio Lamborghini loved bulls – his zodiac sign was also the bull – after being introduced to them through a Spanish friend of his. In case you want to know, his name was Don Eduardo Miura Fernandez. He bred Miura bulls for bullfights, a bloodline started by his great-grandfather. On a visit to Spain, Ferruccio was so impressed that he not only gave his new sports car that specific name, but also included the bull in its logo.
Production Quantity
763
Production period
1966-1973
Specifications Lamborghini Miura
3,929cc V12
350 hp
0-100 km/h in 6.7 sec
top 280 km/h
Models
Miura (as P400, 1966-1969, 275 units)
Miura S (P400S, 1968-1971, 370 hp, top speed 285 km/h, 338 units)
Miura SV (P400SV, 1971-1973, 385 hp, top speed 300 km/h, 150 units)
Miura SV/J (converted Miura SV, 7 pieces)
Roadster (converted Miura, 1 piece)
Jota (converted Miura S or SV, 440 hp, 1 piece)
