Sant Agata, Italy (dpa) – The legendary Lamborghini Miura started out life as a bull in sheep’s clothing or to be exact, in no clothing at all.
Visitors to the 1965 Turin Motor Show had been primed to expect something spectacular but they were presented with just the torso of a new supercar – a dramatic rolling chassis with Lamborghini’s powerful V-12 engine mounted amidships.
Not even the Lamborghini engineers knew what the new car was supposed to look like and all eyes focused at first on the mid- engined layout – not uncommon today but an automotive sensation 35 years ago.
The concept was well ahead of its time and it was not until 1973 that arch-rivals Ferrari introduced a sports car with a 12 cylinder engine, the Berlinetta Boxer. Even that was not mounted in a transverse position though.
For the Miura, Lamborghini reckoned that only by mounting the huge engine crossways could they achieve the compact wheelbase necessary to exploit the awesome performance on tap.
Potential customers were suitably impressed and it was not long before the first orders began arriving in Sant Agata Bolognese. Ferrucio Lamborghini was flattered but also surprised since he feared at first that the raging bull would be too wild for public roads.
The strong interest spurred the company into pressing on with the project and Lamborghini began looking for someone who could design a car worthy of such a mighty chassis.
The company entrusted the house of Nuccio Bertone with the task and young design talent Marcello Gandini, 25 at the time, and his staff came up with breathtaking bodywork that is as arresting today as it was at the spring automobile show in Geneva 1966.
The Miura, Spanish for “fighting bull”, is still regarded as one of the crowning glories of Italian supercar design. The car seems to be staring at its beholder through huge retractable headlights set in black surrounds, the bonnet is enormous with a tiny low slung driver’s compartment behind. The rear treatment comprises louvred slats over the V-12 and a cut-off tail.
In the eyes of many sports car enthusiasts the Miura even eclipsed Ferrari. Ferrucio Lamborghini would have been delighted at that since he cultivated an intense hatred of his rival.
The story goes that Lamborghini was given a brusque reception by Enzo Ferrari when he visited the factory in Maranello to have a defect attended to on his personal Ferrari. Lamborghini, who made his name as a tractor manufacturer, promptly founded his own sports car concern, more or less in revenge.
Lamborghini could hardly have thrown down a more provocative gauntlet to his rival than the Miura. With 350 horsepower available from 3.9 litres of displacement, the car accelerated from 0 to 100 kilometres an hour in 5.5 seconds. Top speed was given as 273 km/h.
Not that the road testers waxed lyrical about everything in this dream car. The engine was right behind the driver’s head, mechanically loud and the car was often unbearably hot inside. Some compared the cockpit of the Miura to a sauna which made the physical effort of taming the car even more arduous.
Most owners could live with these defects – after all those in search of comfort had a host of expensive limousines to choose between – yet one aspect of Miura motoring was enough to drain the blood from the cheeks of the most fanatical sportscar driver: the Miura had a tendency to get airborne. The aerodynamic lines were not only reminiscent of an aircraft, but also at high speeds many a driver felt he was about to take off.
Later Miuras were modified to beat the gremlins and the 1967 P400 – P stands for “Posteriore” or mid-engined – was superceded by the P400S in 1970. It generated 370 HP and incorporated a range of roadholding improvements. Such luxuries as electric windows and optional air conditioning unit catered for creature comforts.
Customers had to wait until 1971 for the definitive Miura, the P400 SV (Sprint Veloce). Lamborghini made it slightly wider and with new rear end treatment and also managed to extract another 15 hp from the V-12. Now 385 hp was at the driver’s disposal the car was only slightly faster than its predecessors, owing to increased kerb weight. It could boast a phenomenal 0-100 km/h time though – 4.7 seconds.
By this time Lamborghini faced a new challenge. The Miura was beginning to show its age and a successor had to be found. There were some who claimed it would be impossible to match this quintessential supercar but the successor went on to outshine the 762 Miuras built and almost everything on the road at the time.
The razor-edged Countach with its spoilers looked like a car from another planet and finally established Lamborghini’s reputation as a maker of dream cars. But that’s another story.
