The history of Lamborghini in the automotive world is written with M de Miura, which was possibly the first supercar in the history of the automobile. A vehicle that was born in secret and was inspired by Le Mans.
The history of Lamborghini miura it is at least curious. And it is that it links some of the most iconic names in the automotive world: Enzo Ferrari, Giampaolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani, Marcello Gandini and the Ford GT40. Almost nothing.
The first of these mythical names, that of ‘Il Commendatore’, was the one that originated the creation of the Lamborghini vehicle division. Ferruccio was a great admirer of Maranello vehicles, but he was tired of having so many breakdowns and one day he held it in Enzo’s face. He replied that he did not know how to appreciate his mechanical creations because a tractor manufacturer like him could not understand them.
That hurt Ferruccio Lamborghini, who as one of the main manufacturers of agricultural machinery, could afford to respond to the one who from that moment became his nemesis. The first creation of the bull brand was the 350 GT, a sophisticated and powerful Gran Turismo, but its impact was nowhere near comparable to that of our protagonist, who soon overshadowed it.
The first supercar
And is that the Miura not only attracted attention for its mechanical configuration, performance and beauty, but also opened a path that later became a mandatory pilgrimage for any self-respecting brand: that of supercars. Powerful coupes and light convertibles already existed, but none of them were based on the concept of the racing cars as did the Miura.
Ferruccio Lamborghini had immense talent in his factory and two of them started the project of a chassis designed to break the mold and even compete, despite the fact that his employer was strictly forbidden for his brand to come close to racing.
Top Gear paid its well-deserved tribute to the Lamborghini Miura on its 40th anniversary.
A) Yes, Paolo Stanzani and Giampaolo Dallara -which came from Ferrari and Maserati and had a lot of experience in competition- they set to work with a race sports car that was a step further than the 350 GTV, the luxurious and elegant GT that had released the 359 V12 engine CV created by Bizzarrini.
The point is that they both did it in secret and with the aim of presenting the boss with such a good car that it was impossible to reject its development. The initial inspiration was the successful Ford GT40 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which had a centrally positioned engine located transversely.
The block chosen was Bizzarrini’s bulky V12, which was placed in the same position as that of the GT40, on a very light self-supporting chassis and equipped with disc brakes and independent suspensions.
Bertone
The concept is presented at the 1965 Turin Motor Show and receives so much attention and good reception that Ferruccio Lamborghini decides to go ahead. But you have to dress it up to get it to enter the eyes of potential buyers and the chosen designer is Bertone, a personal friend of the Ferrara ‘tractor driver’.
Initially, the design of the Miura, named after another personal friend of Ferruccio, Eduardo Miura, was commissioned to Giorgetto Giugiaro, but this was signed by Ghia shortly after and the project passed into the hands of a 25-year-old young man, Marcello gandini, which would later also draw the lines of the Countach, the Diablo or the Lancia Stratos, among other automobile icons.
The Lamborghini Miura in HD. How much beauty …
Gandini was inspired by the lines of the aforementioned Ford GT40, but endowed them with a unique elegance, sportiness and sobriety, making it one of the most beautiful cars in history.
The 1966 Geneva Motor Show enjoys the presence of the first Lamborghini Miura P400, equipped with the 3.9-liter V12 engine and that soon acquired a great fame. It also helped that Ferruccio took a unit to the Monte Carlo Casino during the celebration of the Formula 1 Grand Prix that same year, spreading the word among the wealthy visitors present in the Principality.
Evolution
The Lamborghini Miura was not just about power and beauty, its dynamic behavior was exceptional thanks, among other things, to the intervention of the brand’s test driver, the New Zealander. Bob wallace, who had previously worked for Maserati and Chevrolet.
The Miura was fast, agile and very noble, with an almost perfect weight distribution and that made it stand out well above the rest of the cars of the time. Inside, everything went as expected and both the design and the finishes had an impact in the same way as outside.
Miura P400S and its successors
The second evolution of the Miura was called S and it was presented in 1969, increasing the power to 370 hp and incorporating details such as the chrome profiles on the windows or the automation of these from the inside.
In 1971 came the Miura P400SV, which had aerodynamic improvements and marked the entry of the model in the US market. The power increased even more, until the 385 CV, and the tires (and the width of tracks) were widened and the suspension was improved. It also featured air conditioning as standard and was only built to order.
Lamborghini also built two limited editions, the P400 Jota and the P400 SV / J. The first was destined to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans under the type J regulation, but its predecessor, Bob Wallace, crashed it in his first road test and the project ceased with that accident.
The second was born as a result of the knowledge of the Jota by some customers, but Lamborghini did not want to undertake the cost of it and was ‘limited’ to create an improved version of the SV. Of this only five units were manufactured.
Already in 2006, four decades after the birth of Miura, the signing of Sant’Agata Bolognese launched the Miura Concept, a model designed by Walter de Silva and presented at the Detroit Motor Show, which was never intended for production and was primarily a heartfelt tribute.
In 1973, Ferruccio Lamborghini decided to terminate the production of the Miura, as the Countach had been introduced two years earlier and had soon wowed everyone. It was time to give up the baton to the new Italian bull that, like the Miura, would write golden pages in the history books of world motorsport.
TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Do not miss the rest of the classics remembered in our section, Loves of youth.