Lamborghini Miura P400 Berlinetta

1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 Berlinetta

Coachwork by Bertone

Registration no. KRX 297H

Chassis no. 3640

Engine no. 2145

‘But step back for a minute and work out what makes the Miura so special. In 1966 there was nothing like it. Only racing cars and the obscure little French Bonnet/Matra Djet had mid-mounted engines. Ferrari’s road-going mainstay was the traditional front-engined 275GTB. So when tractor magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini stole the attention of the Geneva Salon crowd with the Miura, people were shocked as much by its audacious mechanical layout as they were by its era-defining and stunningly gorgeous styling.’ – Classic Cars, July 2004.

Ferruccio Lamborghini’s bold challenge to Ferrari had begun in 1964 with the 350GT, but it was the arrival of the Miura - arguably the founder of the supercar class - that established Lamborghini as a major manufacturer of luxury sporting cars. The Miura project first surfaced as a rolling chassis displayed at the 1965 Turin Motor Show, but was not expected to become a production reality. Nevertheless, by the time of the Geneva Salon the following year, the first completed car was ready for unveiling to a stunned press and public.

Designed by Giampaolo Dallara, the Miura carried its transversely mounted engine amidships in a box-section platform chassis, the latter clothed in stunning coupe coachwork styled by Bertone's Marcello Gandini. Like the contemporary 400GT, the Miura used the 4.0-litre version of Lamborghini's Giotto Bizzarrini-designed four-cam V12. With 350bhp available, the Miura was capable of shattering performance, a top speed of 180mph being claimed with production examples independently tested at more than 170.

Believed to have been supplied to the Middle East via Switzerland, this left-hand drive Miura P400 was imported to the UK in the late 1980s and acquired in the early 2000s by the current vendor for his private collection. The car’s originality appealed to the vendor: so many Miuras were either neglected, or poorly restored from the 1990s, when their inherent value did not warrant meaningful expenditure. He also liked the colour (white is very much in vogue nowadays) and the fact that the P400 represents the model in its earliest and purest form, closest to Gandini’s original conception and featuring those gorgeous ‘eyelash’ headlamp surrounds.

The car appears to be in good overall condition, although some of the paint is compromised in isolated areas by chips and blistering. The body is straight, the chassis looks sound and the interior is good also, while the wheels were recently refurbished. Chassis number ‘3640’ retains its original engine and the under-bonnet area and engine cover are tidy in appearance. The car has been re-finished in White with silver sills/wheels and the seats trimmed in black leather (originally vinyl). All switchgear is present and correct and this Miura exudes originality while remaining in good condition. Running well, it currently displays a believed-genuine total of circa 26,500 kilometres on the odometer and comes with history file, Swansea V5 registration document and current MoT certificate.

Estimate is a whopping $440,000.00 to $480,000.00

Up for auction at:

Collectors' Motor Cars and Automobilia

Friday 18 September 2009

at 4pm and 5 pm

Goodwood Revival

Chichester, Sussex

United Kingdom