Lamborghini Miura

Lamborghini does not build many cars like the Lamborghini Miura: a 2-door coupé with 3929 cc L406 V12, built from 1966 to 1973 in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. Its designer of record is Marcello Gandini at Bertone. Production ran to 764 cars.

The story

The Lamborghini Miura is a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1973. The car was the first high-performance production road car with a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, which has since become the standard for performance-oriented sports cars. When released, it was the fastest production car in the world. The Miura was originally conceived by Lamborghini's engineering team, which designed the car in its spare time against the wishes of company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, who preferred powerful yet sedate grand touring cars over the race car-derived machines produced by local rival Ferrari.

However, when the development mule was revealed to Ferruccio, he gave approval for its development to continue. The Miura's rolling chassis was presented at the 1965 Turin Auto Show, and the prototype P400 debuted at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show. It received stellar receptions from showgoers and the motoring press alike, each impressed by Marcello Gandini's sleek styling and the car's revolutionary mid-engine design. Lamborghini's flagship, the Miura received periodic updates and remained in production until 1973. A year later the Countach entered the company's lineup, amid tumultuous financial times for the company.

What is underneath

Under the skin sits 3929 cc L406 V12. Kerb weight is 1292 kg. The gearbox is a 5-speed manual. The layout matters: the engine sits behind the driver and ahead of the rear axle, which puts the mass in the middle of the car and is why mid-engined cars change direction the way they do. The wheelbase is 2500 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Its place in the line

Where it sits in Lamborghini's history is not in doubt: the Lamborghini Countach followed it; it was built at Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Alfa Romeo Spider, the Dodge Charger, the Toyota Corolla. Nearby in the Lamborghini catalogue sit the Lamborghini Calà and the Lamborghini Marco Polo.

The money

MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Lamborghini Miura has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.