Lamborghini Miura
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The Lamborghini Miura is a sports car built in Italy by Lamborghini between 1966 and 1973. A mid-engined layout had been used successfully in competition, including by the Ford GT40 and Ferrari 250 LM at Le Mans. De Tomaso had produced a road car with this layout, the Vallelunga, but otherwise cars designed for the road were almost uniformly front-engined, rear drive vehicles. The Miura was a trendsetter, the one that made the mid-engined layout de rigueur among two-seater high performance supercars. It is named after the Spanish ranch Miura, whose bulls have a proverbial attack instinct.
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[edit] Styling
Inspired by the Ford GT40, the Miura astonished showgoers at the 1965 Turin Motor Show where only the chassis was shown, with multiple orders being placed despite the lack of an actual body. Later, Marcello Gandini from Bertone, who would later go on to design many of Lamborghini's cars, was chosen to design the body. Both body and chassis were launched five months later at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show. It was a sensation, with its flamboyant bodywork and unusual engine and clam-shell opening hoods on both the front and rear of the car. There was a small trunk located in the very rear of the tail behind the engine.
[edit] Miura models
[edit] P400
Early Miuras, known internally as P400s, were powered by a 3.9 L version of the famous Lamborghini V12 engine mounted transversely and producing 350 hp (260 kW). 275 P400s were produced between 1966 and 1969, a success for Lamborghini despite its then-steep $20,000 USD price (approx. $114,000 in today's terms). 700 out of 750 Miura engines had the gearbox in the sump of the engine, and the gearbox shared the engine oil for lubrication. This necessitates frequent and consistent oil changes. The only reason to separate it was the introduction of limited slip rear differential which required appropriate oil. The early Miura is the lightest model and is completely built in aluminum.
[edit] P400S
The P400S Miura, also known as the Miura S, made its introduction at the Turin Motorshow in November 1968, where the original chassis was introduced 3 years earlier. It was slightly revised from the P400 with its newly added power windows, bright chrome trim around external windows, new overhead inline console with new rocker switches, minor revision engine internals, notched trunk end panels(allowing for slightly more luggage space). Because of rigidity problems with the early models, the roof was now made of steel. Engine changes were good for an additional 20 hp. Other revisions were limited to creature comforts, such as glove box door, reversed position of cigarette lighter and windshield wiper switch and single release handles for front and rear body sections. 338 P400S Miuras were produced between Dec 1968 and March 1971.
[edit] P400SV
The last and most famous Miura, the P400SV or Miura SV featured different cam timing and altered carbs. These gave the engine an additional 15 bhp, to 385. The last 50 SV engines included a limited slip differential which required a split sump. The gearbox now had its lubrication system separate from the engine, which allowed the use of the appropriate types of oil for the gearbox and the engine. This fixed a reliability problem in the previous models where metal shavings from the gearbox had a tendency to travel into the engine with disastrous and expensive results. The SV can be distinguished from its predecessors from its lack of "eyebrows" over the headlights and wider fenders to accommodate the new 9-inch wide wheels and Pirelli Cinturato tires. 150 SVs were produced, including one that was owned by Frank Sinatra. There was a misprint in the SV owners manual indicating bigger intake valves in english size (but correct size in metric). This mistaken information continues to this day. The intake and exhaust valves in all 4 liter V12 Lamborghini remained the same thru out all models. This intake size misprint carried forward into Espada 400GT and Countach LP400/LP400S owners manuals as well.
[edit] P400 Jota
This one-off Miura (#5084) was the development of Lamborghini development driver Bob Wallace in 1970. Only one was built, initially as a powerful test mule for future Miuras. Lamborghini sold the car after extensive testing. In April 1971, upon the car crashed and burned on the Brescia Ring Road.[1] Lamborghini has since built a replica of this car.
[edit] P400 SV/J
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Once customers heard about the Jota, they requested their own "Jota". Lamborghini could not justify the expense of building a series of Jotas, so they offered an upgraded SV model instead. This model, known as the SV/J, featured upgrades to the engine, suspension components, exterior and interior.
Of the five examples of the Miura SV/J built by the factory while the Miura was still in production, two were built new (chassis #5090 and #5100) and three were converted from existing SVs (chassis #4934, #4860 & #4990). All of these still exist. Chassis #5100 is however the only SVJ to feature the dry sump lubrication system as per the mechanics of the original Jota #5084.
One of these cars, chassis #4934 [2], was built for the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah stored this car under armed guard with another SV in Royal Palace in Tehran. After he fled the country during the Iranian Revolution, his cars were seized by the Iranian government. The SV/J was sold into Dubai in 1995. In 1997 this car was sold via a Brooks auction to Nicolas Cage, at US$490,000, becoming the model's highest ever price sold in an auction.[3] Cage sold the car in 2002.
A sixth SV/J was built at the Lamborghini factory between 1983 and 1987 from an unused Miura S chassis. This was made for the brother of Patrick Mimram, then owner of Lamborghini.[4]
Further Miuras were subsequently upgraded to SVJ specifications (trying to imitate the real factory SVJs) by various garages of Switzerland, USA or even Japan.
[edit] Roadster
Another one-off, the Miura Roadster (actually more of a targa-model, but without any removable roof) was built as a publicity stunt. After having been exhibited at several auto salons the car was sold to a group of companies in the metal business who turned it into a display-vehicle showcasing the possibilities of using their various metal alloys in cars. The car still exists today and has been frequently replicated.
[edit] P400 SVJ Spider
This version of the Miura was actually displayed in 1981 at the Geneva Motor Show by Lamborghini, shortly after the new CEO Patrick Mimran took over the factory. The car was actually the yellow Miura S presented at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show, reconstructed in 1980 in Spider by the Swiss Lamborghini Importer, Lambomotor AG. The Miura SVJ Spider was displayed on the Lamborghini stand with the other 1981 new models (Jalpa and LM002), equipped with wide wheels and a rear wing, in the context of the marque's revival, it was considered as a prototype for a possible limited series of Miura Spider. This car has therefore undergone numerous modifications / upgrades by various marque specialists. It does however remain a simple Miura S, such as presented at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show.
[edit] Details
Early Miuras were notorious for being a fire hazard. The problem was caused by Lamborghini's decision to use Weber 40 IDL 3C1 carburetors which were designed exclusively for racing applications and weren't suitable for road use. The problem occurred when the car sat idling (e.g. at a stoplight), the area above the throttles filled with fuel which often ignited when the car accelerated away from the stop. One of Lamborghini's engineers devised a modification for the carburetors which created a fuel-return. Ferrari, who used these same carburetors in one of their cars, and suffered the same problems, were able to use Lamborghini's modification to solve it.
Some other interesting details: the position of the fuel tank is at the front causing the vehicle to have less weight at the front as the fuel tank gets lighter (closer to empty), thus making the car more difficult to handle at more than 240 km/h. Another detail is that the doors resemble a bull's horns when it is opened wide (Lamborghini's logo itself depicts a raging bull).
The Miura is also technically the first Supercar ever in the world. Since the word "Supercar", which is coined by L.J.K. Setright, a distinguished automobile journalist, was used for the first time for the Miura on Setright's own review of the car. However, according to the British magazine Autocar in an article written by Paul Frere, the Miura could not match the performance of its main rival, the Ferrari Daytona.
In 2004, Sports Car International named this car number four on both the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s and Top Sports Cars of the 1970s. The car was ranked number four on the list of the Top Sports Car of All Time.
[edit] 2006 Miura concept
A Lamborghini Miura concept car was presented at the Museum of Television & Radio on January 5, 2006 alongside the Los Angeles Auto Show, though it was not present at the show itself. Instead, the Miura officially debuted at the North American International Auto Show two weeks later. It was the first design by new Lamborghini chief, Walter de'Silva, and commemorates the 1966 introduction of the original Miura in Geneva.
Lamborghini president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann has denied the concept will return the Miura to production, saying “The Miura was a celebration of our history, but Lamborghini is about the future. Retro design is not what we are here for. So we won’t do the Miura.” [1]
[edit] Specifications
[edit] Engine
- Configuration: 60 degree V12, DOHC
- Engine displacement: 3929cc
- 350 bhp (261 kW) at 7,000 rpm (Base)
- 370 bhp (276 kW) at 7,700 rpm (S)
- 385 bhp (287 kW) at 7,850 rpm (SV)
[edit] Performance
- Top speed: 288 km/h (179 mph)
- 0-100 km/h: 5.5 seconds
- Quarter Mile: ~14 seconds test
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Volkswagen Group
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| Volkswagen | Audi | SEAT | Škoda | Bentley | Bugatti | Lamborghini
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| Current models: Murciélago | Gallardo | Gallardo Spyder |
| Historic models: Miura | Countach | Diablo | Espada | Silhouette | Jalpa | 350GT | 400GT | Islero | Jarama | LM002 | Urraco |
| Concept models: Athon | Bravo | Cala | Cheetah | Concept S | Flying Star II | Genesis | LM001 | LM003 | LM004 | LMA002 | Marco Polo | Marzal | Miura Concept | Portofino | Raptor |
