Beschreibung:

'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. Prior to the model's official debut at the 1966 Geneva Salon, Lamborghini cars were respected for their impressive mechanical specifications but they somehow lacked a distinctive persona. All this changed with the arrival of the Miura, named after Don Eduardo Miura, a famous breeder of fighting bulls. 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 an awe-struck press and public. The car's technical specification was breathtaking in its sophistication and complexity. Designed by Gianpaolo Dallara, the Miura carried its transversely mounted engine amidships in a box-section platform chassis, the latter clothed in stunning coupé 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 280km/h being claimed. Production examples were independently tested at more than 265 km/h, confirming that the Miura was the world's fastest production car. Early in 1968, after the 125th car had been completed, the steel used in the chassis was increased from 0.9 to 1mm in thickness, while from April that year customers could specify a leather interior. Production of the original P400 ended later in 1968 when the successor 'S' version was introduced, by which time a little over 470 of these wonderful cars had been produced. This early P400 has been completely restored at the Sant'Agata factory's Centro Restauro section of the Customer Service Department under the supervision of Lamborghini's legendary chief test driver, Valentino Balboni, and comes with his signed letter of confirmation dated October 14th 2008. Coincidentally, Balboni retired that very same month after 40 years with Lamborghini, during which time he reputedly drove around 80% of the cars produced! Despite having a limited edition, two-wheel drive variant of the Gallardo named after him, Balboni has admitted that the Miura is his all-time favourite. Delivered new to Grand Garage des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, chassis number '3739' has had only three previous owners and was acquired by the current vendor in January 2005. The restoration commenced soon afterwards and took three years, consuming some 4,000 man-hours of labour and costing €160,000, as evidenced by Lamborghini's invoice on file. A few metal components had to be manufactured but this total represents 99% labour costs as all other parts used were 'new old stock' items already purchased by a previous owner and still in their sealed plastic bags as despatched from the factory. The Miura was restored to its original colour scheme and the restoration is fully documented in an excellent file containing over 600 photographs. Factory build sheets for the engine are on file also. Highlights of the rebuild are outlined by Valentino Balboni in his letter: 'It has been a long and very accurate process but necessary to achieve expected quality standards