Beschreibung:

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. ‘…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. The owners endorse these sentiments wholeheartedly, citing their Lincoln Continental as a comparison, ‘the Miura was the most amazing ground breaking design of its day…..’ As teenagers they fondly recall the sound and sight of a Miura that was owned by a member of a local publishing house that lived near them and that they would see in the Forte dei Marmi in Italy, ‘we could hear the Miura almost every evening’. As the collection grew, it was not as much an option as a necessity that a Miura be part of the stable. After a continued search and in keeping with general trends of the collection, the owners chose to purchase their Miura in its earliest and purest form, and acquired the most original example that they could find. The car in question was only the 39th Miura ever built and when purchased had covered only 34,000kms from new, which from their inspection of its condition, particularly of the original and unworn interior appeared correct. Listings quoted in Joe Sackey’s ‘The Lamborghini Miura Bible’ note that 3063 left the works on July 7th, 1967 and was supplied through Lambocar of Milan – Geroni Gerini’s famed garage, which supplied a good number of the early Miura’s built. It is recorded as having been sold by them to a Mr Ferrari, which given the rivalry between these Italian manufacturers can probably safely be considered not to be Enzo or a family member! It isn’t recorded as to when the car arrived in America, but the current owners feel that in view of its seemingly low mileage, and general originality, the car must have had an uncomplicated life. By the mid-1990s, the Miura is known to have been with Wally Fisk in North Oaks, MN, it later passed to R. Altieri of Connecticut from who they purchased the car. In recent times the Miura has had an engine tune up, and to date its kilometer reads as just under 38,000. On the driving experience of the Miura the owners comment - ‘it hugs the road …. It’s just so much fun to drive….’ The highlight of this collection Bonhams is proud to present this example for sale.